An award-winning novel written by actor Hiro Mizushima hit bookstores across Japan on Wednesday, luring book lovers and Mizushima fans. ‘‘Kagerou,’’ the first work the actor wrote under his real name Tomohiro Saito, sheds light on the meaning of life by depicting a suicidal man who has lost his job and money.
A 28-year-old woman who purchased a copy at a bookstore in Tokyo’s Yurakucho district on her way to work said, ‘‘I bought it because it was introduced on TV programs and much talked about.’’ Poplar Publishing Co in Tokyo has already printed over 430,000 copies, which it says is an unusually high number before the release, after giving Mizushima this year’s grand prize in its annual novel competition.
We sure wish him goodluck:-) Gambatte ne Hiro-kun !!!
Aya Ueto is Japan’s TV commercial queen for the second straight year, according to media research company Nihon Monitor. Ueto, 25, topped the chart by advertising for 13 companies this year.
Ueto has been involved in a number of campaigns that have run for more than a year, including those for Softbank’s famous Shirato family series in which the paternal figure is played by a white dog, and suit company Aoki. The data suggested that Ueto’s high visibility in commercials has made her a familiar face to most of the nation.
Actresses held all three of the top positions in the ranking with Saki Aibu, 25, second with appearances in ads for 12 companies this year, and Aoi Miyazaki, 25, coming in third with 11. Riding the wave of success that followed the release of their album “Beginner” in November, eight members of pop group AKB48 also ranked highly, including Yuko Oshima, 22, and Atsuko Maeda, 19.
An event for the upcoming movie “Ashita no Joe“, which is a live-action adaptation of the legendary boxing manga, was held on December 17th, and Yamashita Tomohisa (NEWS), who plays the main character, Yabuki Joe, and the director of the movie, Sori Fumihiko, showed up at the event.
Yamashita lost 8.5 kg for the role, and reduced his body fat percentage to 5% in order to give his body a more realistic look. At the event, Yamashita’s life-sized figure was introduced, and Yamashita talked about those hard training days, “It was hard to make a boxer’s body in limited time. I was only eating vegetables and protein, so I was always hungry, and it made me realize the importance of food.” He also said that he went to eat yakiniku after finishing shooting for the film, “I forgot how meat tasted like, so when I ate it I was like ‘Was this how meat tasted?’, but it was really delicious.”
