TV Asahi Announcers

Just a quick one. I thought this is too cute to pass up. 4 TV Asahi announcer cuties in kimono wish to greet you “happy new year”! 3 of them had just entered the company last year.

From L to R: Masako Yagi, Yoshie Takeuchi, Chie Honma and 5th year “senpai” Yuko Yajima

I bet US news program ratings would get a major boost if we’ve got lovely young ladies like these to appear on screen.

Aya Takashima Crowned No.1 Announcer Again

For the 5th year in a row, “Princess of Fuji TV” Aya Takashima retains the title as the most popular Japanese female TV announcer!

Japanese music & entertainment ranking / data compiling authority Oricon (オリコン) released the latest finding last week on who commands the most viewership and the 29 year old still came out on top as the most want to be watched newscaster in Japan.  Nicknamed “Ayapan” (アヤパン), many people interviewed replied that they’re impressed with her wide range of specialties, stable reporting skills and quick thinking.

Emerging in second place was NTV’s Yukari Nishio who has been moving up in the top ten rank in the last 2 years.  Japanese viewers love the Chiba Prefecture native’s cheery smile in the morning, on spot comments and knowledge.  Not surprisingly, “Darling of Fuji TV” Minako Nakano who boasts legions of fans rounded out the top 3 spot with her warm smile and charming personality.

Without further adieu, here are the ten most desirable sexy lady announcers / reporters on the tube in Japan:

No.1  Aya Takashima (高島彩) - Fuji TV

No.2  Yukari Nishio (西尾由佳理) - NTV

No.3  Minako Nakano (中野美奈子) – Fuji TV

No.4  Maya Kobayashi (小林麻耶) – TBS

No.5  Christel Takigawa (滝川クリステル) - Fuji TV

No.6  Mariko Do (堂真理子) - TV Asahi

No.7  Emi Takeuchi (武内絵美) - TV Asahi

No.8  Kyoko Uchida (内田恭子) - freelance (formerly Fuji TV)

No.9  Yuki Maeda (前田有紀) - TV Asahi

No.10  Rio Hirai (平井理央) - Fuji TV

Japanese TV Announcers In School Uniform

I know I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again…god bless Japan!!

Check out what they did to these 3 lovely young “announcers” (a Japanese catch-all name for newscaster, reporter and overall window dressing, rating boosting pretty babes) who just entered TV Asahi this year. To get the viewing public acquainted with the new entrants, TV Asahi showcased their Class of 2008 on a quiz variety show dressed in no other than my favorite outfit – Japanese school girl uniform!

On the show they focused on Yoshie Takeuchi (竹内由恵), a former Miss Keio University who has taken over the prestigious position of co-host on the popular music program “Music Station” (ミュージックステーション).

From L to R: Masako Yagi, Yoshie Takeuchi and Chie Honma

Yoshie Takeuchi Makes Music Station Debut

Yoshie Takeuchi was voted Miss Keio University (ミス慶応) when she attended the prestigious Japanese university majoring in law

As previously reported in my post last month TV Asahi freshman announcer Yoshie Takeuchi (竹内由恵) took over last night as the co-host of the popular long running TV Asahi music program “Music Station” (ミュージックステーション). The 23 year old appeared at a news conference on Thursday with all 3 former Music Station co-hosts who are also TV Asahi announcers. Yoshie’s senpai had a few word of wisdom for her such as make sure to keep the conversation interesting, be sure to zip up her skirt and always maintain good leg poses since she’ll be sitting down a lot during the live TV show.

Current and former Music Station co-hosts – (L to R) Sayaka Hirashita (2nd gen.), Mariko Do (3rd gen.), Yoshie Takeuchi (4th gen.) and Emi Takeuchi (1st gen.)

Chinatsu Wakatsuki Returns

Cute Japanese gravure idol Chinatsu Wakatsuki in October ‘07, right before she went on a long vacation

It has been announced that Japanese gravure idol and “talent” (a catch-all name for entertainer in Japan) Chinatsu Wakatsuki (若槻千夏) is making her offcial comeback to Japanese showbiz. The free spirit and often rambunctious 24 year old will have her first TV appearance next Wednesday night since dropping out of the spotlight 10 months ago on “Domoto Tsuyoshi no Shojiki Shindoi” (堂本剛の正直 しんどい) on TV Asahi.

Chinatsu Wakatsuki was scouted while shopping with friends at Shibuya 109, arguably the center of Japanese fashion and trend when she was 17. At the young age of 18 she was selected as one of the semi finalists for the prestigious 2002 Miss Magazine (ミスマガジン) gravure contest and her showbiz career just took off from there. However, since 2006 the Saitama Prefecture (just north of Tokyo) native began to suffer from health problems often, most likely due to stress. In November of last year she disappeared from Japanese TV screen altogether and later announced on her popular blog that although she wasn’t retiring she intended to go on hiatus to explore other channels and challenge herself.

After leaving showbiz at the end of last year Chinatsu Wakatsuki focused on vintage clothing and fashion designs. Here she is showing off her clothing line, all designed by the popular variety idol or “baradoru” (バラドル). Chinatsu told reporters that since she hasn’t gone into a recording studio for a while, coming on “Domoto Tsuyoshi no Shojiki Shindoi” was scary for her. She couldn’t hide the fact that she has a 10 months blank period on her showbiz resume. Chinatsu has also since launched a new blog at the end of August to mark her re-entry into showbiz.

The slender and tanned Chinatsu Wakatsuki has a rather inferior complex about her small B cup chest and gets sensitive when people talk about big boobs or other big tittie gravure idols in front of her. Personally I think that’s part of the reason which contributed to her stress but she needs to realize she is a gravure idol and she is in the business of showing off skin.

One of the reasons Chinatsu Wakatsuki has gain much popularity is because of her goofy character, often borderline idiotic yet hilarious mindset and a loose cannon for a mouth. For example, on Fuji TV’s 2004 “Mecha Mecha Iketeru” special (めちゃ×2イケてるッ) in which the show was trying to determine the dumbest Japanese celebrity she shouted out the infamous lines that loosely translates into, “I’m not a dumb-dumb, I’m a ho-ho!!” (私はバカまんじゃありません! ヤリまんです!!)

From Chinatsu Wakatsuki’s former blog, titled “Mabo Tofu Is A Beverage” (マーボー豆腐は飲み物です). How can you not like this girl? xD

Music Station Announces New Face

Meet Yoshie Takeuchi, the new face of Music Station

Long running Japanese music show “Music Station” (ミュージックステーション) will have a new hostess to compliment host and Japanese showbiz icon Tamori (タモリ) come next month. TV Asahi (テレビ朝日) announced last Thursday that its popular announcer Mariko Do (堂真理子) will serve as the assistant MC one last time this Friday night.

How can you ever get tired of looking at the lovely Mariko Do as the co-host of Music Station?

Soon to be 27 year old Mariko Do stirred up quite a controversy back in the spring of 2004 when she took over the prestigious position after having officially entered TV Asahi only 8 days before. However, knowing Japanese society and its conservative unspoken rules I had a feeling good times wouldn’t last too much longer when the darling of TV Asahi got married earlier this year. Just like I suspected, the top wigs at the TV station do not like the idea of a married woman being the face of arguably their most popular show.

A rare photo of young Mariko Do when she was still a student at Aoyama Gakuin University

Mariko’s replacement will be the freshest face of TV Asahi, Yoshie Takeuchi (竹内由恵). The 22 year old Tokyo native joined the major Japanese TV station earlier this year after having graduated from Keio University. According to Music Station producer Katsuya Shimizu (清水克也), people at TV Asahi had already been talking about Yoshie and having big plans for her even before she began working officially. When asked for her reaction, Yoshie said she has been a big fan of Music Station. To be chosen as the hostess of the show is her dream come true and she’s extremely ecstatic.

Yoshie’s first appearance on Music Station will be on October 3rd.

Yoshie Takeuchi was crowned Miss Keio University (ミス慶応) when she was a junior!

Ai Kago Suicide Attempt

The interview conducted by veteran Japanese entertainment beat reporter Masaru Nashimoto with former Japanese super idol Ai Kago revealed some shocking information. Some of the contents from the interview was also aired on TV Asahi’s morning program “Super Morning”.

Masaru Nashimoto got Ai Kago to spill the beans

First regarding her second underage smoking scandal last year, “Aibon”, as all of her fans call her by said, “I was an immature teen who didn’t think things through and couldn’t manage oneself. I finally realized how much responsibilities I had after my contract with Up Front Agency was terminated. I’d really like to apologize.”

According to Ai, Yasuyuki Ishimoto who accompanied her on that fateful trip to Kusatsu told her sternly not to smoke, but all the trouble she had on her mind at the time and her immaturity got the best of her.

A young and carefree Ai Kago, around 2005

But Aibon really dropped a bombshell when she brought up her attempted suicide! She told OhMyNews that “I felt like I had too many problems I couldn’t handle and on several occasions I thought about cutting my wrist.”

Former Hello!Project superstar Ai Kago entered Japanese Showbiz at the age of 12

Speaking about that dark period, Aibon described how she made a deep incision on her left wrist with a pair of scissors because she felt cornered and no longer had a future. Since it wasn’t possible for her to seek medical attention at the hospital she could only have her wound wrapped up with bandages. Upon reflection, Aibon understood she caused many people a lot of trouble and vowed to never do such foolish thing again.

Aibon (L) as a member of the popular duo unit “W”, with Nozomi Tsuji (R) – who has also since dropped out of showbiz in disgrace last year due to her unexpected pregnancy

When turned to the topic of her beau Yasuyuki Ishimoto, Aibon replied, “During that time I was going crazy. I had no money, no jobs to look forward to and neither places I could go to nor a place to go back to. But Yasuyuki was there to lend me support. He’s been close to me and giving me lots of help since the beginning. I still consider him as a person I can really talk to about my problems and depend on to watch over me.” So it does seem like their relationship is going rather well. But when asked about the possibility of marriage Aibon said she hasn’t given that a thought yet.

A more mature Ai Kago brings back a squeaky clean and respectful look

During the exclusive interview Ms. Ai Kago further added, “After I was let go by my agency I felt like a criminal just merely by staying in Japan. So from May of last year Yasuyuki and I went to LA and stayed there for about 3 months. I decided to become an actress so I began taking English lessons, voice training lessons as well as dance lessons. I’d like to give back to my fans by making it as an actress.”

As a bonus, the famous Japanese journalist Masaru Nashimoto also revealed to Japanese evening paper “Yukan Fuji” that actually Aibon had been talking to him to seek advice since about half a year ago. He added that she celebrated her 20th birthday (in Japan you become an adult when you turn 20) this past February with about 10 people and blew out the candles with Yasuyuki Ishimoto. She’s intent on making a comeback as an actress and thought it’s a good opportunity to let everyone know about her story and how remorseful she is.