sleepy john - news, pictures and videos for the jpop, kpop, gravure, racing queen, grid girl and av idol fan!

Today I’ve got the Up To Boy spread of the boyish cutie Akina Minami (南明奈). The 19 year old gravure idol from Kanagawa Prefecture just south of Tokyo has been receiving a lot of media attention the last year.

Here’s some more cute Yui Aragaki (新垣結衣) from her photobook “Masshiro” (まっしろ). These close up shots show a side of her we rarely see…I didn’t know she’s got a bunch of freckles!

MilkyWay @ Kawasaki Club Citta (クラブチッタ)

The newest Hello!Project unit Milky Way held their first ever public concert at Club Citta in Kawasaki over the weekend. The cute Japanese idol unit is composed of Koharu Kusumi (久住小春) of Morning Musume and Hello!Project Egg members Yu Kikkawa (吉川友) and Sayaka Kitahara (北原沙弥香).

MilkyWay leader and the always genki Koharu Kusumi aka Kirari Tsukishima (月島きらり)

Morning Musume 8th generation audition finalist Yu Kikkawa (吉川友)

Hello!Project Egg member Sayaka Kitahara (北原沙弥香)

The 3 girls danced away on stage in colorful costumes and performed their first single “Anataboshi” (アナタボシ), which made its Oricon Chart debut this week at number 3.

Alright fellas, today I’m throwing some Yui Aragaki (新垣結衣) cuteness your way. The 19 year old “Gakki” (ガッキー), as her fans affectionately call her is the product of Okinawa and used to be a Japanese teen magazine model. Yui is one of the hottest U-19 Japanese idols / talent alongside with Maki Horikita, Saki Fukuda and Kii Kitano. Nowadays you can see her appearing in various Japanese TV dramas as well as being the face of the “Pocky Girl”.

The images are from her photobook “Masshiro” (まっしろ) from last year that coincided with her high school graduation.

As always there’s more Gakki cuteness on the way so stay tuned… =)

I’ve got the cure for your Monday morning blue! Kii Kitano (北乃きい) is one of the hottest U-19 idols from Japan. The 17 year old cutie from Kanagawa Prefecture first made her presence known by winning the 2005 Miss Magazine (ミスマガジン) gravure Grand Prix. She then appeared in the 2006 controversial NTV drama “The 14 Year Old Mother” (14才の母), Fuji TV’s 2007 wild drama “Life” (ライフ), as well as starring in the hit movie “Kofuku na Shokutaku” (幸福な食卓) last year.

The pictures are from the spread she did with Japanese gravure magazine Up To Boy at the end of last year.

Enjoy and you bet your ass I’ve got more Kii cuteness for you!

What would be the reaction from a cute Japanese girl if she were to accidently walk in on some dude spanking his monkey? I’m sure that is the question we’re all wondering about. Well, thanks to this wonderful Japanese TV show we now know the answer!

The video is self explanatory. Goofy Japanese prankster and comedian Rakkyo Ide pretends to give himself pleasure in the dressing room at a TV studio. His victims include super cute gravure idol Shoko Hamada and Oita Asahi announcer Miwako Nakashima. But when he got to his 3rd subject sexy female doctor / talent Ayako Nishikawa, the bold former Miss Japan wasn’t too impressed, Rakkyo knew he had to make some changes and demanded to let him do things “his way”. His improvisation had quite an impact, as you’ll see on the face of the 4th girl Aya Kiguchi who’s another hot gravure idol.

Aya could only mumble, “The, the, the elephant…”

Ai Takahashi (R), Reina Tanaka (C) and JunJun (L) of Morning Musume pose for their fans at Taoyuan International Airport

Three members of the Japanese idol group Morning Musume arrived in Taiwan’s capitol Taipei this past Wednesday to promote their upcoming and first ever concert in Taiwan. Morning Musume leader Ai Takahashi, along with cutie pie Reina Tanaka and JunJun (who’s actually from China) were greeted by about 100 fans at the airport. Later on during the press conference at the hotel the girls were given Taiwanese sweets such as pineapple cake and tapioca milk tea which they loved.

Morning Musume leader Ai Takahashi

Morning Musume 6th generation member Reina Tanaka

Morning Musume will hold their concert at Nangang Exhibition Hall on May 24th and they plan on performing 36 songs. Those lucky Taiwanese bastards!

Morning Musume about to sample some tasty Taiwanese sweets at the press conference

Today’s portion was rather short and here’s what the former idol and Hello!Project artist Ai Kago shared in the interview with Ura Channel and OhmyNews:

Click here for original video

Veteran Japanese entertainment reporter Masaru Nashimoto asked about her plans for the future. she replied that she doesn’t know exactly what’ll happen but because she has experienced a lot by being in Japanese showbiz since she was 12 years old (which she’s quite proud of), she feels that with her ability to convey different emotions she’d like to give acting a try.

Aibon has been doing some writing on a daily basis. Someday she hopes to get a book published and would be happy if in some way her book can be of help to someone.

She also revealed that she has kept in touch with some Morning Musume and Hello!Project members and they provided her with encouragement. She was touched when some of them asked her, “Hey Aibon how are you doing?” since only her ex fellow members call her by that nickname (calm down you fanboys…I’m sure she meant in her “real” life). To Aibon the Hello!Project girls are her source of inner peace.

When she received text messages from them she felt she wanted to rejoin the group. But she knew it wasn’t possible, so she decided to work hard on her own.

When Masaru brought up Aibon’s former partner in crime Nozomi Tsuji, she responded that she was really surprised to hear about her sudden pregnancy and marriage and she’s seen Taiyo Sugiura’s (Nozomi’s hubby) blog before. But from the sound of her voice I suspect Nozomi isn’t one of the people she is in constant contact with. She was also surprised to hear about the “Mikitty incident” (please check out my blog on 1/9 and 2/15) but believes Miss Miki Fujimoto will make a strong comeback since that is in line with Miki’s personality.

Finally the conversation moved onto Maki Goto, who’s currently on a secret mission in LA. Aibon said she was in touch with her until right before she departed for the States. She explained that she has always liked Maki and feels they share many similarities. She thinks Maki is a strong person so she will surely succeed, and hence she must strive for success herself too.

Both Aibon and GoMaki choose LA as their preferred destination to get away

Aibon was pleasantly surprised when she was presented with a scrapbook made by her fans for her recent 20th birthday

I wonder how many people are actually reading the stuff I’ve been putting up about this Aibon exclusive interview with OhmyNews. Is it even remotely interesting to you guys? I know I’m totally late on today’s episode…hope I didn’t make too many of you Aibon wotas antsy!:)

But I do wonder if it’s worth it for me to keep going.

Anyway here comes what’s juicy from Part 4 of Masaru Nashimoto’s interview with former Hello!Project super idol Ai Kago:

Original video here

When asked about the nature of her relationship with the seemingly sleazy restaurant entrepreneur Yasuyuki Ishimoto, Aibon replied, “I’m very close to him. He’s been helping me out so much. I’d like him to continue to look out for me and be the one I can talk about my problems with. He is like my one man supporter club!”

She added that she hasn’t given much thought about their future (meaning marriage), since she’s the type of person who tends to focus on the present.

The 4th generation Morning Musume said that some of the things she’s learned this past year include being thankful and learning to have confidence to tackle something. She felt that coming from an idol background she was used to being sheltered and lacked the ability to realize something. But now she wants to challenge different things to see herself grow. In other words, just do it! Aibon concluded that the best way to become stronger is to just believe in herself.

Aibon also touched on some of the problems she encountered since joining showbiz (this alone sheds a lot of light on why she did what she did). She explained that when she first joined the popular j-pop all girl group Morning Musume people often commented that she looked older than her age. As years went by it should’ve been natural for Aibon to “grow up”, but instead she became more childish. And it didn’t help that her work surroundings reinforced such image. Even though she was getting older, the majority of her fan’s demographic remained young so she was required to put on the “Kago-chan” act. The grown ups around her all asked that she maintain such kiddish image for the viewers.

As Aibon was constantly pressured to play up that “Kago-chan” act, her work related stress most likely began to accumulate. Now looking back Aibon thinks she didn’t realize at the time that wasn’t the proper way to carry on. And here’s something heavy…she said if she had continued doing what she did, she would’ve turned out really jacked!

“Kago-chan” couldn’t handle constantly having to be a kid in front of the camera, so she acted like a juvenile

To all the fans who have followed and supported her, knowing that she betrayed them twice Aibon once again expressed deep remorse.

The 20 year old Miss Ai Kago revealed that her mother understands her the most and she appreciates her a lot. When Aibon first got sent back to Nara for “home detention” in 2006 then when she was let go by her management Up Front Agency last year, her mother was the most furious at her but also gave her the most encouragement.

By the way Aibon commented that she hadn’t told her mother about this exclusive interview she’s doing and she would probably be surprised when she hears about it.

Stay tuned…I might just bust out Part 5 later today!

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.

Aya Matsuura possesses a great voice and is a top selling artist for Hello!Project

Japanese singer and mega popular idol Aya Matsuura was the PR chief  today for the upcoming 25th Japan Confectionery Expo in Hyogo (in conjunction with Himeji Confection Expo 2008).  It was only fitting that the super sexy and cute “Ayaya” (as her fans affectionately call her) was in charge of promoting the event, since the 21 year old Hello!Project artist hails from Himeji city in Hyogo Prefecture.

Ayaya said, “I’m having such a good time since I love sweets.  I can’t wait to try them all!”

The expo will be held from April 18th through May 11th in and around Ayaya’s hometown.

Here are more photos of the recently divorced Japanese actress Ryoko Hirosue:

A young Ryoko Hirosue…she was everyone’s favorite girl next door in Japan back in the late 90s.

With Japan’s most popular boy band SMAP member Tsuyoshi Kusanagi

With French actor Jean Reno promoting their international hit movie WASABI

Ryoko Hirosue called it quits on her marriage

Japanese model and fashion designer Takahiro Okazawa, 32

The now 27 year old mother of one was among one of the hottest commodities in the Japanese entertainment world toward the of 1990s and at the turn of the century!

Japanese actress and former idol Ryoko Hirosue announced on her website today that she has divorced her husband of more than 3 years, Japanese model and fashion designer Takahiro Okazawa. Ryoko burst onto the Japanese showbiz scene when she was only 14, appearing in commercials and photo shoots. 2 years later the Kochi Prefecture native got an even bigger break when she debuted as a singer with the hit song “Maji de Koi Suru Go Byo Mae”.

Ryoko and Takahiro caught in 2001 in Sendagaya district of Tokyo

A young Ryoko Hirosue pitching for Japanese wireless giant DoCoMo

Ryoko stirred up a media frenzy when she enrolled in the prestigious Waseda University back in 1999 but didn’t bother to show up on campus until almost 3 months later. She never really attended any of the classes and ended up dropping out.

Ryoko’s first day at Waseda University was a carefully orchestrated event by her management agency

Posing with French actor Jean Reno at the press conference of their 2001 international hit movie WASABI

But Ryoko blew it by getting knocked up by then boyfriend Takahiro Okazawa in 2003. They subsequently had a hurried wedding ceremony in January of 2004 after Ryoko held a press conference at the end of 2003 to confirm the rumor that she was pregnant. This was really ironic because the plain looking girl I had nicknamed “koala face” since she first surfaced had starred in a popular Japanese drama back in 2001 on Fuji TV with Japanese heartthrob Yutaka Takenouchi titled “Dekichatta Kekkon” (Shotgun Wedding)!

Ryoko Hirosue at the press conference in December 2003 to announce her pregnancy and marriage

I remember Ryoko’s sudden pregnancy and marriage drew a lot of criticism from both fans and media back then. Many on going projects related to her had to be put on hold indefinitely, altered or scrapped altogether. And just like I thought, her popularity and career took a nose dive when she tried to make a comeback after the birth of her boy. As a matter of fact, her status has never been the same ever since.

Ryoko cited work related issues as part of her reason to divorce

How can you not stare at a pretty Japanese girl in kimono, especially when it’s kawaii Misako Yasuda?

Popular and super cute Japanese gravure idol and actress Misako Yasuda met with the press in an elegant kimono on her 25th birthday to promote her photo essay. When asked if she wanted to get married Misako replied, “For a while I felt a bit anxious but not anymore. I’ve got a dog now so I’m fine.” The slender hottie with a soft, gentle look from the ancient Japanese capital of Kyoto added, “Recently my twin brother moved to Tokyo and he’s like my boyfriend. He cooked for me when I got sick!”

Misako Yasuda promoting her photo essay collection in Tokyo on her 25th birthday

The beauty from Kyoto was discovered when she was in college

I thought I’d break away from the norm today. Instead of the typical idol, glamorous gravure model or slutty, big tittied j-birds, I’d show you another side of Japanese girls.

Mana Mikura (L) and Kana Mikura (R)

Mana Mikura and Kana Mikura are identical twins that just turned 22 yesterday. The lovely and wholesome actresses from Osaka are known to everyone as “ManaKana” (マナカナ), and their graceful and reserved demeanor offer a refreshing change to the Japanese people.

Mana Mikura & Kana Mikura in Tokyo yesterday at their photo essay release and autograph signing event

The Mikura twins can sing too, having released 3 singles

Yoko Kumada boasts a F cup bust and a killer body

Japanese gravure idol and “talent” (a Japanese catch-all word to describe entertainer) Yoko Kumada promoted her latest DVD “Taiyo Sweets” this past Saturday in Tokyo.  While at the event she squashed rumors about her recent sudden weight loss.  The Gifu Prefecture native explained that she simply stopped eating all the rich food that’s provided while she’s on location shooting, started cooking more at home and just returned to the weight she had when she first made her debut.  Whatever she did, I still think she looks great!

Yoko Kumada at the press conference to promote her DVD “Taiyo Sweets”

The busty Yoko Kumada was once a goodwill ambassador for the Indonesian resort island of Bali also talked about her experience doing gravure work there.  According to the F cup beauty the sun in Bali is way stronger than Hawaii and the heat packs a powerful punch.  She had to apply sunblock lotion more in Bali than anywhere else.  As a matter of fact, the voluptuous gravure model and part time singer (she has 3 singles and 1 album under her belt) claimed that she uses up more sunblock lotion than anyone else in the industry with an average of 2 bottles per day when she’s out shooting!

Screw that Western ideal of a tanned body…innocent cute face, subtle curves on a petite frame and white, creamy skin is my cup of tea!

Going by the rate that she shoots about 120 days in a year, that’s roughly 250 bottles of sunblock Yoko Kumada goes through!  No wonder Yoko said, “If given the chance, I’d like to be an ambassador for sunblock lotion!”

Oh Yoko, you can be the ambassador to my place and I’ll apply lotion on you anytime! 

It looks like Japanese idol and former Morning Musume leader Miki Fujimoto aka Mikitty is set to return to the spotlight with the release of a new single as a solo artist on April 23rd. This time Miss Fujimoto will attempt to shed her idol past and do a 180 degree turnaround, debuting as a bona fide adult singer.

We’ll get to hear the beautiful voice of Mikitty again soon!

Mikitty got herself into lots of trouble in the beginning of summer last year when she was caught dating Tomoharu Shoji of the Japanese comedian duo “Shinagawa Shoji” then refused to leave him. This pretty much earned her banishment from Japanese showbiz and career suicide. For more information please check out my blog on 1-9-08.

Miki Fujimoto aka Mikitty is known for being strong-willed

But being the crown jewel of Up Front Agency, Mikitty’s handler knows they can’t let a super cute talent with a beautiful voice go to waste no matter how much she messes up. Since Miki stepped down as the leader of the most popular Japanese all girl group and ceased all activities as a Hello!Project member she’s been relegated to only playing futsal occasionally for the Gatas Brilliantes, an Up Front Agency backed all girl team.

Mikitty in action playing for the Gatas Brilliantes

Miki Fujimoto’s new single is titled “Oki Tegami”. It is composed by Masato Sugimoto (who shot to fame with the single “Waremoko” last year, and got the honor to perform at NHK’s Kohaku Utagassen year-end extravaganza) and lyrics written by Haku Ide. Instead of the typical pop sound, Miki’s new single has a folk song flavor to it.

Miki Fujimoto (L), Masato Sugimoto (C) and Takao Horiuchi (R)

Japanese singer Takao Horiuchi who also belongs to Up Front Agency first received the offer to sing the song last fall as Masato Sugimoto suggested that he should do it in a “chanson” (French cabaret style) fashion. Around the same time Mikitty was looking for the right music to revive her career as a singer. Her manager heard the demo tape and thought the song was perfect for her smooth mezzo-soprano voice. In the end it was decided that both Miki and Takao would release their own version of the single on the same date…how’s that for some inter-agency rivalry?!
The recording was done in the beginning of this month with songwriter Masato Sugimoto present. He remarked that Mikitty had a great voice, better than he imagined for a female in her 20s singing a song about distressed love, and that she carried good aura for the song. Mikitty commented that the song was rather challenging. It was nothing like she’s ever sung before, but Masato gave her some really helpful pointers. For an accomplished singer (Mikitty is not only a pretty face) to humble herself and say something like that, I really look forward to hearing the single!

The soon to be 23 year old Hokkaido native says, “This is a completely different style of singing but I’d like you to support the new Miki Fujimoto.”

I bet Mikitty is still as uber cute as ever

Does it pay for idols and celebrities to get naked? In Japan people love to see their favorite star release a “hair nude” pictorial and bare it all. A certain Japanese tabloid asked two experts for their professional opinion.

Regarding “hair nude” photobook (meaning the idol / model shows her bush, pants down), publisher / producer Motoji Takasu was contacted. He’s so famous for publishing celebrity nude photobooks that he’s nicknamed “the hair merchant”! And for the price of appearing in an AV (Japanese porn), they asked Mr. Kita, a casting producer in the industry to provide the estimate.

1. Miwa Asao

“The Fairy of Beach Volleyball”

Nude photobook - $2.6 million

AV - $1 million

This Japanese pro beach volleyball player is hot in the media right now, appearing on all kinds of TV shows, promotional events and endorsing various products. I guess the public likes to take a break from the usual “cute idol” style girls and shower their attention on a more “healthy” and athletic type girl.

“In the photobook she released last year she didn’t even have any racy shots yet that sold within the top 30! I wonder how much more she would sell if she take it off…”

2. Ai Kago

At the turn of this century nobody was cuter than Aibon

Nude photobook - $2 million

AV - $1 million

The disgraced former Morning Musume still pulls plenty of weight whenever her name is mentioned. “Aibon”, as she is called affectionately by her fans used be one of the most popular members of the Japanese super idol group and some might even argue was the cutest thing ever to come out of Japan besides Hello Kitty!

She had it all and she blew it all away

“Ever since the scandal of her getting caught smoking underage for the second time last year which led to her expulsion from Hello Project and her production company Up Front Agency, there’s been rumors of the possibility of Aibon taking her clothes off because she’s no longer an idol. But it’s probably unlikely that this will come to fruition.”

“Shhh…don’t tell anyone I smoke!”

3. Masami Nagasawa

A young Masami in swimsuit

Nude photobook - $1.8 million

AV - $1 million

The 20 year old Shizuoka native actress and sometimes gravure idol has really blossomed and become everyone’s darling since the beginning of last year. Personally I don’t think she’s that cute but she radiates kindness and that girl next door charm, which undoubtedly captured the heart of countless fans.

“I don’t think she’ll ever get nude, but Rie Miyazawa (a mega popular 90s Japanese actress) did take it off at the height of her success. The fee is a bit lower than what I’d expect her to receive, though. I think she’ll sell a lot.”

To be continued…

More info’s coming out regarding the scandal involving Japanese gravure model Hikaru Kawamura’s accusation that she was forced to appear in AV (Japanese porn). For the original story and more background info please check out my blog on 1-24-08.

As Hikaru’s criminal lawsuit against her boss Yoshiharu Noda aka “Noda shacho” of Suns Entertainment carries on over her claim that Noda shacho coerced her into doing AV, it has been revealed that there are actually 2 “AVs” involved. The original plan for the $1.5 million project was supposed to include a nude photobook, an erotic movie and a DVD. The DVD filming portion was completed back in October of last year.

Hikaru-chan, please take it off!

However Hikaru is now suing to prevent the DVD from going on sale. And she has refused to participate in the making of the photobook and movie, which resulted in the project coming to a standstill. But there’s more to the story than this.

The actual contract Ms. Hikaru Kawamura signed was $700K for 2 “AV” productions, meaning there’s supposed to be one more title beside the one she had already performed. But according Noda shacho, the production in question is not AV (Japanese porn) but rather a new style of “image video”. He persuaded Hikaru to come on board by telling her she would be the first person to appear in this type of new genre.

Noda shacho with some of his fine young girls. Hikaru should quit complaining…doesn’t she know there are so many girls waiting in line to take her place?

Well, what Noda shacho said was true in a way since in the DVD that was completed last year there was no real direct sexual scenes, as Hikaru only did insinuated “self gratification” with non-human objects. Nevertheless I’d say that’s very, very hot!

Oh Hikaru why do you tease us like that?

The planned movie is even racier, with plenty of erotic scenes but with the intention of keeping the extremely sensual film in very good taste. The story is Hikaru Kawamura plays the wife of a doctor who’s trapped in a sexless marriage. She goes to a French castle to receive some S&M experience (bondage play) and awaken her inner self. The problem is it requires $3 million for this mouth watering movie to happen, and a big chunk of that money has to come from the DVD sale. According to reliable sources due to this reason Hikaru’s take is only about 20%, which led insiders to believe the lawsuit she brought on is more about money and not about forced AV performance at all!

Don’t be shy Hikaru, be proud and shake what you got!

But at any rate bills have to be paid so people closely associated with the project have been discussing about a compromise by cutting out the nude scenes and releasing the DVD as a typical idol “image video” this spring. Stay tuned…

Is ex Morning Musume Mari Yaguchi in love again?

A bit more info on this scandal involving the ex Morning Musume leader Mari Yaguchi:

At today’s press conference in Tokyo for the on stage play Mari’s participating in, the reporters tried to flood her with questions about her relationship with Ultraman Nexus actor Takuji Kawakubo but couldn’t get a straight answer from her in the end.

“Ultraman” Takuji Kawakubo

One reporter went right after Mari by asking when does she plan on getting married (he was reacting to the statement Mari made last year of her intention to get married when she turns 25). Mari’s fellow performers came to her aid by diverting the question and cracking jokes.  Nice save!

Check out that sexy little 4′9″ spinner body!

Whew, you sure got lucky this time Mari!

The second rate comedian Tomoharu Shoji of the Japanese comedy duo Shinagawa Shoji announced on a New Year TV special of his intention to marry his girlfriend Japanese super idol and former Morning Musume member Miki Fujimoto, affectionately known as “Mikitty” to the public.

The uber cute Miki Fujimoto…enough said!

In one corner of Fuji TV’s popular show “Mecha x 2 Iketeru” the 32 year old Tomoharu proclaimed that he’d like to get married this year, thus crushing the dream and fantasy of millions of die-hard Mikitty fanboys not only in Japan but all over the world.  The topic of that corner was “entertainers who got caught in ‘07″.

Shinagawa Shoji - (L) Hiroshi Shinagawa, (R) Tomoharu Shoji

Miki Fujimoto aka Mikitty and Tomoharu Shoji caused an uproar in Japan back in May of last year when she broke the huge Japanese idol code by having a boyfriend, or at least being seen in public with one.  Unlike the West, dating for idols in Japan is an absolute no-no (don’t bother arguing about this, it’s the reality) and career breaker.  Her status as the recently promoted leader of the Japanese all girl idol group Morning Musume made the situation even worse.  She had to step down and ended up being the shortest lived leader in Morning Musume history, lasting roughly only a month and a half.

And instead of quickly coming up with some damage control tactics Mikitty defiantly admitted their courtship, quit her position as the leader of the most popular Japanese idol group and apparently has continued on with the relationship.  Understandably this not only broke the heart of countless Mikitty fans, it also made the loose lipped Tomoharu Shoji public enemy number one!

Is Mikitty trying to buck the old fashioned Japanese entertainment world?

When Tomoharu stated that he wanted to get married the other guests on the show said “you’re the man” and egged him on to propose right there on TV.  But his partner Hiroshi Shinagawa saved him by chiming in, “you guys pressured him too much that he farted!”

“What are your plans with her?”  “Can I be frank?”  “I wanna tie the knot.”

We can only wait and see whether his plan and foolish outburst pan out or not.