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Japanese actress Haruna Kawaguchi has been chosen as Taiwan’s tourism ambassador in Japan this year, the Tourism Bureau told a news conference yesterday. The popular 28-year-old actress has starred in many films and TV series in Japan, including Silent, which premiered on Fuji TV last year. Japan is one of Taiwan’s most important markets for international tourists in the post-COVID-19 era, bureau Deputy Director-General Trust Lin (林信任) said. “Surveys that we conducted in Japan during the pandemic showed that Taiwan would be one of the top three travel destinations for Japanese tourists after the pandemic eases. Japanese women aged 20 to 39 are particularly interested in traveling overseas,” Lin said. “Our surveys also showed that our target customers overlap with Kawaguchi’s fans in Japan. She was Japan’s ‘Queen of Endorsement Advertising’ last year, serving as a spokesperson for many Japanese products. Her personality and popularity match our criteria for a tourism ambassador in Japan...

Since leaving her position in the wildly popular idol troupe AKB48 in 2012, Maeda Atsuko has been exploring her range as an actor. In 2022 she appeared in the film version of a hit 2015 play as part of a star-studded cast. A talk with Maeda about her acting career and the challenges she faces as a working mother. Playwright and director Nemoto Shūko, who writes and produces all the pieces for an eponymous monthly theater troupe, first presented her piece Motto chōetsu shita tokoro e (To a More Transcendent Place) in 2015. Recently, she also helped adapt it into a screenplay for the 2022 film version, which featured a star-studded cast including Maeda Atsuko, Kikuchi Fūma of the pop group Sexy Zone, and Chiba Yūdai. The film’s director, Yamagishi Santa, who made a name for himself with the 2018 drama Bōkyaku no Sachiko (Forgetful Sachiko) and music videos for pop star Hoshino Gen, depicts the painful story of four women who struggle with the trials of love and their attraction to “bad b...

On July 6, actress Kiritani Mirei (30) updated her Instagram account announcing the birth of her first child, a baby boy. Her husband, actor Miura Shohei (32) also made the announcement via his Instagram account. Kiritani wrote, "I am very sorry to be talking about my personal matters, but I gave birth to a baby boy the other day. Thankfully, both myself and baby are healthy." She expressed, "I am thankful that he was born healthily. From now on, we will do our best as a family."  Kiritani continued, "Right now, I really feel the preciousness of life. My heart aches from the heavy rain damage. I am praying from the bottom of my heart that the damages won't get any worse."  Miura similarly stated, "Right now, we live in unprecedented times with lots of sad news around the world. I hope that things don't get any worse."  The two deepened their relationship after co-starring in Fuji TV's drama 'Suki na Hito ga Iru Koto' in 2016 a...

Star-crossed romance has long been a staple in Japanese cinema, though medical catastrophe, more than a disapproving society or opposing parents, has become a common force tearing lovers apart in contemporary films. This does not always mean a tragic finale: In Takahisa Zeze’s 2017 hit “The 8-Year Engagement,” the heroine recovers from a long coma to wed her devoted fiancee. Eiji Uchida’s “Silent Love” adds a twist to this staple trope — both principals are afflicted with disabling conditions: Mika (Minami Hamabe) is an aspiring pianist who was blinded in a traffic accident, and Aoi (Ryosuke Yamada), a custodian at Mika’s music college, is mute from a wound incurred in a street brawl. Based on Uchida’s original script, the film is a full-throated melodrama like his 2020 “Midnight Swan,” a box-office smash that won a pile of awards in Japan. But while the earlier film said something true about the marginalization of LGBTQ+ people in Japanese society, the new one feels antiquated and art...

This year's 41st issue of Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump will announce on Monday that Mirei Kiritani (live-action Gyakuten Saiban/Ace Attorney's Mayoi/Maya) will join the cast of the second Assassination Classroom film, Ansatsu Kyōshitsu: Sotsugyō-hen (Assassination Classroom: Graduation Edition~), as Aguri Yukimura. In addition, the film cast the original "God of Death." [highlight white text to read spoilers] Arashi band member Kazunari Ninomiya, who is voicing Koro-sensei for the live-action films, will also play the God of Death. The film will open in Spring 2016. The first live-action film adaptation opened in Japan on March 21. The Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal hosted the film's international premiere on July 17. The Fantastic Fest film festival, which will be held in Austin, Texas from September 24 to October 1, will screen the film's US premiere. Eiichirō Hasumi (Umizaru films, Wild 7) directed the film, and Tatsuya Kanazawa (Saru...

Japan’s Gaga Corp is handling international sales on Tatsushi Omori’s Mother and will introduce the title to buyers at the upcoming European Film Market (EFM) in Berlin. Starring Masami Nagasawa (Our Little Sister) and marking the first feature of child actor Daiken Okudaira, the film follows a young boy struggling with an alcoholic mother who forces him to extract money from his grandparents, rather than sending him to school. The cast also includes Sadawo Abe (Birds Without Names). Currently in post-production, the film is scheduled for Japanese release in the second or third quarter of this year. Gaga is also part of the production committee that produced the film. Omori is known for The Whispering Of The Gods (2005), which played at Locarno Film Festival, and The Ravine Of Goodbye (2013), which won the jury prize at the Moscow International Film Festival. His last film, Taro The Fool (2019), also touched on the issue of delinquency and under-privileged youth.  Gaga also recentl...

Actress and model Marie Iitoyo will release her first photobook in January 2018, according to Natalie. The photobook, titled ‘NO GAZPACHO’, will go on sale on her birthday, 5th of January. Iitoyo commented that the soft-cover photobook will show the fans her current self. As is usual for photobooks by female celebrities, Iitoyo’s book will include underwear and swimwear shots. The photobook was shot in Andalucia, Spain. It is up for pre-order on Amazon for a little over 2,300 yen. For the past few years, Iitoyo has steadily been bulding up her career. In 2016, she had a supporting role in a Mirei Kiritani -led romance drama ‘Sukina Hita ga Iru Koto’. Same year she starred ‘Mars’ alongside Masataka Kubota and Taisuke Fujigaya. In 2017, she has already starred in two dramas: summer season saw her in ‘Maji de Koukai Shitemasu’ as an university student wanting to learn how to navigate ships, and in October she played a girl getting aqcuainted with compensated dating in ‘Papa Katsu’. She al...

Japanese adult video actress Eimi Fukada, known for her erotic films, held a 24-hour-long event where she hugged each of her fans who queued up to see her. Fukada, 24, held the event in Shibuya, Tokyo, at 6pm on Aug. 27. When she made the announcement, she said she wanted to be "the most hugged woman in the world". According to Daily Japan, Fukada only took one three-hour break and a few 10-minute breaks throughout the entire event. She didn't have time to sleep, even at night, and by the end of the event she was "completely exhausted". However, she thanked her fans after the event, saying she was able to do her best thanks to everyone's help. Yahoo (Japan) reported that Fukada had some costume changes during the event -- she wore a traditional yukata, a bunny outfit, an "office lady" outfit and a "China dress" (cheongsam). Participants did not have to pay for the hug, but a smartphone photo cost 1,000 yen (S$10.10). Fans could also purch...