Chara has just released two new songs through iTunes — ‘Setsunakute Gomen Ne‘ and ‘Rainbow‘ (though worldwide availability is questionable).
The songs have tie-ins with the fashion brand KOE in which she and her daughter SUMIRE are ambassadors for. Cross company, which operates Maison de FLEUR and THOM BROWN. New York, describes this venture as a “music & ecology brand” with accessible ladies, mens, kids, juniors and maternity clothing that uses raw, ethical materials. Within the next three years they plan for global expansion.
1. JUJU – Last Scene
2. Nishino Kana – Darling
3. Southern All Stars – Tokyo VICTORY
4. E-girls – Highschool love
5. May J. – Hontou no Koi
6. Hata Motohiro – Himawari no Yakusoku
7. Yoshida Yamada – Hibi
8. ayaka – Nijiiro
9. EXILE TAKAHIRO – Dakishimetai
10. Shonan no Kaze – Puzzle
In Japan, idols live with strict rules of conduct. God forbid if any of them start dating, it will be all over the newspapers and internet websites faster than they can blink. However where most groups live with a code of general secrecy around such matters – a particular no-no is dating a fan – this group is interesting because it’s designed specifically for that.
Meet Happening Girls, a group of swimsuit idols who debuted on the 23rd of September with a live event at AkibaDrug and Cafe. These girls are allowed to form relationships with their fans, and in fact it’s encouraged. The four members depicted here are to soon be joined by a rota of girls who will take their turn as band members.
There are of course, still conditions with regards to dating one of these girls. According to Kandou TV show spokesman Teruki Aoki: ‘How they get on and how far they go is up to them. But they’re contracted to let us into their private life and share in their relationship. ‘They’re free to have fun, develop, date and even marry if they want to. We’ll be there to record the marriage aptitude interviews and we’d be delighted to arrange the wedding.”
This group will only appear in public wearing swimsuit bikinis as, according to their official page, ‘Men love swimsuits and there are no swimsuit idol groups in existence anywhere’
Yahoo! News reports that actress Yu Yamada (30) has given birth to her first child with husband Shun Oguri (31).
We’re told mother and baby are healthy, but the couple has not yet revealed the baby’s birthday or gender. Friend and family are reportedly saying that she welcomed a baby girl late last month.
Before marrying, Yamada stated in an interview that she wants “at least five children”. Her aspirations to become a mother became common knowledge as it was often a topic of discussion for her, but on a talk show earlier this year before announcing her pregnancy she stated, “Five children will be a bit tough at my age, so I want at least three.“
With plans for a big family, Yamada will give priority to bearing more children but will also continue working in the future.
Congratulations!
October marks the start of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, an annual global campaign to increase awareness about the disease. The Estee group hosted an event called the “Pink Ribbon Illumination”.
Actress Honami Suzuki was appointed as this years pink ribbon ambassador, and participated in the countdown of the lighting ceremony. Besides the Tokyo Tower other famous landmarks including the Sky Tree, Toranomon Hills and Kiyomizu Temple were also lit up to show support. After the ceremony a mini talk-show was held, one notable guest was beauty journalist Takako Yamazaki, a breast cancer survivor who shared her diagnosis and recovery experience.
All of the sites will continue to glow pink for the entire month. Photos of the illuminated landmarks and a video can be seen below.
(via woman.infoseek) Translation by Zara.
A story causing a lot of debate recently is that of Jessica leaving popular Korean idol group ‘Girls Generation’ (known as Shojo Jidai in Japan).
Reports of what has actually happened to result in Jessica leaving the group have been conflicted between Jessica herself and her agency SM entertainment, with each side stating it was the other’s decision. The root of the conflict seems to be with Jessica starting her own fashion business and was therefore unable to give 100% to the group. Jessica spoke in a recent statement that she had permission from the label to start her business, and that despite her best efforts the remaining members and the agency decided to remove her from the group, whereas SM Entertainment state that leaving was her own decision. Other reports speculate that the reason Jessica is no longer part of Shojo Jidai is because of a relationship with Korean-American entrepreneur Tyler Kwon, and that it has put a strain on her activities.
The PV for Maiko Fujita’s new song “one way” has been published to YouTube. You might remember her from her haunting rendition of Frozen’s ‘Let It Go‘ where she performed 20 vocal parts a capella.
Actor and voice actor Kensho Ono, known for voicing Harry Potter in the Japanese dubs of the Harry Potter film series (as well as other Daniel Radcliffe roles), makes an appearance in the video. It opens with some tender lip grazing, when Ono takes her by the hand to represent “pulling at a woman’s mind”. They travel through memories together until he leaves her and walks into fog.
Check it out below.
THE TURTLES JAPAN have released the video for their debut song “It’s Alright!”.
The band consists of Ryuta Yamamura (Vo) and Kazuki Sakai (G) from flumpool, Seiji Kameda, music producer who has worked extensively with Ringo Shiina during his tenure with their band Tokyo Jihen for 7 years, WEAVER’s Yuji Sugimoto (Key) and Tom Tamada (Dr). They came together in July and will only be together for a limited time.
The group’s concept is reflected in the video with their PV and jacket styling, wanting to “tear down borders and enjoy music freely”.
