Kyoko Fukada stars in a new Fuji TV drama ‘Tonari no Kazoku wa Aoku Mieru’ that is set to start airing in next January. In the drama Fukada re-unites with Kenichi Matsuyama, whom she acted with in the 2012 taiga ‘Taira no Kiyomori’.
Actress Yoko Maki‘s agency has announced that Maki has resigned from the 2018 film ‘SUNNY: Tsuyoi Kimochi, Tsuyoi Ai’. The statement that was published on the film’s official website says that the reason is Maki’s poor health.
This news should come as no suprise to anyone: Cool Japan is a flop. The much-aligned attempt to spread Japanese culture to the world has not worked out as well as anticipated, despite the large amount of government funds backing it, Nikkei Asian Review reports.
The Cool Japan Fund, a public-private entity, has been the centerpiece of this initiative. The Japanese government’s fiscal 2017 budget gave the Cool Japan Fund 45.9 billion yen in funding, up 22% from the fiscal year 2016. This is more than 80% of the Cool Japan Fund’s nearly 70 billion yen in capital. This government money is given to the Cool Japan Fund via the Finance Ministry’s fiscal investment and loan program.
Four years after its launch, its taxpayer-funded projects are failing to meet expectations, proving the critics right in their view that the Cool Japan project is out of touch with what the international market really wants. The Cool Japan Fund has agreed to invest about 50 billion yen, spread out over 24 projects. Internal documents and other evidence show that at least ten of the 18 investments decided on at least a year ago have failed reach their goals.
This week’s episode features MIYAVI. He brought along two guests: Shishido Kavka and Daichi Miura. In this episode, the trio talk about their lifestyles and their views on music, as well as answer viewer questions. All three also performed.
MIYAVI vs Shishido Kavka – Rock n Roll Widow
MIYAVI vs Daichi Miura – Dancing With My Fingers
MIYAVI – Fire Bird
Perfume recently released their single “If you wanna” at the end of August, but they are already back at it with a new song and collaboration with Japanese phone company NTT Docomo. Check behind the jump for more information about “FUTURE-EXPERIMENT” and their new song “Fusion“.
On November 8, Haruomi Hosono will release “Vu Ja De”, his first album since April 2011’s “HoSoNoVa.” This album is a double album, Haruomi’s first. The first CD is titled “Eight Beat Combo”, and is a cover album of standards. The second CD is titled “Essay”, and features newer material. Some of the material has been redone, such as “Mohican”, his theme song for the movie “Mohican Kokyo ni Kaeru.” There are also CM songs on the album, some of which have never been released before. In the album’s liner notes, Haruomi describes his thoughts behind each song and goes into detail about its creation. Check out more information on the album below!
On November 8, Akko Gorilla will release her second EP, “GREEN QUEEN.” This six track release is a collaborative effort, with each song having a different guest artist. This guests include Charisma.com’s ITSUKA, PARKGOLF, and Mukai Taichi. Akko Gorilla recently released the music video for her track with Taichi, titled “Guerilla.” The track is union between a rising voice in hip hop and a rising voice in R&B. Check it out below, along with more information on Akko Gorilla’s new EP!
Akina Nakamori is currently celebrating her 35th anniversary. To mark the occassion, she’ll be releasing two albums on November 8. The first album is titled “Akina”, and it is a new studio album. It will be released in a limited edition and a regular edition, with the limited edition containing a jacket size calendar.
The second album is titled “Cage”, and it is a cover album. On “Cage”, Akina will be covering dance hits from the 80s, including songs by the likes of Bananarama, Eurythmics, La Bouche, and Blondie. This too will be released in a limited edition and a regular edition, with the limited edition containing a DVD celebrating Akina’s 35th anniversary.
Check out more information on both albums below!