Tattoos are still a somewhat taboo subject in Japan. In short it mainly stems from it’s association to organized crime, the Yakuza. Many public gyms, pools, and baths do not permit any customer who has a tattoo. Despite that as time goes on many people, especially the younger generation, do not see them as a very big deal at all.

Naturally, tattoos on celebrities, especially women has been a popular topic among entertainment fans for many years now. Entertainment website Naver complied a list of people entertainers who took the plunge and got some permanent ink. While the list is quite low when compared to the west, it might surprise you how many top stars actually have tattoos. Check out the full list below (and click here for some optional BGM)

Popular actor Yamada Takayuki will be making his directorial debut with the film “Eiga Yamada Takayuki 3D”. Exact details of the movie have been strangely sparse, the exact plot of the film hasn’t been revealed yet, nor a full list of co-stars. The only cast members revealed so far is Takayuki Yamada himself who will play the lead role, child actress Mana Ashida will be making a guest appearance in the film also.

The production of the film originally began last year during the summer, all of this was documented for a show titled “Yamada Takayuki no Cannes Eigasai” that aired earlier in the year. Takayuki was originally working with director Nobuhiro Yamashita on a film titled “Kegare no Mori”, Mana Ashida was slated to play the lead role. However, Takayuki had a falling out with Nobuhiro, and both Nabuhiro and Mana wanted to leave the project. After doing some soul searching in his hometown Takayuki decided to switch the focus of the film to himself and complete the project. Takayuki has very high hopes for the film calling it compilation of all he has achieved in his career so far. Despite feuding with Nobuhiro, Takayuki is still very thankful towards him because without the help from Nobuhiro the project would not have been able to be completed in the first place. Both of them dedicate the film to Mana, who still decided to stay and complete the project despite the directors fighting.

There’s very high hopes for “Eiga Yamada Takayuki 3D”, it will be submitted to the prestigious Cannes Film Festival with the intention to win an award. The film will be released in June, a promotional poster can be seen below!

It’s been over a year since Junnosuke Taguchi performed for the last time with his former group KAT-TUN. Fans were stunned, but accepted his decision. In Junnosuke’s official statement he revealed that he was terminating his contract with Johnnys & Associates for “personal reasons”, and with Junnosuke turning 30 soon he felt that it was important for him to think about which direction he wanted to take in life. Many fans assumed that he was getting married to longtime girlfriend Rena Komine, and possibly starting a family. What fans didn’t see coming was Junnosuke announcing a comeback just 6 months after withdrawing from KAT-TUN and Johnnys & Associates. After releasing an indie single, it was revealed that he signed a contract with Universal Music.

Junnoske recently did an interview with Nikkan Sports while promoting his major debut single “Connect”. As seen in the official statements, Junnosuke did not make his plans clear to the other members causing fans to give a very indignant response to his debut and interview. He also withdrew right before the band was about to start 10th anniversary celebrations, what should have been a happy promotional period was a bit somber. Junnosuke expressed his strong desire to do solo activities many times throughout the interview, and talked about how important the theme of connections are in relation to his single, calling his re-debut a “fresh start”. He did wish the other KAT-TUN members well, and hoped to see them all again in the future. Many fans called Junnosuke out for being extremely untrustworthy and selfish in his decision, if he wanted to have more solo activities and be freed from Johnny’s he should have told his group mates, and been more clear in his official statement when originally withdrawing from the group. Many were also confused at how he kept going on and on about the theme of connecting with people, when he failed to “connect” to his group mates and a lot of the fans during his transition period from KAT-TUN member to solo artist.

Since withdrawing KAT-TUN hasn’t had a lot of activities as a 3 member group. A BEST album was released in March 2016, and they went on a 10th anniversary tour to promote it. KAT-TUN was posed to become the next major Johnny’s group, their debut single “Real Face” was one of the highest selling debut-singles ever. “Real Face” went on to sell over 1 million copies. The status of the group soon became quite tumultuous. Jin Akanishi went on hiatus from the group just 7 months after their debut, he eventually withdrew from KAT-TUN in 2010 to focus on a solo career. In 2013 the group lost another member when Koki Tanaka’s contract was canceled by Johnny’s.

“Connect” was released on April 5th, 2017. A DVD and blu-ray of his fan club concert “To The Next Level” has also been announced, it will hit store shelves on May 10th, 2017. Will you support Junnosuke’s solo activities?

(via mess-y and Yahoo)

Math Rock/Idol unit sora tob sakana, one of the most acclaimed acts in the niche formed and produced by Terui Yoshimasa (haisuinonasa), just released a new Music Video for “ribbon“. The track is the opener of the unit’s new record “Cocoon EP“, set to be released tomorrow in all Japanese stores.

Well known among fans for its complex compositions and fresh art direction, it’s safe to say sora tob sakana reached an even higher peak with this new video, as the music and visuals perfectly merge together to create a powerful artistic output.

This week’s guests were Daichi Miura, Ebina Kenichi, Takahashi Shigeo, and Horan Chiaki. Daichi Miura also performed with Kanjani8.

Daichi Miura x Kanjani8 – (RE)PLAY

We’re back with this week’s edition of Oricon Flashback. This is where we look back on what topped Oricon this week 5, 10, 15, and 20 years ago. Think of it as a way to reminisce and learn about the past of Japanese music.

On April 9’s live episode of “Gyouretsu no Dekiru Houritsu Soudanjo SP”, Ken Watabe from comedy duo Unjash announced his plan to wed Nozomi Sasaki.

Sasaki also joined in on the conversation through telephone.  When asked by Ryuucheru what his marriage proposal was, Watabe replied, “Since there is an age gap between us, I said, ‘I promise to live long, so please marry me.'”  Sasaki is 29 and Watabe is 44.

This week, Austin Mahone took the top spot on both Recochoku and iTunes with “Dirty Work.”

Doughnuts Hole’s “Otona no Okite” topped the Recochoku monthly chart for March.