(Source: Purichou) Upon seeing her mother's photo at the funeral, GoMaki said, "She was beautiful." GoMaki's mother, Tokiko-san, had fallen to her death from the 3rd story of their house on 23rd January, last Saturday.

Labels: Maki Goto

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(Source: Sanspo) It has been revealed that singer-songwriter Utada Hikaru (27) has broken up with her boyfriend, an artist who is 8 years her senior. The two have started seeing each other since September last year, as revealed on her own blog.

According to various inside sources, due to Utada's busy schedule (she has been overseas since the 15th of this month for her tour) as well as lifestyle differences, the decision to break up had been taken. She intends to concentrate on her new album this year. While the two were dating, papparazzi had taken photos of them hanging out at her house, or cycling to his atelier.

Labels: Utada Hikaru

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(Source: Mainichi) It was announced on the 25th of January that Ueno Juri (25) will be playing the title role in NHK's Taiga Drama on the life of Tokugawa Hidetada's (the second Shogun of the Tokugawa dynasty) daughter, Gou. The drama is entitled Gou~Himetachi no Sengoku (Gou~ The Princesses of the Warring States).

The script was written by Tabuchi Kumiko, who also wrote the script for NHK's previous Taiga Drama, Atsuhime (which starred Miyazaki Aoi). This will be the first Taiga Drama for Ueno Juri of Nodame Cantabile fame.

Labels: Ueno Juri

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(Source: Oricon) Entertainment magazine Ori Star carried out a survey/enquete amongst 400 readers, asking them who they thought the breakthrough artiste of 2010 would be. The results were published in their newest issue, which went on sale on 22nd January. Nishino Kana came in tops in the results.

For girls aged between 10 and 20, Nishino reportedly gave them an "Ayu" feeling. (Ayumi Hamasaki) Nishino Kana was chosen from among 40,000 hopefuls during auditions organised by Sony Music and had a major debut in 2008.

Labels: Japan, Nishino Kana

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(Source: Sanspo) At 10.55 on 23rd January, the mother of Maki Goto (GoMaki), former member of popular Japanese pop unit Morning Musume, was found lying on the road outside their house, bleeding from the head. GoMaki's sister then promptly called 119 and their mother was then sent to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

The Goto family's house has three levels, and the window at the third level was found to be slightly ajar. The possibility of suicide has not yet been ruled out. GoMaki's mother, Tokiko-san, was also said to be drunk the night before according to an eye-witness account. The three ladies had been living together in their 3-storey house before the accident.

Labels: Goto Maki, Japan

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(Source: Oricon) Takeuchi Yuko attended the premiere of Isaka Kotaro's mystery novel turned movie, Golden Slumbers at Tokyo's Roppongi Hiruzu Arena on 18th January 2010 and got everybody talking about her attire in the mad Japanese winter.

She was wearing a thin top, a light rider jacket, short pants and was apparently also barefoot. While commenting that she did feel a bit cold, Takeuchi Yuko flashed a gamely celebrity smile, playing it professional.

Labels: Japan, takeuchi yuko

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(Source: Sanspo) It was announced on the 17th of January 2010 that in order to celebrate Horipro's 50th Anniversary since its establishment, Horipro will start production on a new suspense movie called "Inshitemiru".

This movie will feature an all-Horipro line-up; cast includes Ayase Haruka (above) (24), Hirayama Aya (26) (bottom), Fujiwara Tatsuya (27).

Labels: Ayase Haruka, Japan

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(Source: Sanspo) Female actress and singer, Matsu Takako (32) began her nation-wide tour on 16th January 2010. Sahashi Yoshiyuki (48), the guitarist to whom she got married in December 2007, will be part of the back-band accompanying her on the tour.

Matsu's stage will be overflowing with conjugal bliss - with her husband to give his tangible and spiritual support on stage, made even more apparent with Matsu's introduction of herself as "Sahashi", adopting her husband's last name. This is the first time the couple is doing a tour together since their marriage.

Labels: Japan, Matsu Takako

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Labels: CM, Japan, Kuroki Meisa

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(Source: Sanspo) A new movie, "Flowers" featuring Aoi Yuu (24), Suzuki Kyoka (41) , Takeuchi Yuko (29), Tanaka Rena (29), Nakama Yukie (30), Hirosue Ryoko (29) will be released on the 12th of June of this year. This star-studded cast will present a tale that will span 3 generations.

It was observed also, that the cast reminded one strangely of TSUBAKI CMs, where many beautiful actresses (Nakama Yukie notably included) are featured to reflect the "beauty of Japan". Given these tropes of familiarity, there has been talk of a tie-up between the movie and a new TSUBAKI CM campaign. Let's wait and see!

Labels: Aoi Yuu, Hirosue Ryoko, Japan, Nakama Yukie

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(Source: Sanspo) It-couple Oguri Shun (27) and Yamada Yuu (25) returned from Hawaii on 11th January, touching down at Narita Airport yesterday. The couple had left the country on 4th January. When asked if this was a pre-marriage holiday jaunt, the reply was no, but with a serene smile on the face. When asked if the holiday was fun, Oguri Shun replied affirmatively. Oguri Shun was also seen to be helping Yamada Yuu with her luggage out of the airport.

The couple had started dating since March 2008, after working with each other on the same drama in January of the same year.

Labels: Japan, Oguri Shun, Yamada Yuu

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Labels: Nakagawa Shoko

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Labels: Atsushi Tamura, Japan, Namie Amuro

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(Source: Sanspo) 18 year old gravure idol and actress, Kitano Kii, will release her debut album on 24th February 2010, a Wednesday. Kitano Kii was reported as saying "I really love singing so the day when I was scouted was really like a dream come true!"

She is scheduled for a Handshaking event at Tokyo on the 9th, and at Osaka on the 10th. With a burst of determination she also said that "No matter how few people listen to her songs, she would continue striving with her best efforts."

Labels: Japan, Kitano Kii

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(Source: Sanspo) It was announced on 2nd of January 2010 that PUFFY's Yumi has secretly gotten married! According to the report, the other party has been a good friend for 7 years, but the two had only started seriously dating from September 2009 to December 2009 (4 months!) Due to the busy schedule, neither the ceremony nor the honeymoon has taken place.

Yoshimura Yumi has previously been married to Nishikawa Takanori (whose stage alias is T.M. Revolution) from 1999 to 2003.

Labels: Japan, PUFFY

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(Source: Entame) Miyazaki Aoi celebrated her birthday on 30th Dec 2009, counting down to the date at a hotel room full of close friends, which numbered around 30. It was reported that close friends Aoi Yuu and Mizukawa Asami also rushed there for the event to surprise her.

Miyazaki Aoi then wished for more acting roles in movies in 2010, and promised to work harder. The report mused upon Miyazaki Aoi's fidgety and nervous disposition that night, despite being at her own party, but then pointed out that Miyazaki Aoi was purported to be that kind of shy, uneasy, nervous type of japanese girl anyway.

Labels: Japan, Miyazaki Aoi

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Labels: Ayaka, Exile, Hamasaki Ayumi, Japan, Susan Boyle

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Hello readers, I understand that most of you are not from Singapore (according to my statistics) but those of you that are, and those of you that will swing by Singapore, please do explore our locally produced works.

The Myopic Years is a campus novel written by Poppy Pachinko that is fun and easy-to-read, a lesbian chick-lit book set in Singapore. In the House of Straw is Chris Yeo's debut feature-length film about bicycle thieves lurking around HDB flats. More information about obtaining the book (Booksactually, or contact myfirstgossipblog [at] gmail.com ) or the film (website: http://inthehouseofstraw.com) can be found in the About section.

Thank you! Happy New Year !!! ^_^ 0 comments