Young actress Yamashita Rio (16) will play the starring role in the BS-TBS horror-dorama "Kaidan Shin Mimi Bukuro Special" that is airing on July 2nd and 9th. It's based on a series of ghost-story novels and doramas of the same name and is known outside of Japan as "Tales of Terror from Tokyo and All Over Japan".

In a recent interview Yamashita revealed that she often has nightmares, the most recent one in the night of the 4th this month and also already experienced fear that would give her a temporary feeling of paralysis. The most scary things she experienced so far are, "Studying for high-school and tests."

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Written by: jyoyu.blogspot.com
Source: Sanspo
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It was time for actor Watari Tetsuya (61) and actress Ueto Aya (23) to part as they finished filming for the TV Asahi doramaSP "Kekkon" in Fukushima. Both feel sad that it's over already, as they seem to have developed a somewhat real 'father-daughter' connection outside of the filming. Watari even gave his 'beloved daughter' Ueto a Tiffany pendant as a parting gift. "It's the first time I felt like I simply had to give something to a costar," Watari said as shy as if he was a young boy again.

The last scenes shot at the Toyoma Beach in Iwaki City will also be the highlight scenes in the dorama with the father and daughter confronting each other. Due to the chold sea breeze the temperatures have been below 10°C during the filming, but Ueto still showed a playful barefoot performance in the waves. "I've been an actor for more than 40 years, but I've never felt so lonely after finishing the filming. Aya-chan is so adorable, isn't she?" Watari commented with a sad tone while watching his 'daugther'.

Ueto is having similar feelings. "Yesterday he said, 'You are lonely, aren't you?' and even had his meal together with me. My father is a really kind one." Thereupon Watari finally made his move gave her the present. "I wanted to surprise, but I think the staff already leaked it out." Ueto untied the light blue box and saw the shining Tiffany pendant. "Wow! Can I put it on!?" She was very touched by his present and Watari had a shy smile on his face that almost made him look like a young boy again.

Watari chose a 18 karat gold pendant with a heart-shaped charm and diamonds on it. He also had the words, "To Aya From Watari Papa" and the date "2009-5-15" engraved into it. "Aya-chan doesn't drink alcohol and so I chose this with the hope that a 23-years-old girl would like it. It's the first time in my life that I'm giving something like that to a costar." He confessed.

Watari bought it at Tiffany's in Ginza, when they've been filming in Tokyo at the end April. He also said that the shop assistant there recommended a carved seal to him. "Why 'Watari Papa'? That's how Aya-chan always called me." He explained. Ueto looked at 'fatherly feelings' around her neck and hugged him for this nice present.

TV Asahi plans to air this doramaSP at the end of the year.

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Written by: jyoyu.blogspot.com
Source: Sanspo
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Masami Nagasawa (21) and Jun Kunimura (53) are co-starring in a Fuji TV drama special called "Oyaji no Ichiban Nagai Hi" ("Dad's Longest Day"). The drama is an original story inspired by the 1979 hit song of the same name by Masashi Sada.

The story revolves around the owner of a lantern shop in Asakusa named Eiichiro (Kunimura) and his daughter Chiharu (Nagasawa). Chiharu declares that she wants to marry her boyfriend (Sousuke Takaoka), but Eiichiro is strongly opposed, resulting in a fight between the two. Chiharu's older brother (Atsushi Ito) serves as the narrator, and Sada himself will also have a cameo appearance.

Fuji TV plans to broadcast the special on June 19 at 9:00pm.

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Copied from Tokyograph
All credits to them!

Veteran actor Watari Tetsuya is teaming up with actress Ueto Aya as co-stars in a TV Asahi drama special called "Kekkon." The drama comes from screenwriter Hashida Sugako and producer Ishii Fukuko, who have previously worked together on the TBS series "Wataru Seken wa Oni Bakari."

As the title suggests, the show is a family dama revolving around the topic of marriage. Ueto plays the only child of Watari and his wife (played by Takahashi Keiko). Tokushige Satoshi takes on the role of Ueto's prospective partner, the only son of another couple (Saigo Teruhiko and Wakao Ayako).

This is actually Watari's third time as lead actor in a drama special by the screenwriter-producer combo of Hashida and Ishii. The first two - "Omoide Kakurenbo" in 2000 and "Fuufu" in 2006 - both had over 20% ratings.

TV Asahi has not yet determined a broadcast date for "Kekkon," but the network has said that they plan to air it before the end of this year.

Copied from Tokyograph

[2009-04-18]
Announcement of NHK's "Saka no Ue no Kumo"

On the 15th was a press event for NHK's special dorama "Saka no Ue no Kumo".
It was the first announcement of Ishihara Satomi playing the wife Sueko of Akiyama Saneyuki played by Motoki Masahiro.

Clip:

At the day of the press event they were filming the marriage ceremony.
Satomi was very nervous during the whole time due to the unfamiliar clothes and all her great seniors around her. Sueko will only make her appearance during the 2nd part (fall 2010), but the dorama itself already starts on November 27, 2009.
Please try to watch it by all means!!!

Written by: jyoyu.blogspot.com
Please don't post this translation anywhere else!

Today it got revealed that Ishihara Satomi (22) is going to play Akiyama Sueko, the wife of navy soldier Akiyama Saneyuki in NHK's special epic dorama called "Saka no Ue no Kumo". Actor Motoki Masahiro (43) appears in the starring role as Saneyuki. We were able to see Ishihara as the bride in her wedding gown and Motoko in his naval uniform for the marriage ceremony.

"Saka no Ue no Kumo" is a very special dorama that is planned to get 13 episodes (90min each) over the period of 3 years. The first episode is going to air on November 29, 2009 and 4 more after that still in 2009. Episode 6-9 will air sometime in 2010 and episode 10-13 in 2011. It's based on a novel by Shiba Ryoutarou.

Ishihara was dressed as the noble young woman who marries Saneyuko, an inportant character in the Russo-Japanese War. It plays in the Meiji period, so she had to look really graceful with her black hem and always walked behind her "husband".

Motoki also had a very gallant short hair cut in order to make him look like a real major of the navy. He was also wearing a complete military uniform and often gave his "wife" a kind smile.

"When I see how well the full-dress uniform suits Motoki, my heart starts to throb really fast and I can feel the happiness. I'm happy that I can be his wife safely today." Ishihara said with a nervous smile. Motoki couldn't hold back a smile, when his 'wife' revealed her innocent thoughts and replied, "We are having brilliant marriage weather and all the trees are glittering thanks to last night's rain."

Sueko won't appear until the 2nd part of episodes that airs in 2010. She's a Meiji woman who was able to "change" Saneyuki's heart with her innocence. He has been a single for 36 years. "Sue-san is both, a very modest and a very strong person. She's a woman gifted with both intelligence and beauty, but I think Saneyuki got also attracted by her unique humor. Ishihara fits perfectly, since she has that same natural cheerfulness." Motoki more than clearly approved of Ishihara. He furthermore admired how she looks in the wedding gown, "She's elegant and beautiful", which made her giggle and brought a shy smile on her face. "Motoki-san's eyes are sparkling. I'm happy because he is. I.. don't know what to comment." Ishihara blushed. Motoki was placed in a difficult situation as his real wife, actress Uchida Yayako (33) must have been very jealous. His awkward state brought him a lot of laughter.

The filming for this epic dorama project will last until next year, but Motoki just recently won an Oscar with the movie "Okuribito" (Departures) in which he had the starring role, so he should be very well prepared for the task.

Written by: jyoyu.blogspot.com / Source: Sanspo
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Arashi's Ninomiya Kazunari (25) and actress Inoue Mao (22) will co-star in a drama special on TBS. The story is based on two novels written by professional windsurfer Iijima Natsuki, who died of cancer in 2005.

During Iijima's battle with cancer, he wrote an essay titled "Gan ni Ikasarete," which formed part of the basis for the 2007 film "Tengoku de Kimi ni Aetara," a biography of Iijima that starred Osawaw Takao and Ito Misaki. Around the same time, Iijima penned a novel also titled "Tengoku de Kimi ni Aetara," as well as a sequel titled "Kamisama ga Kureta Namida." The drama special is based on those two books, which sold more than 450,000 copies combined.

The drama is also being called "Tengoku de Kimi ni Aetara." Ninomiya plays the main character, a psychiatrist working in the counseling room of a cancer treatment center by the beach. While tending to the patients, part of his job involves taking dictation from them when they want to send a letter to a loved one.

Inoue plays the psychiatrist's wife and mother to the couple's twin daughters. Other cast members include Miyamoto Nobuko as a nurse, Santamaria Yusuke as a surgeon, and Ogata Naoto as the owner of a surf shop.

The broadcast date for the drama has not yet been determined.

Copy & Pasted from: TokyoGraph / Source: Sponichi

Hiroshi Tamura's best-selling autobiography "Homeless Chugakusei" will have a sequel to its television adaptation. Last July, Fuji TV aired a drama special that starred new child actor Kuroki Tatsuya as Tamura's childhood self. The episode garnered ratings of 18.8% in the Kanto area and 26.0% in the Kansai region.

On April 12, the network will broadcast "Homeless Chugakusei 2," based on the book "Homeless Daigakusei" that was published by Tamura's older brother Kenichi this past October. The book relates the family's experiences from the perspective of Kenichi, who was a college student at the time.

Including Kuroki, the cast of the first special - including Kaho, Tanaka Kei, Naito Takashi, and Yakushimaru Hiroko - will reprise their roles. In addition, Tanimura Mitsuki is joining the cast as Kenichi's girlfriend.

Source: Tokyograph

On Wednesday, Horikita Maki, Kuroki Meisa and Gekidan Hitori attended the preview screening of the soon-to-be-aired comedy dorama SP "Chance!". A new employee (Horikita) at a travel agency accidentally takes the mobile phone of one of her superiors (Kuroki) and suddenly have to do various important tasks with the company's fortune at stake. The whole story aims to encourage all the new working adults who will start working this spring.

Where would Horikita like to work as a freshman employee? "At (NTT) DoCoMo, of course." It was an immediate and not really surprising reply, since NTT is the main sponsor of this dorama. Both Horikita and Gekidan also appear in the current commercials of that company. "It might be more like a dream, but... I'd like to work at NTT, too." Gekidan agreed with Horikita. However, Kuroki is a bit undecided. "Behind the scenes I was thinking about what to answer and Maki told me, 'Just repeat what I say.', but I'll restrain myself from answering. (laughs)"

In the end Horikita also had to say something to everyone who is in the same situation as the young woman she's playing. "She really thought that it's dreadful to work and didn't get into the company she wanted to. I don't want you to give up as well and grab your chance."

The dorama SP airs in two parts on 3/7 and 3/14 on Fuji TV.

Please go to www.pori-chan.com for more news and a community to talk about Horikita Maki!

Fuji TV's dorama "Zettai Kareshi" (Absolute Boyfriend) about a humanoid robot with Hayami Mokomichi in the leading role is receiving a special in spring.

In the last episode of the series the robot called Tenjo Night, played by Mokomichi stopped functioning. However, he's going to be revived this time. The mystery behind his resurrection will be what the main plot is going to be about. Mokomichi about the special, "This dorama totally deserves a special, I'm very happy. You'll see Night with an upgraded version."

Night was and will be continue to be involved in a love triangle between himself, Asamoto Soshi (Mizushima Hiro) and the heroine Izawa Riiko (Aibu Saki). Those three will be joined by an ingenious scientist played by Kuninaka Ryoko who plays an important part in Night's revival, as well as the scientist's assistant played by Uchida Asahi.

The producer of "Zettai Kareshi" just recently won an award for his work on that dorama. He speaks a bit about the special. "The topic in the special will again be 'love'. The 'absolute love' will further evolve than in the dorama series." It will also be interesting to see Mokomichi's 'evolved' performance of Night the robot.

Credits to: jyoyu.blogspot.com
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