American magazine People will soon be releasing its "100 Most Beautiful People" list, so Oricon has put together a small survey about "beautiful" Japanese celebrities. 1,000 men and women participated in the survey, which asked about both male and female celebrities.

The #1 answer for male celebrities was young actor Mizushima Hiro (25), though the survey was conducted just before he announced his marriage to singer Ayaka (21). Among female celebrities, the recently divorced Fujiwara Norika (37) was the #1 choice.

Women:

1. Fujiwara Norika
2. Yoshinaga Sayuri
3. Nakama Yukie
4. Koyuki
5. Kuroki Hitomi
6. Matsushima Nanako
7. Ito Misaki
8. Takeuchi Yuko
9. Shibasaki Kou
10. Kuroki Meisa

1. Mizushima Hiro
2. Gackt
3. Fukuyama Masaharu
4. Kimura Takuya
5. HYDE
6. Tamaki Hiroshi
7. Okada Junichi
8. Domoto Koichi
9. Takizawa Hideaki
10. Tanihara Shosuke

Here some movies to look out for in cinemas in March.
There are no interesting Japanese DVD releases in March as far as I know.

March 7, 2009
The Glorious Team Batista 2:
The Triumphal Return of General Rouge

In this sequel to 2008 hit, "The Glorious Team Batista", Taguchi (Takeuchi Yuko) and Shiratori (Hiroshi Abe) return to investigate the suspicious connection between a charismatic emergency physician (Masato Sakai) and a medical manufacturer which loses its top executive to suicide as soon as the investigation begins.



March 7, 2009
Yatterman

A live action feature based on the classic Tatsunoko cartoon series. A trio of baddies (with female boss Fukada Kyoko) search for a stone that has the power to reveal the largest veins of gold on Earth, but are constantly thwarted by the "Yatterman" (including Fukuda Saki) duo. Also of interest is the cute young actress Okamoto Anri.



March 14, 2009
Koikyokusei (Days With You)

Toda Erika plays Natsuki, a young girl living in Hokkaido who takes care of her autistic younger brother. One day she is reunited with a childhood love named Souta (Kazuki Kato), whom she hasn’t seen since he moved to Canada 11 years earlier. He moved back to Japan 4 years ago, but chose to go to a university in Tokyo, causing Natsuki to feel somewhat betrayed and disappointed. Due to the heavy responsibility on Natsuki’s shoulders, she hasn’t experienced much happiness since the death of her father, but Souta’s kindness gradually brings a smile back to her face. They finally plan a date, but for some reason Souta doesn’t show up at the agreed time. Eventually she’s made aware of a terrible twist of fate that could interrupt the reunited couple’s happiness.



March 14, 2009
Honokaa Boy

A love-scorned college student (Masaki Okada) travels to Hawaii and meets various people who have an impact on him, not the least of which being an older woman whom he falls in love with (Hasegawa Jun). Aoi Yuu is also appearing in a side role.



March 20, 2009
Fish Story

Based on a novel by Kotaro Isaka, ‘Fish Story’ weaves together several seemingly separate storylines taking place at different points in time over a 37-year span to explain how a little-known punk rock song can save the world. Yoshihiro Nakamura (The Foreign Duck, the Native Duck and God in a Coin Locker, The Glorious Team Batista) directs.
In 1975, an unpopular Japanese punk band called “Gekirin” (Imperial Wrath) starts work on their 3rd album. Unfortunately the band is a little ahead of its time; punk won’t be marketable until the Sex Pistols debut in the UK the following year. Due to nonexistent sales, their record company decides to drop them and they break up soon after recording their final song: “Fish Story”.
In 1982 a timid college student named Masashi (Gaku Hamada) becomes fascinated by strange rumors surrounding the song. Apparently, at a certain point in the recording there is a brief interlude where you can hear a woman scream. Later, he meets a mysterious woman at a party who inexplicably predicts that he will save the world one day.
In 2009 a teenager named Asami (Tabe Mikako) falls asleep during a school field trip and gets left behind on a boat. Initially distraught, she’s eventually consoled by a kindly cook. Suddenly, men with guns storm in and attempt a boat-jacking.
In 2012 a huge comet can be seen in the sky on a path to destroy Earth. The US has failed in their attempt to blow it up and with only 5 hours left before impact, all major city streets are completely abandoned. That is, except for one record store that continues business as usual. Within the store, “Fish Story” can be heard playing on an old turntable.
Every previously unconnected event is eventually tied together as a song that transcends time and space somehow manages to change the fate of the world.



March 20, 2009
Dance, Subaru!

Subaru (Kuroki Meisa) and her twin brother Kazuma dream of someday becoming ballet dancers, but are consistently discouraged by their dad. When Kazuma dies of a hereditary illness, Subaru focuses all her effort on dance on his behalf. One day she meets a cabaret owner named Isuzu (Kaori Momoi) who notices Subaru’s raw talent and offers to train her. She’s a quick learner, and soon decides to step her goals up a notch by entering an international dance competition that could net her a scholarship to one of the most prestigious ballet companies in the world. The road is not an easy one, as Subaru is forced to deal with rivalries, betrayal, and other hardships along the way. Ultimately, the experience teaches her and her friends more about themselves, and life in general.



March 20, 2009
Tsurikichi Sanpei

In this live-action adaptation of Takao Yaguchi’s classic fishing manga, Kenta Suga stars as Sanpei Mihira, the young boy with a knack for angling. Filling out the other main roles are Tsunehiko Watase as Ippei Mihira, Takashi Tsukamoto as pro fisherman Gyoshin Ayukawa, and Kashii Yu as Mihira Aiko.

On the 19th, Video Research Ltd. published a ranking that shows which celebrity had the most exposure in commercials throughout the last year.

Actor Tamaki Hiroshi took the first place in the Kanto region with his commercials for Nagatanien, UCAN and other companies. In total you could have been able to see his face for 250,455 seconds. In 2007 he still had only been on the 4th place, but now he was even able to create a little gap between him and actress Nakama Yukie on the 2nd place with 'only' 187,125 seconds of exposure.

Another person who had a sudden rise was American actor and model Dante Carver who climbed up from the 77th to the 18th place due to his Softbank commercials. Actresses Eikura Nana, Miyazaki Aoi, Takeuchi Yuko and Ayase Haruka all made it into the top20 for the first time since the existence of the ranking in 2001.

Ueto Aya was able to take the first place in the Nagoya region again while announcer Oota Maki and actor Toyohara Kousuke share the top position in the Kansai region.

Some details have been revealed about "Nakumonka," the upcoming movie by director Nobuo Mizuta and screenwriter Kankuro Kudo. The comedy, first announced in December, reunites Mizuta and Kudo with lead actor Sadao Abe, whom they last worked with in "Maiko Haaaan!!!"

The story revolves around a young man running a restaurant in a Tokyo shopping district (Abe), living earnestly despite being abandoned by his father as a child. He is unknown to his younger brother, who is finding success as a comedian (Eita). Meanwhile, Yuko Takeuchi plays Abe's marriage prospect, the restaurant's original owner's daughter who has mysteriously grown from an ugly child into a beautiful woman. This is said to be the first true comedy roles for Eita and Takeuchi.

Shooting began at the start of this month and will wrap up in mid-April. Toho has scheduled the film for a November release.

Source: Tokyograph