J!-ENT
Asian Entertainment News and Pop Culture

JapanToday.com reported, “Actress Norika Fujiwra, 36, this week met Empress Michiko at the annual National Red Cross conference held in Tokyo. Fujiwara, who does PR for the Japan Red Cross and visited Bangladesh in February, gave a presentation on the current situation of that country after it was hit by a cyclone, during the conference.”

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Japantoday.com reported, “Actress Norika Fujiwara, 36, will appear in her first Broadway musical, “The DROWSY Chaperone,” next year. Fujiwara, who plays the main character Janet Van De Graaff, said, “I have already started voice and dance training. But my biggest challenge is to get more flexibility in my body. Since this is my first experience as a leading actor in a play, I’m going to make every possible effort so that people can enjoy the musical.”

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Japantoday.com reported, “Actress Norika Fujiwara, 36, said this week that her charity organization had opened a school for children in Cambodia on March 25. According to Fujiwara, the school was built in an area four hours by car from the capital Phnom Penh. The school, which used to be made of wood, has been renovated into a concrete building with toilets and a water well. It can accommodate 600 students.”

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Mainichi Daily News reported, “Marriages marked a happy end to a year of celebrity nuptials in 2007, which figures such as Norika Fujiwara and Joe Odagiri topping headlines.”"Norika Fujiwara, 36, married 33-year-old comedian Tomonori Jinnai in a wedding at Ikuta Shrine in Kobe on Feb. 17. At a lavish reception on May 30, Fujiwara appeared in a white dress, and the pair welcomed 500 guests.”

“Because of the gap in performance fees for Fujiwara and Jinnai, their wedding was referred to as a “status-gap” marriage, but they appear to be getting on well as a newly married couple, being selected together as judges for the year-end Kohaku Uta Gassen (Red-White Singing Contest) aired by NHK.”

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Mainichi Daily News reported, “Actress Norika Fujiwara, 36, and her comedian husband Tomonori Jinnnai, 33, will serve as judges during the annual year-end celebrity singing contest, NHK officials announced.”"The couple, who attracted national attention with their highly publicized marriage in February, will be part of the jury panel for the 58th annual “Kohaku Utagassen” (Red and White Singing Contest) to be aired live on the New Year’s Eve on Monday, the program’s broadcaster NHK said on Wednesday.”

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Mainichi Daily News reported that celeb confessions were the top news last week.

According to the article, “A series of confessions filled the top spots of the Mainichi’s Japanese-language entertainment news during the week between Dec. 15 and 21, with actress Aya Ueto, celebrity Yu Aihara, and pinup model Yuri Morishita in the limelight.”

“Meanwhile, 36-year-old actress Norika Fujiwara, who got married in May this year, and 47-year-old actress Naomi Kawashima, who only recently announced her engagement, both revealed that they were considering starting a family.”

“On Dec. 16, during an event to celebrate the release of a new DVD, Ueto, 22, said she had had many ups and downs during the year, and confessed that she had gone through a dark period during which she thought maybe she would “come to an end.”

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