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from various Japanese newspapers, entertainment magazine and ZAK ZAK news. Some
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FEBRUARY
1998
Note:
There are a lot of J-ENT news this month that involves older J-ENT celebrities.
I am not sure if you all wanted to read this information or rather keep it to
those who are more popular now. Please let me know what you think is more appropriate.
Eguchi
Yousuke injured
On
February 7, popular actor Yosuke Eguchi (30) [Hitotsu Yane no Shita] fractured
his leg when playing with a snowboard and was hospitalized. The doctor
says the actor should stay at the hospital for more than one month.
Just several days ago, Fuji TV announced Yosuke would come back again as a
TV drama actor in April. However, his injury may delay the drama schedule,
and in the worst case, Fuji TV might repleace him with another actor.
A magazine writer comments, "Eguchi-san is known as an expert snowboarder.
If he were a novice player, his injury would have been more serious."
TELEVIEWS BY WM. PENN (Daily Yomiuri) (2/19/98)
Despite the Olympic excitement,
I have been trying to monitor at least the morning shows this month in search
of some relationship between the growing teen violence and what one not only
sees but absorbs from exposure to TV. Concrete evidence of a connection
is hard to prove, but a rare bit of concrete proof turned up earlier this month
when a teen who had been involved in a stabbing incident revealed in a public
statement that he had acquired the idea that carrying a knife was a cool thing
to do from TV. Takuya Kimura's portrayal of a knife-wielding hero in last
year's hit drama "Gift" has been cited as a powerful example of how
such dramas can influence children and late afternoon reruns of it were stopped
in the Tokai region. But it gets very disillusioning when even old staples
like "Mito Komon," now back for its 26th season, airs unnecessarily
violent and sexually provocative scenes as it did Feb. 9 with the brutal beating
of a female ninja--a scene that went on far too long and probably should not
have gone on at all. The morning show announcers sit and wonder what's
wrong with children. What is wrong with the adults and the media is an even
better question. The panel on "Yajiuma Wide," which I used to consider
one of the best a.m. shows, recently was tittering over how a U.S. magazine
rather verbosely attempted to translate the concept of a "no pan shabu
shabu restaurant," the alleged setting for recent Finance Ministry financial
hanky panky. Female announcers regularly laugh along at the sexual innuendo
jokes of male panelists. It all creates a mood. Another example: On Feb.
12, the news that a new animal protection law had just been passed in Australia's
New South Wales hit the wide shows. The law includes a provision that anyone
who tortures a crab or lobster by boiling them alive could be sentenced to up
to two years in jail. Both the TV Asahi and Fuji TV networks' wide shows were
dumfounded. By the afternoon, Fuji TV's wide show left the katakana word "hisuteri"
(hysteria) across the screen during the whole report. Overzealous, perhaps,
but none of the panelists bothered to consider the law was aimed at stamping
out unnecessary cruelness to other living creatures which, as we saw in Kobe
last year, can deaden the senses and lead to horrible human behavior.
The day before, the morning shows reported Akebono's engagement to a woman some
networks described as a "hafu." The resident 11-year-old was incensed.
They should not use a discriminatory word like that, she protested. No, they
should not, but they do every day. It is a clear indicator of the media not
demonstrating respect for other human beings. These are just a few examples
from a day or two of what is considered news programming. Multiply this by weeks
and months of TV exposure. Mix in some violent dramas. Season with some variety
show antics and you get a powerful stew of ethnocentrism, bullying and intolerance.
Raise children on a diet
like that and you should not be surprised when it begins to stunt their growth.
ENDO
KUMIKO ENTERS SINGING WORLD
Popular teen Kumiko Endo (19) (aka Enkumi) known as an actress of NTV
drama "Five", will enter the singers world in April. On February
14, a live show for promoting her debut single "Sukinara Suki!" (coming
out on April 8, 1998) was held successfully at Garden Square hall of
Yokohama Land Mark Tower. The hall was full of 3,000 admires loving
Kumiko, indicating she might create a sensation in the near future.
TOP
Knifings focus attention on
TV drama episode
Knifings focus attention on TV drama episode. The script
writer of 'The Gift' reacts to criticism of an
episode in which the starring actor brandishes a knife. What
is behind the recent knifing attacks by teenage boys, including the recent stabbing
that killed a teacher and another that injured a police officer? Why did the
students use knives? The succession of juvenile crimes involving
knives has suddenly focused public attention on an episode of the 1997 television
drama called "The Gift," in which the starring actor, Takuya Kimura,
brandished a knife. Scrutiny of the drama series was sharpened
after one boy who was discovered carrying a knife admitted he had been influenced
by the show. The youth said he bought the weapon because he considered the way
the popular actor, who is also the lead singer of the group SMAP, used a knife
was cool.
Public criticism has so far led one television station in Nagoya to stop showing
reruns of the drama. An interview with Joji Iida, who wrote
the script for "The Gift," follows.
Q: Don't you think it's unusual for a program to be called the
remote cause of these crimes?
A: Every time "The Gift" is singled out for criticism,
I get an unpleasant feeling. I'm prepared to take social responsibility
for my works. But this ruckus is abnormal. I have to think that something's
wrong.
Q: The leading actor was Kimutaku (Takuya Kimura). The drama had
a high audience rating. Don't you think it must have had some kind of influence
on the people who saw it?
A: It's natural that programs sent out through the mass media influence
receivers. If no one is influenced, it is meaningless
and not worth one's while to create. I can understand how
viewers who saw Kimura brandish a knife thought it was cool. Ten out of 10 viewers
may think it's cool, and of them, maybe three persons actually want to have
a knife because of it.
Q: Some people think that such circumstances actually lead to the
more frequent occurrence of crimes. What do you say to those people?
A: That's wrong. Having a knife and having one and killing people
with it are two completely different matters. It's wrong
to mix things that are on different levels and discuss them together, and that's
what's actually going on.
Q: Do you believe adults were too eager to determine a cause for
the violence and unfairly blamed the drama?
A: If that's the case, the criticism aimed at the program represents
a sacrifice by an adult society in which thinking has
stopped. If a knifing case suspect were an adult and said he did it because
he watched television, who would listen to him?
Whether to commit a crime or not is the domain of individuals and
has nothing to do with the parties that send out the works.
If the program is blamed, it's as though my dignity as a creator is being denied.
Q: Why do you think children bring knives to school?
A: I don't know. One possible answer is that Japanese society is
becoming frightening. They say they carry knives to protect
themselves. They may be thinking that if others are carrying knives, they must
also carry one to compete with them. At this
rate, Japan will get closer to the United States, where people are afraid to
walk at night without a gun. Furthermore, generally held beliefs
that, for example, teachers are honorable, police are just and politics
can be trusted, are all falling apart now. Thanks to adults, I think there are
a growing number of children who can't believe in anything.
Q: Why did you include a knife scene in "Gift"?
A: First, I was asked to write a drama starring Kimura. Instead
of a simple love story, I wanted to write a story about a
man who made a mistake in the past and who was starting a new life. He would
squarely face his crime and overcome it in the
end. I used a knife as an item to symbolize the person that the man used to
be in the past, an outsider. I used a butterfly knife
because it was already popular among young people at the time.
Q: Do you ever wonder how people could construe the episode of
"The Gift" as endorsing murder with a knife?
A: Every story that I write, I write it hoping to give people who
see it positive energy. With this story, too, I think there
were some people who saw it and decided to give up being a delinquent.
However, it's difficult to guess at the impressions of viewers. For example,
a scriptwriter who wants to abolish the death penalty may depict an execution
scene. But some people who see it might feel that they want to see more deaths.
Q: Will the current situation influence your drama making in the
future?
A: If programs that have weapons appear in them are banned, no
one would be able to show historical dramas or American movies. Free expression
must be allowed because we believe in the conscience of the receivers. Otherwise,
neither newspapers that report incidents nor program sponsors can exist. I will
quit all my creative activities when I no longer have faith in any of the receivers
of my works.
TOP
EGUCHI
REPLACED BY KONDO MASAHIKO
Fuji announced on February
23 that it replaced injured actor Yosuke Eguchi (30) with another popular male
Masahiko Kondo (33) for its upcoming drama. Yosuke, who was a member
of big success TV drama "Hitotsu Yane no Shita", suffered heavy injuries
several days ago while snowboarding, and was hospitalized. Since then,
Fuji TV was trying to find another actor for its April new drama.
Titled "Don't Worry", this drama is scheduled for release on April
14. On this drama, Macchi acts a private detective. Kumiko Endo, a teen
actress of NTV drama "Five", also participates in.
TOP
PREPARE
FOR SHOKO!
According to an announcement
by Avex Trax, Shoko Kitano (15), a daughter of J-Ent celebrity Beat Takeshi
(51), will make her debut in May as a rock-oriented pop singer of Avex
Trax. Avex Trax asked ex-X Japan rocker Yoshiki (32) to produce a new
song for Shoko. In mid-February, Takeshi and Yoshiki met each other,
and both celebrities accpeted the offer from Avex Trax. Now, an Avex Trax
spokesperson says, "Nothing has decided yet except Yoshiki will
join Avex's new project. Shoko is a talented girl, so we are sure she
will get a big success even if her father Takeshi isn't there."
Recording the debut single is scheduled to start in March.
TOP
Pretty
please, with Shazna on top
Yasuhisa Harada Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer Yomiuri
Izam is a new teen idol. Many of the pinup star's followers adore his beauty--a
synthetic look that does not even hint at the possibility of a beard underneath
his impeccable makeup. When Shazna, the name of Izam's New Romantic revival
band, began popping up on hit charts, the vocalist had people wondering whether
he was a sensuous female singer, a cross-dresser or a fashion-conscious androgyne.
Izam now inspires fans to mimic his style with lots of frills, purples and plaids.
It did not take long before the band's--and particularly Izam's--bold fashion
statement caught on with the fans, who flock to Shazna concerts looking
exactly like the pop idol. The Jan. 11 show at Shibuya Kokaido Hall was no exception.
It was the last date for Shazna's nationwide tour, which began in late 1997,
and the venue was filled with girls with pink hair and Izam-inspired outfits.
Izam is cool about being a singer whose influence on young females' wardrobes
and makeup kits is greater than most female celebrities.
"I'm not hiding anything under the makeup. It's still me underneath,"
Izam asserted, putting the finishing touches to his face before the show. Forty
shades of eye shadow and 30 lipsticks, all professional-grade cosmetics, were
spread on the table. The only factor that prevented him from being himself,
which he successfully hid from the audience, was a fever he had from catching
a cold.
It was easy to see what Izam means when he says the makeup is not a means to
transform himself into a different being. On stage, he is nothing but a male
rock vocalist, presiding over the audience with guitarist AOI and bassist
Niy rendering powerful sounds by his side. The band--which Izam said was
a group of poor, amateur musicians just two
years ago--has released four hit singles since August. "We were about to
give up. We agreed on holding out for just one more year," Izam said. Finding
a competent agent, though, put Shazna on a fast track to stardom.
Japan has the Takarazuka all-female troupe, where women play debonair gentlemen,
but Izam caught the showbiz world by surprise. The initial shock prompted some
people to dismiss Shazna as a freak act. Then they began analyzing the band
and its quick success. Some took the makeup as an antisocial message. Others
attributed the band's success to strategic marketing, which they imagined to
be conjured up by industry wizards.
"I began putting on makeup without any particular reason," Izam declared.
"I don't think I will be walking around looking like this when I turn 40.
But I think I'm capable of being in touch with the times one way or another
even
when I'm older."
So the appearance of little Izams, the teenage girls who dress like him, is
the result not of clever marketing, but rather the singer's intuitive decision
to be what pleases the crowd most.
But he also knows that the girls' admiration alone would not get the band any
further. Shazna's first album, Gold Sun and Silver Moon, is a two-part disc
featuring two different sets of songs. Bassist Niy explained that the setup
is reminiscent of the times when people had to flip records to listen to sides
A and B. "That's our way of telling ourselves that our songs ought to be
as good as quality recordings made back in the analog era," AOI said.
TOP