Yamashita Tomohisa to perform on next week’s M Countdown

Japanese idol star Yamashita Tomohisa will be appearing on next week’s episode of Mnet’s M Countdown!


Currently the leader of boy band NEWS, the idol is scheduled to release his first official solo album, “SUPERGOOD, SUPERBAD“, on March 2nd, followed by a two day

More details released on NEWS’ upcoming single “Fighting Man”!

As many of you know already, NEWS will be releasing a new single titled “Fighting Man” on November 3rd. More details about the fresh single have just been revealed, as well as a first look at the cover jacket!

See the lists and cover below.

Kamenashi Kazuya Begins ‘DREAM BOYS’! Yamapi and Ryo-chan Recovering

The musical ‘DREAM BOYS’, featuring KAT-TUN member Kamenashi Kazuya (23) as the lead actor, has finally started at the Imperial Garden Theater in Marunouchi, Tokyo.

The popular musical series started in 2004, and from then on it has become an annual event. Alongside Kamenashi, who has appeared in every one of the productions, KANJANI∞ members Shibuya Subaru (27) and Tegoshi Yuya (21) will also participate. Kamenashi seemed pleased with the cast choices. “We have lots of big name members in the cast. The series have evolved over the years, and for this production we’re surely going to have a strong impact on the audience like never before.” During the show, Kamenashi broke records by showing the dynamic ‘flying’ sequence 18 times for a total of 24 minutes. The crowd was visibly awed.

Tegoshi commented about fellow NEWS members Yamashita Tomohisa a.k.a. Yama-P (24) and Nishikido Ryo a.k.a. Ryo-chan (24) who had both come down with the flu. “I’m sure they’ll come back soon. As for ME, I’m totally healthy!” The theater itself was on ‘high alert’, so the main cast members were all examined by doctors beforehand, and the nearly 200 staff personnel wore flu masks. At the backstage entrance visitors were asked to put on masks and use hand disinfectants.

All the tickets for all the dates of the musical had sold out on the first day they had been made available. The three young Johnny’s groups, KAT-TUN, NEWS, and KANJANI∞ had proved yet again their continuing popularity and forward momentum.

Johnny's idols take turns in mini-drama project

Several Johnny's Jimusho idols will participate in a television mini-drama project on Fuji TV. Titled "0 Goushitsu no Kyaku," the show will consist of six stories, each lasting for a month. The weekly episodes will be 15 minutes long.

The drama is set in a city hotel called Point, where there is a strange "Room 0" that can reveal one's "grade" as a human being. Various guests with different circumstances visit the room, hoping to determine their own worth.

The first story stars Arashi's Satoshi Ohno as a salaryman who visits the room with a kyabakura hostess, only to discover that she gets a higher grade than he does.

In the second story, Kanjani8's Ryuhei Maruyama and Shota Yasuda play a comedy duo. Although they get along well, they can't find success together, so they visit the room to measure themselves.

The rest of the stories will be led by Shigeaki Kato (NEWS), Shingo Murakami (Kanjani8), Keiichiro Koyama (NEWS), and Shigeru Joshima (TOKIO), in that order. Yu Yokoyama (Kanjani8) will appear throughout the entire series as the storyteller.

The project will start with Ohno's story on October 23. Fuji TV will air the show late on Friday nights, at 1:05 am.

Takahisa Masuda's First Starring Stage Role

Takahisa Masuda (22) of NEWS has landed his first starring role in a play this November, titled "Ame no Hi no Mori no Naka." Masuda has performed in stage shows before, but this will be his first time taking the stage in a true acting role.

The play is written and produced by Masafumi Nishida, who was one of the screenwriters for the hit drama series "Maou." The story is an original slapstick comedy about a college student (Masuda) whose car runs out of gas, stranding him and a friend (Mitsuki Tanimura) in the woods on a rainy day. They eventually end up at an old boarding house, but it seems suspicious. As it turns out, Masuda's character gets frightened very easily by the incidents that occur, while Tanimura plays the much more strong-willed character.

Performances are scheduled for November 4-23 at The Globe Tokyo, followed by a run at Osaka's Theater Drama City on November 26-30.




credits: tokyograph