‘Dancing Mary’: No love lost for this spooky fantasy
Naoto Kataoka of pop group Exile takes on his first leading role in Sabu’s ghostly rom-com/actioner, but the film’s mix of genre elements doesn’t quite gel.
Naoki Kobayashi: A J-pop star jumps to a new stage
Having already tasted success in the world of J-pop, Naoki Kobayashi has now set his sights on an acting career overseas.
Izakaya Aobadai: Classic soba, new-wave sake and cherry-tree views
It's an excellent sign when the first sight that greets you at a restaurant is a gleaming refrigerator filled with some of the best sake in Japan. When the next thing you see is a room set aside for rolling out and cutting soba ...
Kids' performance led by Exile star at Olympic flame ceremony to draw on Japan's culture and myths
The March 19 ceremony to mark the handover of the Olympic flame in Athens will include a performance that draws on Japanese culture. A rehearsal for the performance was held Sunday at the Makuhari Messe convention center in the city of Chiba, where the media ...
Akira of Exile marries Taiwanese supermodel and actress Lin Chiling
Akira, 37, a member of top Japanese dance group Exile, and Taiwanese supermodel and actress Lin Chiling, 44, announced they got married on Thursday. The two came to know each other in 2011 when they acted together in a stage drama titled "Red Cliff," and ...
From its debut in 1999 as the passion project of actor Tetsuya Bessho, Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia has grown into a big event on the local and regional film calendar. Size is one reason: The 19th edition, which unspools from June 1 ...
Popular member of boy band Exile severely injured in Hokkaido auto accident
Two people, including a 41-year-old member of the popular Japanese boy band Exile, were severely injured in an auto accident near Hakodate, Hokkaido, shortly after midnight Friday, police said. A people carrier carrying seven people, including band member Daisuke Maki, widely known by his stage ...
Is Japanese pop music losing its relevance?
Shukan Bunshun recently ran some articles describing how last year the talent management company LDH allegedly paid entertainment behemoth Burning Productions to ensure that one of LDH's acts would win the top prize at the 2015 Japan Record Awards (JRA). Accompanying one of the ...
Sandaime J Soul Brothers hope to seal their 'Legacy' on latest album
Sandaime J Soul Brothers from Exile Tribe — "The JSB Legacy" (Rhythm Zone) Sandaime J Soul Brothers find themselves in an exciting position with the release of "The JSB Legacy." Last year, they challenged a boy-band landscape dominated by Johnny & Associates acts — doing ...
J Soul Brothers winning the boy band war
Sandaime J Soul Brothers from Exile Tribe were on track to have the highest-selling album of 2015 with "Planet Seven," when Arashi swooped in and released "Japonism" in October. Arashi may have won this battle of the boy bands, but looking at the entire ...
Familiar obstacles stymie change in domestic music industry
While the Japanese music industry ended last year on a promise of change, 2013 has highlighted a few of the ingrained practices that are going to be a little bit more difficult to dislodge. One industry story that caught the interest of the international press ...
Regarding the Dec. 2 editorial "Abominable remark over Futenma": Perhaps the comment of the now former Okinawa Defense Bureau chief, Satoshi Tanaka, should be taken with a translation of "screwed over" rather than "raped". In which case his comment would suggest that the Japanese ...
