Yamashita Tomohisa will be filming a Chinese movie for the first time, joining Chinese actor/singer Han Geng and Taiwanese/British actor Rhydian Vaughan in “Decoders”.
The storyline is about an otaku, a undercover police and his girlfriend teaming up to maintain safety in cyberspace. Yamapi will take on the evil role – the leader of a Singapore cybercrime squad. He will pit his wits against Han Geng, Rhydian etc.
They will be filming in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, London in future for 70 days.
In other news, Yamapi mentioned in his solo live tour that he went for Yakiniku with Kame recently, and felt very motivated after the meeting. He also showed off a photo of them together to concert goers.
KAT-TUN held their last live tour “KAT-TUN 10th Anniversary Live Tour 10Ks!” on 1st May at the Tokyo Dome. After this, KAT-TUN activities will cease as they enter a recharge period. Below is the message from Kamenashi Kazuya.
“Hi, this is KAT-TUN’s Kamenashi. Thank you for coming today. Before our 10th year anniversary, another member left again…From 6 members to 5, from 5 to 4, from 4 to 3. Every time this happens, we’re able to stand in front of everyone and talk(about moving forward together). However, time and again, we were not able to deliver our promises.
As a member of KAT-TUN, I’m really ashamed, regretful, and sorry. We, too, came so far after overcoming all these walls. When i feel like escaping, because of the support from everyone, i felt the need to stay in KAT-TUN, to be the Kamenashi who loves KAT-TUN. I’m really thankful.
From tomorrow onwards, we will have to put in our best in various places. I also hope to be able to move on with strength while searching for the new Kamenashi Kazuya, in my own time and place. I will treasure all the experience and scenes i’ve seen up till now, and hope i can bring it back to this place.
Finally, we KAT-TUN are K – Kamenashi Kazuya, A – Akanishi Jin, T-Taguchi Junnosuke, T-Tanaka Koki, U-Ueda Tatsuya, N – Nakamaru Yuichi. We are a group made of these 6. We might not exist if not for these 6, and I might not be able to meet everyone like this. The remaining 2 here (Nakamaru and Ueda) have been through alot, but we’d like to thank the 3 who left for walking so far.
From now, the future is a question mark. From time to time, we may make you worry, we ourselves will also feel the same. However, we will continue and make you feel that this is necessary in order to protect KAT-TUN.
So please continue to follow us. When each of us have gathered enough strength and feel like we’ve protected KAT-TUN, I’d like to return proudly as KAT-TUN’s Kamenashi Kazuya. Please take care of us and thank you.”
This year’s Johnny’s Countdown was held in Tokyo Dome and the hosts were the adorkable Arashi. Hey!Say!JUMP and V6 had a concert and Kouhaku commitments respectively so they were filmed separately. Nevertheless, this year was really interesting as fans could choose what they want to see and hear.
Segments and notable moments from the show are summarized below:
Songs you want to hear from each group(Fan Request)
Kanjani8 had a very nice song chosen for them, “Osaka Romanesque”.
Collaboration special
Noriyuki Higashiyama sings Kondo Masahiko’s “Andalucia Ni Akogarete” with the Johnny’s Dancing Kings.
Ex-NEWS & Kanjani8 member Uchi Hiroki also makes a brief appearance back-dancing.
Song exchange medley Kanjani8 sings Sexy Zone’s “Cha Cha Cha Champion” in hilarious cosplay.
Kis-my-ft2 Yokoo breaks a note while singing Chinen Yuri’s solo in Hey!Say!JUMP’s “Ultra Music Power”.
Arashi performs NEWS debut song “NEWS Nippon”. Unlike Yokoo, Ohno sings Tegoshi’s high note flawlessly.
KAT-TUN 10th year anniversary In celebration of their 10th anniversary, they started off with “Bokura no Machi de” from 2006. This was the only song i like out of their 3 songs. They also sang “In Fact” and “Kiss Kiss Kiss” from these years. This is also the last countdown for 4-member KAT-TUN.
Kinki Kids 20th year anniversary This pair stopped dancing many years ago but this time they danced to “Yamedaide, Pure” from 1999. This is a rare song in Kinki’s playlist so it’s a must-watch!
Dream units you want to see, Top 5 (Fan Request)
No.5: Sakurai Sho & Kikuchi Fuma
Song: Arashi Sakurai Sho is Fuma’s senior from Keio University and apparently Fuma’s father wrote the lyrics to Arashi’s debut song. Fuma looks so enthusiastic next to Sho but i heard he’s actually a Akanishi shipper?
No.4: Noriyuki Higashiyama & Ohno Satoshi
Song: Nihon Yoitoko Makafushigi Higashiyama took great care of Ohno before his debut. The song they performed is covered in Arashi’s latest album “Japonism”. Ohno shows some fear before attempting a dangerous backflip which 50-year old Higashiyama did without hesitating.
[Surprise: Yamashita Tomohisa & Kamenashi Kazuya]
[Song: Seishun Amigo] According to a GirlsChannel report, Yamapi was originally not scheduled for Johnny’s Countdown as he had MV filming overseas. Fans had no option to nominate the duo but they still insisted on sending in requests. The overwhelming response must have resulted in Yamapi’s appearance. Aside from it being the biggest surprise of the night, it was also Kame and Yamapi’s reunion after 6 years so the fans in Tokyo Dome exploded in joy. Kame thanked the fans in the end by giving us a flashback of the Shuji-Akira bromance 10 years ago – a backhug for Yamapi.
Those smiles…I think it would not be exaggerating to say that this scene is worth watching 100 times over!
No.3:Matsumoto Jun & Kawai Fumito Song: Wish
Kawai is well-known for his dance impersonations of Matsujun and despite Matsujun’s resistance, his impersonations delight everyone.
No.2: Kitayama Hiromitsu & Okura Tadayoshi Song: (Each other’s songs)
They are apparently good friends!
No.1: Shibutani Subaru & Takizawa Hideaki Song: Ashita ni Mukatte
These 2 were known as “Takizawa of the East” and “Subaru of the West” during Johnny’s Junior’s Golden Age. I do not know much about this era as it was 17 years ago, but judging from the fan votes here, this pair was huge and still is! “Ashita ni Mukatte” is actually an Arashi song which they often performed in their junior days.
In the 10th September issue of Bunshun, an article was published talking about the type of houses various 48Group members lived in. This topic was brought up because of the recent articles about AKS being investigated by tax authorities for undeclared expenses.
According to various media reports, members who live with their families receive a subsidy on their housing rents, in amounts from 1~2 million yen per month. Kojima Haruna in particular, seems to live most luxuriously as her monthly rent is 1.5~3million yen. Her apartment is a 3LDK spanning at least 200sq metres. It comes with 2 baths, a veranda fitted with a jacuzzi and a view of the forest. The place is close to supermarkets and taxis.
Graduated member Kasai Tomomi lives in a 1million yen high rise apartment in Roppongi. She has been spotted going to a Sushi place with a middle aged guy in the neighbourhood and no doubt continues to live a “bubbly” life. (*they’re trying to hint at her relationship with someone we all know about)
Graduated ace Maeda Atsuko used to live in a luxury apartment in Shibuya worth 500,000yen a month, but because of the famous incident where she was papp-ed drunk and crying all over Sato Takeru, male fans started hanging outside her house.She now lives in a low-level mansion in Meguro, about 1million yen a month.
A reporter comments “Celebrities love low-level luxury apartments which allows them to enter/exit easily without revealing their faces. There are lots of cases where idols,or actors in their teens or 20s will rent tower apartments which are properly managed so their agencies can fetch them easily to/from work. However, those with a lower level of income like comedians stay in normal houses.”
There are also “celebrity towers” where you can see various stars living under one roof.
“In Shibuya, there’s a luxury apartment with concierge service, rent starts from 1 million yen. KAT-TUN’s Kamenashi Kazuya, Yamashita Tomohisa, Ayaka and husband Mizushima Hiro, Koda Kumi etc all live there. In Meguro area there is a tower apartment where the average rent is 500,000 yen and EXILE members amongst others live there.”
Kojiharu has so many CMs she definitely has what it takes to live luxuriously. I am more excited about the fact that Kame and Yamapi live in the same building!
I am starting to think Kame is better of doing solo/units … his drama “Tokyo Bandwagon” may not be doing well but its theme song is definitely better than average KAT-TUN singles. Titled “Sayonara Arigatou”, the song features a catchphrase from the drama “Love, da ne”, which he calls out together with bandmate Tamaki Koji(his father in the drama). Overall the mood of the song is light-hearted and fun. Fans might find the livelier Kame more endearing after watching his performance below!
Kame appeared on NihonTV’s “Zukkiri!” on 11th October and talked about Koki’s departure from KAT-TUN.
He confessed that he came to know about Koki’s dismissal from the agency 2 days after his contract was cancelled. Koki then contacted the members directly and they sat down to talk about it. It was decided that they would draw the line once and for all.
The reasons for Koki’s dismissal was due a variety of reasons like running a bar, conducting a live concert without agency consent, dj-ing at a club, trouble involving women, tattoo etc.
Kame said ” There are rules from our agency which we have to abide by. Even from our point of view, his actions were already over the top.”
When asked about the sidelines which Koki runs, Kame said “As reported, things like running a shop. We also came to notice it.”
On the future of KAT-TUN, Kame said “There’s no other way but to continue as KAT-TUN. There’s no way we will cause trouble like this again. I promise to protect the group moving forward.”
Not a fan of KAT-TUN but it’s sad that this group is breaking up like NEWS. And poor Kame has to shoulder the responsibilities of explaining this to the media!
After what seems like years, Kamenashi Kazuya is finally back with a drama called Tokyo Bandwagon. Based from Yukiya Shoji‘s popular novel of the same title, “Tokyo Bandwagon” depicts the life of Hotta family, a large family who runs a secondhand bookstore and cafe in downtown Tokyo. Known for being meddlesome, the family will try to solve mysterious cases that arises in their area. Kame plays the 2nd son of the Hotta family who is kind at heart but an ex-yankee. He will team up with Tamaki Koji(his father in the drama) to form Hottake Band and release the drama theme song “Sayonara Arigatou“.
Here’s a live performance of the song!
After seeing this, i’m quite pleasantly surprised. The song is lighthearted and upbeat, and Kame seems to be enjoying himself while he sings with a smile. I guess this is much better than the dark/cool songs from KAT-TUN. I’m looking forward to watching the live perf of this!
AllThingsJpop 