SMAP to meet with China Premier Wen & try another go at performing in China

It was announced that during his visit to Japan for the East Asian Summit China Premier Wen Jiabao will meet with SMAP.

It was also mentioned that SMAP will be trying again to perform a concert a concert in China. They've tried to do so twice already but had to cancel both times for various reasons. This time the concert will be a part of a anniversary for the normalization of relations between Japan and China 40 years ago next year.

The Straits Times article. (English)

Hopefully the third time will be the charm for SMAP, as this seems like something they really want to do.

Arashi's new tour announced, charity events, text book release

Arashi has announced their upcoming tour dates. They also mentioned that because of the Tohoku quake they have decided what would have been their Tokyo Dome concerts will now be charity events to help raise money for the relief effort.

They also announced that they will be releasing a special version of the text book, Nippon no Arashi, that was only available to students in schools for the public to buy.

Also in the article they had some information for their upcoming album. Matsumoto Jun has said that the album is a reflection of how they feel about how the future will turn out post-earthquake.

Tokyo Graph article. (English)

Endless Shock to expand to Fukuoka

Domoto Koichi's annual butai, Endless Shock will be performed outside of Tokyo for the first time this year. The show will kick off in January in Fukuoka before moving back to it's usual stage in Tokyo.

Koichi plans to make up for the last run of the butai being cut short because of the Tohoko earthquake by making this run go for 4 consecutive months.


Tokyo Graph article. (English)

Yaotome, Tamamori & Fujigaya to star in drama this summer

This summer the Korean drama, You're Beautiful, is being remade into a Japanese drama that will be Ikeman Desu Ne. The main male leads are all Johnny's, Yaotome Hikaru, Tamamori Yuta and Fujigaya Taisuke and they will play members of an idol band with the lead actress Takimoto Miori.

The drama will air on TBS at the beginning of July and Kis-My-Ft2's debut single song will be the theme song of the drama.

Tokyo Graph article. (English)

I'm so excited about this news for a few reasons. The first is actually the fact that finally someone from Hey! Say! JUMP is in a drama, and I'm really glad that it's Hikaru as I like him as an actor. The next is seeing Kis-My-Ft2 continuing on with getting drama roles as it's probably one of the easier ways to get the general public interested in them. And of course the fact that their debut single has a drama tie-in as that should help with sales. Not to mention it also seems to confirm that there's a good chance that it will be released in July now if that's when the drama starts.

I can't wait for July now.

Okada Junichi and Kazama Shunsuke in new Ghlibi film

The upcoming Ghlibi film, Kokurikozaka Kara, will have Okada Junichi voice the main male character of the movie, Kazama Shun. The film is based off a shoujo manga and is set to be released in theaters in Japan July 16th.

Kazama Shunsuke is also listed as being a part of the movie's cast.

Tokyo Graph article. (English)

Hey! Say! JUMP single Over up for pre-order

Hey! Say! JUMP's upcoming single, Over, is now up for pre-ordering at the usually online stores.

Even though there are two editions the regular edition comes with a First Press version. According to CDJapan the First Press release will have a special clear film jacket (which is probably a slip cover with something, like a picture or text, on it) and a picture disc (which I'm assuming means that the disc will have a picture on it). Other than that everything else has already been announced about the release on the official sites.

Over [Regular Edition] / Hey! Say! JUMP

Over [w/ DVD, Limited Edition] / Hey! Say! JUMP

Over [Set of limited and regular editions] / Hey! Say! JUMP

And I will confess every time even the smallest amount of news about this new release comes out I get really excited. I really miss HSJ actively releasing music and I can't help but hope they can stay active as a group for the rest of the year at least.

Kanjani8's 3rd consecutive single up for pre-order & Kis-My-ft2 debut update

The third and final single for Kanjani8's three months of consecutive releases, 365 Nichi Kazoku, is up for pre-order now. It comes in two editions with the usual DVD for the PV coming with the LE and the RE having bonus B-sides.

365 Nichi Kazoku [Regular Edition] / KANJANI8

365 Nichi Kazoku [w/ DVD, Limited Edition] / KANJANI8


Also in recent news there has been an update announced about Kis-My-Ft2's debut single. In the announcement Johnny's official confirmed that it will be a summer release that should coincide with the tour. Also it was mentioned that part of the reason for the delay was that they decided to choose a new song for the debut. This new song was chosen as it was an encouraging song which was thought to be more appropriate after the Tohoku earthquake.

Momoedgewood blog entry. (English)