It was announced on November 24th that Dream member, Kana (Tachibana Kana), will graduate from the group. Dream was formed back in 2000 as a trio, and Kana is the last original member.
Kana explained the reason for her withdrawal through Dream’s official site:
“Although my dream to be a singer has been come true, it’s not the goal. I have to keep learning to be who I really want to be, and I want to keep singing, but in order to do so, I need to grow up more, not as Kana of ‘Dream’, but as Kana.
Therefore, I will challenge myself to pursue my way as a solo singer.”
Her last stage as a Dream member will be through the tour, 「Dream LIVE TOUR 2010～2011 “Hands Up!”」, which begins on December 4th.
It must have been a difficult decision, but we wish her the best of luck!
To celebrate the release of her second single, “Jin Jin Jingle Bell feat. Pentaphonic“, on November 24th, model/actress Sasaki Nozomi held a ‘talk & handshake event’ at Tower Records Shinjuku on the same day. As we reported earlier, this song is a cover of Moritaka Chisato’s “Jin Jin Jingle Bell” from 1995.
Unfortunately for the 500 fans who attended the event, she did not perform the song; instead, Sasaki requested that they have fun singing the song themselves during Karaoke.
When reporters asked if she would like to perform on a music show in the future, Sasaki replied that it was already too much for her to sing a small PR-event. “I’m so nervous that I can’t sing,” she said. “Doing a live performance is still a bit…”
In a previous CM for Knorr Cup Soup, actors Miura Haruma and Kitagawa Keiko confronted each other over which of method was better in enjoying soup. People were encouraged to vote for either Miura’s “Tsuke-Pan”(dip the bread in the soup), or Keiko’s “Hita-Pan”(soak the bread in the soup) on Knorr’s official site.
After accumulating almost 290,000 votes, the results of the battle were showcased through another CM, titled “Result”.
Miura, with 154,369 votes, beat out Keiko’s “Hita-Pan” method (which acquired only 135,491 votes).
In the CM, viewers will be able to see the “natural” reactions of both Miura, who’s jubilant, and Keiko, who’s frustrated. Theses “natural” faces are totally real, since the result was revealed to them while they were shooting the CM.
The new CM will be airing on November 27th. In the meantime, check out the photo cuts from the commercial below!
Singer Nana Tanimura is finally back with a new single, “TOXIC“, nearly eight months after her last single.
The busy singer, model, and university student, who also recently put out an eye catching photobook, captivated a crowd of more than 2,000 fans with the new track and a powerful dance in Ikebukuro on November 23rd, just a day before the single’s official release date.
“TOXIC” is Tanimura’s 8th single overall since her debut in 2007, and it’s described as a track with an “R&B taste”. The dance is getting a lot of attention, as it may be regarded as one of Tanimura’s most heavily choreographed tracks.
The single also includes the track, “CIRCUS WORLD“, which has also received a PV and an interesting choreography. The mini-live in Ikebukuro was just the beginning – fans will have an opportunity to catch the sexy singer in Fukuoka, Nagoya, Nishinomiya, and Kawasaki as well.
When you’re Yoshiki, anything’s possible. After all, he’s dominated Japan since 1989 with his legendary band, X Japan, and produced great tracks for other bands like Luna Sea, Glay, and The TRAX.
So what do you get someone that could have anything he wanted for his birthday? Why, throw him a surprise birthday party with as many of his friends that you can cram into one room, of course. Not only his friends and colleagues, but the American ambassador John Roos was there to greet the rock star with a ‘Happy Birthday’.
Yesterday, the producer/pianist/entrepreneur was in Tokyo going to what he thought was another business meeting after a long day of other meetings. Instead of a room full of suits and reports, he was met with smiling faces, a cake, and as much alcohol as he could chug before he had to fly out to L.A. today.
But the impending flight did not stop him from enjoying the party, and eventually passing out from too many drinks.
Before ending his night, Yoshiki tweeted to all his fans that bombarded his Twitter with messages of love, “To friends, band members and YOUUUU! Thank you so much, I had the best birthday!”
In a series of tweets, Yoshiki shared the fun with all his fans, and for those of you who missed it, check out the photos below.
As we reported earlier, ‘Ryoseirui’ (meaning that he has the range and tone of both a male and female singer) PIKO will be releasing his 2nd single “Wasurenagusa” on December 8th.
“Wasurenagusa” is the theme song for the anime series, “Tegamibachi REVERSE.” Check out the tracklists and PV below!
Limited Edition> + DVD *CD 1. Wasurenagusa 2. Shiroi Yuki no Princess wa 3. Stardust 4. Wasurenagusa (PikoLess Version) 5. Shiroi Yuki no Princess wa (PikoLess Version) 6. Stardust (PikoLess Version)
Regular Edition
*CD-only 1. Wasurenagusa 2. Shiroi Yuki no Princess wa 3. Stardust 4. Wasurenagusa (PikoLess Version) 5. Shiroi Yuki no Princess wa (PikoLess Version) 6. Stardust (PikoLess Version)
The line-up of artists that will perform at NHK’s annual New Year’s Eve music show, “Kohaku Uta Gassen (Kohaku)”, has just been announced!
As we reported earlier, the hosts for the 61st installment of this legendary event will be Matsushita Nao for the “Red Team” and Arashi for the “White Team”.
No surprise given her past affiliation with the magazine, but Kuroki Meisa appeared on the cover and pictorial for the December issue of “25ans“. She also did a new commercial for clothing brand, UNIQLO.
Seiyuu Yui Horie, lovingly called ‘Hot-chan’ by her fans, is set to return with her first single release in over a year and a half.
Though the title is yet unknown, certain details about the single have been released. It contains the theme song for anime series, “Dragon Crisis!” (titled “Immoralist“), as well as the theme song for the online game “DIVINA” (titled ”True truly love“). The single includes a total of three tracks, but the third has not yet been revealed.
“Dragon Crisis” will begin airing in January, while the single will be released on February 2nd, 2011.
Unfortunately, we were unable to dig up a sample of “Immoralist”, but check out “True truly love” and the preview for the anime below!
The artist line-up for the November 28th episode of “MUSIC JAPAN“ has been announced. Check out the line-up below!–
“Tomorrow is the Last Time” – Kuraki Mai “Kanousei Girl” – Kuriyama Chiaki “Ai wa Takaramono” – Tackey & Tsubasa “TOXIC” – Tanimura Nana “Otoko to Onna no Lullaby Game” – Morning Musume
Akanishi Jin, as many of you know, is a former member of KAT-TUN who graduated from the group in order to pursue solo endeavours. Acting, singing, modelling – there was no shortage of paths he could take his career.
Recently, Akanishi Jin came over to the States to embark on his “Yellow Gold Tour“, which stretched from coast to coast. Wrapping up his final showcase in New York City on November 23rd, the artist is now open to answering questions from his fans.
tokyohive will be sitting down with Akanishi Jin for an interview, and we want you to be a part of it! All you have to do is submit your questions in the comment box below, and hope that your question will chosen to get asked directly to Jin himself!
We will be accepting questions until Wednesday, November 23rd at 1:00 PM EST, so be sure to hurry and drop them in before then!
KAT-TUN released their 13th single “CHANGE UR WORLD” on November 17th, and it’s already topped on the Oricon weekly single chart for November 29th!
The group has reportedly racked up an astounding sales figure of 231,000 copies sold. As we mentioned earlier, every single that KAT-TUN has released since their debut has locked down the No.1 spot on the Oricon weekly chart. And if that wasn’t a strong enough accomplishment, each single has also sold over 200,000 copies!
Looks like the boys are still rolling strong with their formidable streak. Stay tuned to tokyohive, as we will update later with the full results of the Oricon weekly chart.
AKB48 is one of the most popular idol groups out of Japan, and they’ve performed twice in America and have fans worldwide. I’m sure this theater troupe turned idol group never thought they would have die-hard fans, much less people who want to be like them, but it seems like both are true.
A group of girls from Mexico who call themselves “Las Famosas Inalcanzables“, which means “The Unreachable Famous Ones” in Spanish, were recently seen performing an adaptation of AKB48’s “Beginner“, which they have titled, “Champu Para Tus Ojos (Shampoo For Your Eyes)“.
While many are saying they plagiarized the song, it says in the beginning of the video that it is an adaption, and some are even calling it a parody. Regardless, “Las Famosas Inalcanzables” have appeared on Spanish television performing “Champu Para Tus Ojos”, and news has since traveled all the way to Japan.
Take a look for yourselves below and share your thoughts.
Known by some as “The Voice of a Far-East Goddess”, MiKA will be making her major solo debut as “Daisy x Daisy“.
Her first single, “HOLY SHINE” is the ending theme song to TV Tokyo’s anime, “FAIRY TAIL“. As usual, the single will be released in two versions – ‘normal edition’ and ‘limited edition’ – and will be available for November 24th.
The ‘normal edition’ will have six tracks, three of which are instrumentals. As for the ‘limited edition’, it will have only four tracks (two originals with accompanying instrumentals), but there will be a DVD that includes the non-TV ending of “FAIRY TAIL” and the “HOLY SHINE” music video.
To hear a sample of the song, check out the ending clip to “FAIRY TAIL” (which has a 1:30min snippet) below!
Track list – Normal Edition ¥1,300 ($15.57 USD) 1. HOLY SHINE 2. BELIEVE 3. i 4. HOLY SHINE (original karaoke) 5. BELIEVE (original karaoke) 5. i (original karaoke) Track list – Limited Edition ¥1,600 ($19.17 USD) 1. HOLY SHINE 2. BELIEVE 3. HOLY SHINE (original karaoke) 4. BELIEVE (original karaoke) [DVD] 1. Non-TV ending version of “FAIRY TAIL” 2. HOLY SHINE PV
To learn more about Daisy x Daisy, visit her official website!
AKB48’s sub-unit ”French Kiss” (Kashiwagi Yuki, Takajo Aki, and Kuramochi Asuka) will be releasing their 2nd single “If” on January 19th. It was just revealed that fans who purchase the single will also receive an original live-action drama DVD, based on popular manga series “Kyou, Koi wo Hajimemasu“!
“Kyou, Koi wo Hajimemasu” is popular among teen girls, and especially amongst the AKB48 members themselves. ‘French Kiss’ will not only lend “If” to be used as the OVA’s theme song, but will also voice some of the characters in the digital manga as well. Set a year before the start of the original storyline, member Kashiwagi Yuki will voice the main character.
The OVA for “Kyou, Koi wo Hajimemasu” will be released on February 25th, 2010. Check out some of the details for the tracklists below!
CD + drama DVD -CD 1. If 2. title unknown 1 3. If (instrumental) 4. title unknown 1 (instrumental) -DVD 1. Drama: If (Kadai) 2. If – music clip
CD + Digital Manga -CD 1. If 2. title unknown 2 3. If (instrumental) 4. title unknown 2 (instrumental) -DVD 1. “Kyou Koi wo Hajimemasu” (French Kiss voice-acting version) 2. If – music clip
CD-only 1. If 2. title unknown 3 3. If (instrumental) 4. title unknown 3 (instrumental)
Sandara Park releases an angelic CF for “Nikon”
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Nikon Imaging Korea has just released a jaw-dropping commercial with 2NE1‘s
Sandara Park.
The idol shed her quirky style and emerged as a gorgeous woman w...
It was announced on November 24th that Dream member, Kana (Tachibana Kana), will graduate from the group. Dream was formed back in 2000 as a trio, and Kana is the last original member.
To celebrate the release of her second single, “Jin Jin Jingle Bell feat. Pentaphonic“, on November 24th, model/actress Sasaki Nozomi held a ‘talk & handshake event’ at Tower Records Shinjuku on the same day. As we reported earlier, this song is a cover of Moritaka Chisato’s “Jin Jin Jingle Bell” from 1995. 
In a previous CM for Knorr Cup Soup, actors Miura Haruma and Kitagawa Keiko confronted each other over which of method was better in enjoying soup. People were encouraged to vote for either Miura’s “Tsuke-Pan”(dip the bread in the soup), or Keiko’s “Hita-Pan”(soak the bread in the soup) on Knorr’s official site.
When you’re Yoshiki, anything’s possible. After all, he’s dominated Japan since 1989 with his legendary band, X Japan, and produced great tracks for other bands like Luna Sea, Glay, and The TRAX.
AKB48’s sub-unit ”French Kiss” (Kashiwagi Yuki, Takajo Aki, and Kuramochi Asuka) will be releasing their 2nd single “If” on January 19th. It was just revealed that fans who purchase the single will also receive an original live-action drama DVD, based on popular manga series “Kyou, Koi wo Hajimemasu“! 
