Category: Artists

Nobel prize winner praises Arashi’s Sho Sakurai

by Fiona

Arashi’s Sho Sakurai (28) traveled to Moscow to meet a former head of state and to the Berlin wall as part of his special report for Nippon TV’s 24Hr TV, reports Sports Hochi.

Sakurai’s special, titled “嵐・櫻井翔が緊急リポート！　世界の貧困と格差社会の現実～マンホールで暮らす人々とは～ (Arashi – Sho Sakurai’s Breaking News! The reality of global poverty and social disparity ~people who live in manholes~ )” sent him to Moscow to interview Nobel Peace Prize winning former head of state Mikhail Gorbachev (79).

Mr Gorbachev is widely known as the man whose actions lead to the end of the Cold War around the late 1980s, early 1990s. After Mr Gorbachev heard Sakurai had been interviewing a wide range of people in different places for his “NEWS ZERO” series “世界平和への祈り (Sekai Heiwa heno Inori, A Prayer for World Peace)” over the past year, the nobel prize winner applauded Sakurai for his efforts.

“I am very happy to meet a responsible person like you.

“I hope more and more people will be able to think not only about themselves, but also about the suffering the people around them are going through, and want to help them,” he said.

After Sakurai had introduced himself in Russian, Mr Gorbachev pushed aside Sakurai’s prepared notes.

“I want to hear about your opinions,” he told a confused Sakurai.

The interview went on for more than 30 minutes, during which the two talked about poverty, economic instability, and peace operations.

It has been reported Sakurai was still shaking after his interview.

“It was an incredible priviledge to have met a person I watched on the news as a young boy,” he said.

His latest adventure had sent him reporting from Moscow to the Berlin wall, and to Romania.

“It’s been 20 years since the Cold War ended. How has the world changed. I hope I can make people in Japan think about how one person’s situation can affect others,” he said.

“嵐・櫻井翔が緊急リポート！　世界の貧困と格差社会の現実～マンホールで暮らす人々とは～ (Arashi – Sho Sakurai’s Breaking News! The reality of global poverty and social disparity ~people who live in manholes~ )” will air on “24時間テレビ33「愛は地球を救う」(24Hr TV 33 ‘Love Saves the Earth’)” on August 29 in Japan.

From MomoEdgewood

I love how Mr. Gorbachev pushed away our Caster-san’s notes, very nice tactic! However, Sho-kun must have been shocked and nervous as he was still shaking afterwards. He just keeps doing amazing things and we expect nothing than perfect from him! I have a feeling that he is going to be in charge of JE one day. LOL

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Ninomiya Kazunari to star in Fuji TV drama

by Fiona

Arashi’s Kazunari Ninomiya (27) is confirmed to be starring in a new drama series this fall. Titled “Freeter, Ie wo Kau,” the show will feature Ninomiya as a part-time worker trying to get his life back together for the sake of his family. Karina (26) will play the female lead.

The show is Ninomiya’s first starring role in a drama series since the 2008 “Ryusei no Kizuna.” As an actor, he has recently been focused on filming for his upcoming movies “Ooku” and “GANTZ.” In contrast with those spectacular big screen roles, his character in this home drama will be a “freeter” (a term used to describe young people without full time employment, not counting students and homemakers).

The story is based on a book of the same name by Hiro Arikawa, published last year. The story revolves around a young man named Seiji Take (Ninomiya), who quits his job after three months. With no dreams, no savings, and a poor relationship with his family, he becomes a hikikomori (shut-in) in his own room. However, after his mother falls ill with depression, he ends up having to take on a part-time job at a construction site. Because of that, he soon decides to work towards rebuilding his life: “Even though I’m just a freeter, I’m going to buy a house for the sake of my family.”

One of the people he meets at the construction site is Manami Chiba (Karina), who graduated from a top-class university and joined a well-known general contracting firm. Manami, proud to be working as an on-site supervisor, is the complete opposite of Seiji. But while their personalities clash at first, they gradually come to understand each other.

Filming already started earlier this month. The show will air on Fuji TV on Tuesdays at 9:00pm, starting in October.

From Tokyograph

Woot, I can’t believe it has been two years since he’s been in a drama. It feels like yesterday that I was watching the last episode of Ryusei no Kizuna. Freeter sounds interested and very Nino-like. LOL I cannot wait to see this.

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Who is the preferred member of Arashi among female celebs?

by Fiona

Arashi’s popular variety show “Himitsu no Arashi-chan,” was broadcasted on the 12th. This week’s episode was an editorial of “VIP ROOM” which showed 42 previous guests and included some unseen footage.

In the corner, “VIP ROOM,” the guest (usually female) picks her “favorite Arashi” member. In this episode, they announced “the best of ‘favorite Arashi’, which revealed who has been picked the most. The winner was Ohno Satoshi, the leader of Arashi. Satoshi was chosen by 11 female celebrities, including Shibasaki Koh, Kuroki Meisa, and Karina.

From Tokyohive

Hehe…that’s our Riida, the real womanizer! I’m not a bit surprised as he is a constantly picked as a favorite during the HnA VIP Room. Though, I love them all, Jun-kun will always be my ichiban followed closely by Oh-chan. He is extremely modest and knows when to be serious or CHO hilarious. Everyone knows that he is such a bad boy at heart. LOL

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