Arashi mystery face off! Ohno and Aiba each get lead in two upcoming dramas

Arashi’s Satoshi Ohno and Masaki Aiba will star in dramas starting from April, it was announced on February 21, reports Sponichi Annex and Oricon.

 

Ohno will play a detective in “鍵のかかった部屋 (Kagi no Kakatta Heya, The Locked Room)”, while Aiba will play a police detective who solves cases with his partner, a cat, in “三毛猫ホームズの推理 (Mike-neko Holmes no Suiri, Calico Cat Holmes’ Mysteries)”.

“Let’s go out for drinks when we’ve finished shooting!  If you’re having trouble solving a case then let me know,” Ohno said.

“Let’s go fishing when we finish shooting.  I hope we’ll never give up, even when we can’t crack a case,” Aiba said.

 

“Kagi no Kakatta Heya” is based on Yusuke Kishi’s novel of the same name.  Unlike normal detective stories, the novel focusses on cases that happened inside a room with locked doors and windows.  It is up to Ohno’s detective character to solve the mystery.  The Arashi leader said his new role is a complete change from his Kaibutsu-kun drama.

“It’s my first human role in a long time.  It’s also a character I’ve never had experience with playing so I’m hoping to do my best!  I’ll see you behind the closed door!”

 

“Mike-neko Holmes no Suiri” is based on Jiro Akagawa’s novel of the same name.  It follows a police detective who manages to solve cases with the help of a calico cat who can understand human language and has a talent for solving mysteries.  Aiba said there would be extra things to look out for in the drama other than his scared-of-looking-at-blood-and-scared-of-women police detective character.

“I want my acting to balance out my character’s comical side and serious side.  There’ll also be a number of new characters made for the drama that don’t come up in the book.”

 

Lastly, Aiba had some advice for Ohno.

“Don’t get too sunburnt that the make up department tells you off!”

Sho Sakurai enjoying the local drinks in Okinawa

(How did I miss this one…. Momo)

Actress Keiko Kitagawa on location for "Nazo-toki wa Dinner no atode" (photo thanks to Tokyo Walker)

On location shooting at a tropical beach with emerald green seas, Arashi’s Sho Sakurai and actress Keiko Kitagawa are in Okinawa to work the special drama episode of “謎解きはディナーのあとで (Nazo-toki wa Dinner no atode)”, reports Tokyo Walker on February 14.

The Nazo-toki team have been doing on location shoots since February 10 for the drama, which is based on the award-winning novel of the same name.  The story follows Reiko Hosho (Kitagawa), one of the richest heiresses in the world and now a new police detective, and Kageyama (Sakurai), Reiko’s mean-mouthed butler who uses his amazing detective skills to guide Reiko to figure out who the killer is .

 

The production team and cast had spent two days on the Okinawa beach, where the weather stayed fine most of the time, although there was a little rain on the second day’s morning.

 

It has been reported in between shoots, Sakurai had a great time trying out the local drinks.  During the night he would go into the convenience store to buy 泡盛 (Awamori, an alcoholic drink made in Okinawa).  Then, during dinner the Arashi would try some 古酒 (Kusu, old vintage Awamori).

 

Sakurai said this shoot felt like the real end to the drama.

“When we finished filming the drama series in December, we’d already been told there was going to be an special episode, so this shoot feels like the real finish.  We’ve got a week’s worth of shooting to do, and I hope we can all give it our best and stay in one piece.”

 

The episode begins with the death of a Western painter.  Then, the story moves to Okinawa.  Not only will fans get to see Reiko and Kageyama work together to solve the mystery, the two will be joined by the drama’s regular cast and some special guests.

 

“謎解きはディナーのあとでスペシャル (Nazo-toki wa Dinner no atode Special)” will go on air in Japan on March 27.

Online poll reveals most people against Marching J money being used for pandas

“If I knew it was for pandas, I would’t have donated money from the start,” one fan said, and they’re not alone.

 

Mynavi reports that near the end of 2011, there was a lot of talk about Johnny’s senior talent Masahiko Kondo and Panda Protection Institute of Japan honorary chairman Tetsuko Kuroyanagi going to the Prime Minister’s office to show they strongly supported the idea of bringing pandas to Sendai’s Yagiyama Zoo.  However, since the beginning of the year fans have openly talked about their disappointment to the press.

 

“Money for Pandas, do you support Masahiko Kondo’s idea?”, an online poll made by livedoor net research received 1432 responses.  The results were 5.3% for the idea, and 94.7% against.

 

Comments from those supporting the idea included:

“Pandas have an enormous effect.”

“Look at Ueno Zoo (in Tokyo), no on used to go there but now there are huge queues (to see the new pandas).”

“It’ll be good for the local economy.”

 

But some comments from the majority group painted a painful picture:

“They just used the earthquake as a chance to sell themselves to China so Johnny’s will be successful there!”

“That money could be used to rebuild houses or local businesses.”

“How does Earthquake Relief relate to Pandas?  If you want to get pandas there so much then use your own money.”

“If you want to contribute to the relief effort then try going around to the places that really need help.”

“Making children happy is definitely important, but children today know much more about reality than you think.”

 

It has been reported a similar idea had been brought up to support victims of the 1995 Kobe earthquake, which Johnny’s also did charity work for.  But bringing Pandas to Sendai could have a bigger effect on the local economy because there are only a few zoos in the Tohoku region, meaning the pandas could attract visitors from all over northern Japan.

 

But one Sendai local said they were worried the pandas might attract heavy traffic jams while another voiced concern about who would pay to look after the pandas once the relief money had been spent up.

 

Many lives were lost in the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami.  If the local people are really looking for a symbol of hope, something to remind them they will get through this, then we should support their needs.  If however, they would rather relief be used to help them overcome their problems, then shouldn’t those in charge of relief funds put themselves in the shoes of a victim and have a think about what they need right now?