Sigh….Yes, I know about the Hiroko Mima sex tape scandal. You can stop e-mailing/messaging me about it, and leaving porn links in the comment threads of other posts.

Hiroko Mima, who was crowned Miss Universe Japan 2008, and Anya Ayoung-Chee, who was crowned Miss Universe 2008 of Trinidad and Tobago 2008, are in the middle [...]

A group of Barack Obama fans from Obama City in Fukui Prefecture attempted to meet the U.S. president as he entered his hotel on Friday:

They were disappointed to discover that he did not enter the building through the front lobby. Later, they were able to wave at him from the side of the street [...]

The Japan Times offers a preview of the new Winter 2009-2010 Softbank commercials, which feature director Quentin Tarantino joining the famous Softbank “White Family” as a wacky uncle:

[hat tip to stears]
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Japanese hip hop group Funky Monkey Babys* recently visited Beijing to perform at J-pop in China 2009. Here’s an “Zoom In” news report about their trip:

They performed before a crowd of 1,700 people that was mostly made up of young Chinese people. There were a few older folks there too, including a Japanese [...]

Scott Murphy has a new album out. This time he’s performing cover versions of popular Japanese love songs:

You can watch a sample music video of one of the songs at Universal Music Japan’s official Scotty Murphy page.
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A Japanese commercial for Bon Jovi’s new album uses images of President Barack Obama:

Bon Jovi performed at Obama campaign events in 2008 and has dined at the White House, so I guess it makes sense…
Update: I think the Obama footage could be a part of their music video for “We weren’t born to follow” [...]

World-famous anime singer/songwriter Ichiro Mizuki has his own dramatic car commercial for Mazda:

He tells viewers to “Maz-dash” to their nearest Mazda dealership to take advantage of some great deals on new cars.
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Japanese TV personality Ai Haruna is back in Japan promoting her new photo book. A few days ago, she was crowned winner of Miss International Queen 2009 pageant in Thailand:

The winner, Japan’s 37 year-old Haruna Ai, was overjoyed at press time, but also aware that her beauty and victory would not be well-received among [...]

Ex-President Bush is in Japan hanging out with his old buddy Junichiro Koizumi. They attended a baseball game the yesterday, where Bush threw the first pitch:

George Bush threw out the ceremonial first pitch in game three of the Japan Series between the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters and Yomiuri Giants at Tokyo Dome last night.
Sporting a [...]

Fuji TV news recently aired this special report on American fitness guru Billy Blanks, who has permanently settled in Osaka after marrying a Japanese woman.
Part 1

The report starts with scenes of Billy attending a festival in Osaka, where is he swarmed by people who recognize him from his popular Billy’s Bootcamp fitness DVD’s. Billy [...]

Prince Hisahito, the grandson of Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko, visited Ueno Zoo for a photo op with some cute animals:

The prince spent time petting and handling rabbits and guinea pigs and caring for Tokara goats at the Children’s Zoo.
When he encountered a rabbit, he asked staff how to hold it. He also moved guinea [...]

Sting has a new album, so he went through the trouble of making a personalized greeting/sales pitch for the Japanese viewers of the “Mezamashi TV” morning show:

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