July 27, 2011

Akama Naoya is back too!!!

Stupid LiveJournal is down, and I shouldn't be making a post right now, but this is big news, and I just learned about this, and I'm very happy and excited.

A Japanese friend posted a picture and linked a blog entry on my Twitter list yesterday, and while the pic was really funny, I didn't know what that was all about, and I just dismissed it. Today though, checking for something else, I came across the news on a Japanese blog: Akama Naoya is back.

Only now his name is not Akama Naoya. He changed it to Kumano Naoya (熊野直哉). Apparently he's working for the same agency as Asaka Kodai, A-Team, in a sub-group called A-Light, and he has an Ameba blog, in which he made an introductory post I still need to read fully, and a YouTube account. You can find his profile on the Japanese Wikipedia as well.

Now we only need Hoshino to come back and we'll have all of the old Ya-Ya-yah members back in the entertainment business. ;) Taiyô came back in January, Shoon in June, Naoya now in July... Hoshino, it's your turn! :D Awww... I want a Ya-Ya-yah reunion!! ^3^


直哉くん、おかえりなさいよ! 

I will add a post on our LiveJournal account as soon as LJ is back. :(

June 18, 2011

a back-to-back post!!

Hello~ this is A, and I have something wonderful to share since it's been quite a while when I last showed up here and posted something. This post is somewhat special because it's a back-to-back post, meaning Irea and I have Taiyo and Shoon (and Leon) news for you. (:

S before T, ok? XD [Irea: you're too kind! XD]

I believe some of you might have already read her post at the Shoon&Reon community at LJ, but for those who haven't yet...

Shoon and Leon re-opened their blog on June 6th, and it seems more and more evident that they're back to stay. Remember last year we speculated with the possibility that they might have signed up with Sky Corporation? Their names don't show up on their site and there has been no official announcement, but everything seems to point in that direction:
1) Just like last year, last week they took part in the Yumenoshima marathon and related events (like the charity auction), teaming up with several Sky Corp. talents.
2) The tag on their t-shirts read: 「スカイ Star's」 ('Sky Star's' - Japlish for the win ^_~). Conspicuous much? XD

3) A few days before they re-opened their blog, Shoon was mentioned by Hiroyoshi Kozaki, lead vocalist of the indie band One Truth Only, in his blog. The post said Shoon had visited their studio to record a cover of one of their songs, 「ユメノカケラ」 (Yume no Kakera). Hiroyoshi Kozaki does not appear listed in the Sky Corporation's site either, but he too took part in the marathon with the 'Sky Star's' tag, and ran in Shoon and Leon's team.
4) This week Shoon&Leon have been guests in a radio show hosted by Hoshi Hitomi, who IS a Sky Corporation talent, and took part in the marathon as well. The show had One Truth Only as guests too, and they are airing Shoon's cover of 'Yume no kakera'.
Probably, just like Taiyô's case, they're treading carefully and testing the waters before making it public that they have signed under this agency.

Excited much? Here's more.

It's been half a year since Taiyo reappeared, not without us fans wondering about where agency he now belongs. Since he appeared with Nakama Yukie in Blue Earth 5, Japanese fans speculated that he's under Ogi Production, the fact that Nakama is one of the notable talents in the agency. (Remember this entry?) Another lead was URAKARA, where Ishiguro Hideo, who also hails from OgiPro appeared on Episode 11. Sounds like there's a talent appearance line-up, no?

As for Tumbling vol.2, there was some sort of an invitation from Ogipro in the leaflets according to some fans, which led us to thinking that it could really possibly be OgiPro after all. Visit the official homepage and still, there's no confirmation or statement yet. But then, from out of the blue, it's the colleagues who gave away some sort of an unofficial confirmation that Taiyo now belongs to OgiPro. (Just like what we thought, no?)

From Moriyama Eiji's blog, dated 15.06.2011 (mentioned as 'colleague in the agency')
From Isaka Tatsuya's blog, dated 15.06.2011 (mentioned 'in the birthday party of the company president') [read: the company president. 8D What do you think of that?]

Now what's with Shoon and Taiyo appearing in blogs of their colleagues? This kind of approach leaves so much room for anticipation, probably with a go signal from their managements. You can imagine just how excited we are, after all the waiting these past years. It's nice to know that they are supported by their fellow talents. Doesn't that mean so much to us too? Backing up Shoon, Leon & Taiyo means that they believe in these guys, and that their agencies have great plans for them in the near future.

For those who are following the Twitter account, you might've come across several links, RT's, etc. regarding Tumbling vol.2 and 'Spot-the-Taiyo' pictures in cast members' blogs. Here they are, for your convenience (with some I have forgotten to include):

Suda Masaki
2011.05.02 → 笑たわ~泣いたわ~学んだわ~
2011.05.23 → 千秋楽
2011.05.25 → 名古屋名物はなんじゃろ
2011.05.27 → ぷくぷくシールだそうです

Chiba Yudai
2011.05.23 → 東京千秋楽
2011.06.02 → ぽけーっとしながら
2011.06.06 → 大阪千秋楽

Kamakari Kenta
2011.05.23 → 東京楽!
2011.05.30 → 名古屋りんぐ♪
2011.06.07 → 青春☆

Mizuta Kouki
2011.05.24 → 気持ち!
2011.05.27 → 名古屋上陸☆
2011.06.03 → 大阪!!
2011.06.07 → 本気と書いてマジと読む(笑)

Rachi Shinji
2011.05.23 →タンブリング

Daito Shunsuke
2011.05.04 → 緑のマットに帰ってきた!

Uema Mio
2011.05.04 → 港町純情オセロ

From De-View → 舞台『タンブリング vol.2』に行ってきました~!!
From LMaga → イケメン日本代表が、神戸に集結!

Thank you for reading and we'd love to hear from you.

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April 06, 2011

光くん、ガンバレ!

The media outside Japan are gradually speaking less and less about what's going on in Japan -they moved on to other news like Lybia's civil war-, but things in Japan are far from being solved. It will take months to sort out the situation of survivors and evacuees, to repair the damages caused by the earthquake and tsunami and to solve the problems of the Fukushima nuclear plant.

When you stop to think about it, it feels so strange that in one country/city/house/room somebody's busy/happy/safe/well-nourished, while in the next room/nearby town/on the other end of the world somebody else is suffering. We don't stop to think about these things very often, and it's normal because if we did we wouldn't live. It's the essence of existence after all: one life ends, but another begins, there's joy and there's pain, and so on. However, sometimes certain things make you stop and think. It can be something 'small' in scale and close to you, like an unexpected diagnosis of a cancer in a relative, or something massive, the sum of thousands of anonymous tragedies, like what has happened in Japan.

It may seem shocking, and even grotesque, that there are entertainment shows and people singing on TV when there's people in other parts of the country who are suffering such hardships, but as an article I read recently (on the subject of Japan's current situation) says, it's good to mourn but also there is a time to resume normal life... while making all possible efforts to help the victims of the disaster, of course.

I imagine these days it must be very hard for Hikaru to sing and focus on work when he knows his own family is going through terrible hardships in the Miyagi prefecture after the earthquake and tsunami, but it's great that he and the other johnny's can help with the Marching J project, and that he, in particular, can be the voice of the people who are suffering. All that surrounds idols/celebrities may be frivolous, but they can reach many and make a difference.

This blog tends to focus more on Taiyô and Shoon because they need more support than Yabu and Hikaru, who have achieved their dream of debuting, but we love Yabu and Hikaru just as much, so I want to take this chance to show our support to Hikaru and his family, because I was very much moved by Hikaru's words at the Marching J event last Saturday, and by his and Yabu's words on the SMAP Ganbarimasu clip below. Our new team member, KAKO (kokokako_831@LJ), has kindly translated it, and I added subs to it with Dailymotion. ^__^

To watch with subs: click play button > click pause button > click 'CC subtitles' icon on the top right > click EN on the middle of the screen > click play button again. (if you can't watch the clip below, click here


If you want to download this clip or the whole thing... (credits to KAL) [password: hikaru]

2011.04.02 SMAP ganbarimasu YabuHika.avi (RAW) (1280x720 - 45MB)
2011.04.02 SMAP ganbarimasu - Marching J part.avi (1280x720 - 400MB) .001 .002 .003

Thanks to Kako for the heads-up on this as well: *hugs*

Hey!Say!JUMP member Yaotome Hikaru attended the “Marching J” charity event held by Johnny & Associates on April 1st. The fund raising event was very special to Hikaru since he’s originally from the Miyagi prefecture.
Hikaru said that right now his family is living in the evacuation shelters, and also mentioned that his older brother is staying at the company workplace. He wants his brother to see how hard he’s working. He also admitted that that his family actually lives in the mountain side of Miyagi-ken but communication is cut-off so he worries a lot.
The apartment, where his older brother and wife live, in Tagajo-shi was damaged by tsunami and earthquake. The first floor is flooded and they have no gas or water. His sister-in-law took refuge in his parents house along with her child, while the brother is residing in the company house. Though, Hikaru is particularly concerned for his 4-year old niece and 6-year old nephew.
Hikaru hasn’t been able to reach any of his friends and wants to go back there as soon as possible. He really wants to do something for them all and is thankful for the “Marching J” project.


Translation of Hikaru's words at the Marching J event by TokyoHive (Source: Sanspo)

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March 27, 2011

the ultimate treason

Sometimes I wonder if it will ever truly stop hurting. I don't like seeing B.I.Shadow wearing Ya-Ya-yah outfits, nor other juniors singing their songs, nor -needless to say- NYC singing Yuuki 100%, but I've refrained all this time from commenting on that because I know many people are tired of hearing such things and the 'I miss Ya-Ya-yah' refrain.

However, I'm so stupid that I keep expecting 'something' from JE. The 10th anniversary Shounen Club was the ultimate treason. I kept telling myself not to expect much from it, but I thought somewhere, even in the background of some old clip, maybe, they'd at least let us spot Taiyô and Shoon briefly. Heck, I actually expected there would be some Ya-Ya-yah remembrance. Ya-Ya-yah was an important part of SC from 2002 to 2007. That's 6 years out of 10. Not enough to grant them a few seconds? They showed a J.J.Express clip.

Amazingly enough you can see Kamei Taku there, who disappeared from Johnny's after the purikura thingy with his Kinpachi Sensei girlfriend and was later rumoured to be one of the two ex-Johnny's Jr. arrested for theft at an Internet cafe in December of 2009. It's a wonder they didn't pixelate his face or something. Remember when, after the Kusano scandal, they ran their scissors upon an SC episode to make a Kusano-free director's cut? I suppose they just were unable to find a JJE clip without both Kamei and Asaka, or they were just lazy and decided: 'this one will do'.

Why not a Ya-Ya-yah clip too? No, they had to use two YabuHika clips with no Taiyô or Shoon. They got lucky too. There was a 2007 July clip of them singing Itoshi no Playgirl.


At first I wondered: '2007 July? Itoshi no Playgirl? Why weren't Taiyô and Shoon there?', and then remembered that in 2007 the July and August episodes were a bit different from usual. The July episodes were filmed in Osaka with Yabu and Hikaru as Kantô representatives, and the August episodes were Kansai-centric as well though filmed in Tokyo with Taiyô and Shoon as MC supporters.

March 25, 2011

Taiyô in URAKARA

I'm sure the HD version will be up soon, and I'm hoping for a flaily, fangirly, in-depth analysis of Taiyô's acting from AXEL (say yes? ), but in the meantime, here's today's URAKARA episode for the impatient. ;) Credits to marchonsvite5. 2011.03.25 Urakara - episode 10.avi (190MB) (password: sun) Enjoy! edit: HD file of both full episode and only Taiyô's part can be found here (scroll down to the middle of the post).

翔央くんへ、 大学ご卒業おめでとうございます! これからも頑張って下さい。いつでも応援します。 (congrats to Shoon on his graduation! ^__^)


March 19, 2011

Japan's catastrophe, and Taiyo update

A friend told me about the debate going on regarding the reaction of fans and people in general after the earthquake, but I'm more concerned about the way the foreign media is treating this catastrophe.

I myself got really, really scared for my friends living in Japan and yes, for my four favourite idols and their families too, when I checked the news on the Internet on March 11th first thing in the morning and found out about the huge earthquake, and the tsunami that devastated the northeast coast. The first thing I thought was: 'the tsunami hit Sendai... oh, God, Hikaru's hometown...', and my heart went out to him. Not because Hikaru and his family are more important than all the other people from Sendai and the other affected areas, but simply because that's the most immediate connotation the name has for me: Sendai=Hikaru's hometown.

And then, the news had just broken out and everything was very confusing. It was not clear exactly which areas had been affected by the quake and, as it was reported to have been an 8.9 (later revised to 9) magnitude quake (you don't need to be an expert in geology to know how huge that is), so for the first few hours I was truly frightened for my friends and the fantastic four in Tokyo. Later I learned that Tokyo had been hardly damaged, so (after getting confirmation from my friends that they were okay) I assumed Yabu, Taiyô, Hikaru and Shoon should be safe too.


My point is that I think there's nothing wrong with (and no reason to be ashamed for) worrying about your idols' safety. After all, I cried when Ya-Ya-yah broke up, and when Shoon stopped appearing in SC, and then when he left Johnny's, so all the more reason to worry about them in those first hours of confusion after the catastrophe. [And seeing the way the situation has evolved, and the potential - emphasis on potential - risks posed by the nuclear plant at Fukushima, there's reason for worrying for everybody in Japan.]


March 10, 2011

Oh~ Y-A-Y

Hi this is Ax. This is another Kinpachi Final SP-related post. Posting because of a.) for posterity's sake; b.) its relevance and significance; c.) YAY!. (o ̄∇ ̄)o!! Maybe some\most of you have heard of the good news or have seen that gem of a picture with our beloved Kinpachi 7 troika together with their 'classmates' (Kinda late because I had to deal with some srs bsnz.), but we're not stopping without a little analysis. And I have a little bonus for you as well (at the end of this post).

To be honest, even if I was really hopeful, there's just a little fraction of doubt as to whether it was going to happen. Just as when I was about to abandon all hope (with 'Lasciate ogne speranza.....' in my head) and focus all the positivity on Taiyo's URAKARA guesting, something came up to tell me, "It isn't like you at all. Surprise!"

The other day, while I was doing my daily rounds of looking up new info on our very own tea pilgrim, I came across this url, but I can not log-in with my Sina account because I forgot my password (add my slightly poor visual acuity), so I informed Irea and asked her if she has a Sina account by chance. Fortunately, she has, and she was able to log-in successfully.

According to the Chinese blogger who posted the picture, it was Ishida Miku (the girl in white at the bottom left) who blogged about the reunion of their class (Season 7). The picture was part of an original entry, which Miku later edited, then, after deleting the said pic, she posted two cropped versions- obviously without YAY.


March 07, 2011

Taiyô in Kinpachi Sensei finale!

Awesome news! Taiyô will make a guest appearance in the Kinpachi Sensei finale that will air on March 27th on TBS, with a 4 hour duration!!! The Kinpachi Sensei site was updated today with a link that says "出演OB発表!". That is "OB cast announced". I had no idea what OB is (I hate acronyms, I swear) so I checked the always useful Wikipedia, and it seems that in Japanese OB stands for "old boys" (i.e. male graduates) . It should say "OB&OG" (OG stands for "old girls" (i.e. female graduates)), but I suppose the link just says "OB" for space/brevity reasons.


That link leads you to another section with the full update. At the top of the text it says: "出演する卒業生は以下の通り。(表記はカッコ内の役名の50音順です)" [graduates to appear as follows (listed in syllabary order)]. Right below there's a partial list of 152 graduates from previous seasons, and Taiyô's name happens to be there, right next to Yabu's, and alongside with Hikaru's as well.


Tokyograph made a post  yesterday that seems to point in the same direction, with the header "
151 graduates return for Kinpachi Sensei finale". They quote the Sports Hochi newspaper saying that the confirmed cast includes Yabu, Hikaru, and Fukuda Saki from season 7. I imagine the 152 names listed on the Kinpachi official site could be those 151  + 1 included in the last moment?


March 06, 2011

Taiyô to guest in a drama

Taiyô is indeed keeping himself busy these days. Axel, who can sniff and track down Taiyô news like a bloodhound, before anybody else does, shared this piece of breaking news with me last night, but she's currently without an Internet connection, so she asked me to pass the news to you on her behalf.

The news is that, according to TV Station, Taiyô is going to make a guest appearance in a drama called URAKARA on TV Tokyo on March 18th, Friday (0:12~0:53 Japan time)
!


Even better knews is that hopefully we will be able to watch it, as the drama is being uploaded and posted at D-Addicts. And we might get English subs as well because somebody at D-Addicts started subbing the drama too.

So anyway, what's URAKARA about? *shameless copy-paste from Wikipedia's article*
URAKARA is a Japanese television drama series from TV Tokyo, first shown in Japan from 14 January 2011. The drama revolves around five characters played by the members of popular South Korean girl group Kara. The members of Kara act as five girls (each with the same name as their real-life selves) who are given missions related to love. */end of shameless copy-paste*

There are pictures of the guest stars (i.e. the 'target' guys the Kara girls help in each episode), on the cast section of the drama's site, and the last two (#9) will be guests on next week's episode... so it looks like Taiyô will be up next~!! Can't wait to see his pic and name there!


Here's a little CM of the drama straight out of YouTube. Looking forward to Taiyô's episode, and here's hoping Shoon will soon follow in Taiyô's steps so we can see him on TV too. (If you'd like to learn about Shoon's latest news, please head to the Shoon&Reon LJ community)



PS: The drama's got a Twitter account too, and I'm sure you and Axel will love the background design as much as I do.

PS2: Please leave a comment thanking Axel for the info as she's the one who found this out. ;)

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February 26, 2011

Fine points this week....

After surprising us (again) by appearing with his fellow cast members on a picture posted by Tumbling's official Twitter account (views are now more than 5,000!), Taiyo has become the topic of blog posts and discussions recently. The day after, CyzoWoman posted an article about him, which quickly spread as most bloggers copied\quoted the article. It summarized some points during Taiyo's break; from the rumor that he was under Stardust Promotion as a model in 2008, being the President of the Student Council at Horikoshi, his unexpected appearance at Nakama Yukie's environmental program on New Year's Day, and now, his 'comeback'.

It was also mentioned that he could be the next Motoki Masahiro (formerly of Shibugakitai, starred in the internationally-acclaimed Okuribito) and Sorimachi Takashi (of Great Teacher Onizuka fame) , both were formerly from J.E., and left to pursue an acting career. There was also a mention of Shoon (perfect match after all!), and his short comeback last year.

Currently at 1st place.

As we do not still have any official news from his agency, fans are still speculating, and assuming that it is Production Ogi (notable talents include Nakama Yukie, no3b from AKB48, Aqua Timez, et.al.). I can't remember seeing this space when I first visited the site after receiving news of his TV appearance last January 1, but then, I told my friends what they think of it. Is OgiPro playing a game with us?
What's that mysterious space for? If it's not OgiPro, then, that agency just did a very good job of backing up Taiyo during the first months of his comeback. Things are getting exciting, no? OgiPro or not, Taiyo has our support.

Remember a picture of Taiyo playing shogi with Fukka? (the board was so tiny, I know. XD) He could probably be behind the planning of his career as well. Careful, strategical and brilliant (like when he was playing the giant JENGA), that's Taiyo.

About Shoon, most of you have heard about him being spotted in Taiwan. We're still not sure if he has already returned to Japan. His university has posted schedules for the graduating batch this year, and this one includes the Faculty of Law. If you'll read until the end, there's something interesting (or is it just me? 'Cause I've never heard of something like it.) Hint: Mark your calendars, set your clocks at JST, and make sure you won't be having problems with your connection.

I don't really have so much to offer, but we have a Twitter account if you have questions or anything to share. ( ´∀`)

*edit* mmseeker, has kindly translated the whole article and you can read it here

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February 20, 2011

Even the Sun shines at night

Hi. I'm Axel A., and I'll be co-blogging with Irea for an indefinite time. I just dropped by to share something that just came up less than an hour ago:


Finally, Tumbling2's official Twitter account posted a tweet with a picture of the cast, including our dear Taiyo.

For some reason, the first tweet was deleted, including the picture's link, so the picture above was just a screencap from how it appeared at Echofon (my Twitter application of choice). I wasn't able to take a screencap from the official Twitter account page, thinking it won't get deleted. I checked the link of the picture, thank God, it still works. I just wonder why they have to delete the original tweet. (´-`)

E.T.A.: The first tweet is there again, same content.

So maybe while the picture is still there, save it. XD (available on full size too!)

As of now, Taiyo's agency is still unknown, but it's nice that we are given a glimpse of him while waiting for him conquer a new world.

note: if you'd rather comment on LiveJournal head this way

January 31, 2011

happy b-day, Yabucchi!

Yabu's proverbial infectious smile
Yabu has the silliest smile ever, and I so love it! He has changed in many ways, all for the better, I think -like his acting has improved,  he's more relaxed and natural... and he's now all too aware of his sexyness for our own good-, but that silly, childish smile and the way his eyes 'shrink', like an old man's, when he smiles, haven't changed one bit, and I hope they never will. 

I have a tendency to almost always be negative, and now and then I catch myself engaging in gloomy thoughts, but eventually I manage to stop it and be more objective. One of such gloomy thoughts, since September 2007, is that every year that passes takes Yabu and Hikaru farther away from Ya-Ya-yah and more into JUMP. It's been three and a half years since Ya-Ya-yah was disbanded and JUMP born, and even though I'm glad to see Yabu and Hikaru happy and doing well, I can't help but think that -like SMAP, or V6- they'll continue to be in JUMP indefinitely. 

That's an obvious remark, I know, and I'm sure that's what Yabu and Hikaru are hoping for. What I mean is that in a few years they will have been members of JUMP longer than they were members of Ya-Ya-yah (5 years and a half in Yabu's case and 4 and a half in Hikaru's). I suppose you could say that it 'scares' me. Did I say I'm no good at accepting changes? Yeah, that's me. I guess I feel as though I'm 'losing' them, in a way. And I can't believe it, but my eyes are watering as I'm typing this. Am I sentimental or what? *is embarrased*

But then, the sensible side of me steps in, and reminds me that all of us will always treasure certain periods of our life, like childhood, even if they lasted only a few years... a few years that seem even shorter as we grow old and compare them, looking back, to the rest of the mounting years we've already lived and what lies ahead.

Yabu already said how important Ya-Ya-yah was, is and will always be for him, so I suppose I should lay my worries to sleep. In spite of that lovable, silly smile he is a wise guy. Did I mention he turns 21 today?  As we say in Spanish, may you live for many, many years, and may I be here to witness your success, Yabucchi.

P.S. to Yabu: What's this thing I read somewhere about you thinking of sharing an apartment or something with Takaki? Don't you know Shoon is the one for you? He'd take care of you like an older brother.

P.S. to readers: I'm saving the news about Taiyô's theatre play (for those who didn't hear, he landed a role in Tumbling 2!!) for another post because I've been busy and it deserves a post of its own, and hopefully I'll manage to gather some details.

P.S.2 to readers: Did you guys get a notification of my reply to your comments from the previous post? If you didn't, I'll go back to the LiveJournal comments system.

edit: If you didn't get a notification, you can comment through LJ:

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January 20, 2011

a new START!

Today I finished doing 2 things I'd been wanting to do for a loooong time:
1) upgraded my blog design! YES! It was about time. I was clinging to my old blogger template - always afraid of changes, that's me. ^^; I knew this new one would make things easier for you and me, and it would be a lot neater and open up lots of exciting possibilities, but yeah, I wanted to be sure I wouldn't lose anything important in the template 'migration', so it took me a while. XD;;;

2) I FINALLY this is rather embarrassing actually ^^;;; got to editing the "about Ya-Ya-yah" section (see lovely tab at the top). It was kind of shameful that I hadn't edited it after Ya-Ya-yah's break up, so any newbie visiting this blog must have been very confused as to whether Ya-Ya-yah was still around or not. =_=||| But it was so depressing to edit it to say "Ya-Ya-yah no more" that I kept putting it off. I suppose I'm stronger now, especially thanks to Taiyô and Shoon's "comeback". Whether we hear from them again or not (though I very much hope we will), just knowing that they didn't give up on their dreams and tried to fight for them makes me stand by what I believed all along: that the 'Fantastic Four' are really the 'Fantastic Four' and that keeping the memory of Ya-Ya-yah alive is absolutely worth the effort. :)


January 18, 2011

let the SUNshine in

The sky is grey and cloudy over here , threatening rain , but for me it's a sunny day because today our dear Taiyô turns 20! Waaah! Ya-Ya-yah's youngest member is 20 already! I feel so old!   And this one is a very happy birthday indeed, with something big to celebrate: Taiyô's "return", maybe, to the entertainment world. I typed "return" like that, with quotation marks, and added a "maybe" because I want to be cautious about it as it's too soon to say.

On January 2nd I received an e-mail from a friend, who had heard from another friend that Taiyô had appeared in a TV show the day before. What an awesome piece of news to start the year!   I was so excited!! So I looked for more info on the Net and it was true, Taiyô had made an appearance as a sort of co-presenter in an environment-related documentary called 蒼い地球5  (Blue Earth 5) that had aired on TV Tokyo the day before, January 1st.