Sakurai Sho Gets in Line in Raffles Hotel’s “Hall of Fame”

Singapore- Arashi‘s Sakurai Sho recently attended the premier of his upcoming movie, “Nazo toki wa dinner no ato de“, which was held in Marina bay Sands Theater. 1,500 fans attended the event where fans even sang “Meikyu Love Song” while the cast was walking on the red carpet. Together with Sakurai is Kitagawa Keiko and Shiina Kippei.

Sakurai did the stage greeting with a mixture of Malay and Singlish (Singapore-English), which was received greatly by the audience.

Aside from the movie’s premier, Sakurai’s photograph was also inducted in Raffles Hotel’s “Hall of Fame”, which includes VIPs who have stayed in this globally distinguished hotel, like: Charlie Chaplin and the British Royal Family.

Sakurai’s usual calm demeanor was broken after seeing his photograph, “I- oh–George Lucas! Err, to be with someone so amazing, it’s unbelievable.” The said hall in the hotel consists of VIP photographs who have stayed in Raffles Hotel. Sakurai used his mobile phone to take a picture of his own photograph in the hall.

“This is something I can boast to my child and grandchild. Raffles Hotel is a place basked with history and dignity; I must work harder so I can catch up with this photograph,” he commented.

There are a total of 128 photographs in the said hall, Sakurai is the second Japanese entertainer to be inducted in the hall of fame after Japanese actress, Fuji Sumiko. Sakurai stayed at the hotel for 1 night during the filming for Nazodi last year and 2 nights this time around.

“Nazo toki wa dinner no ato de” will hit the theaters in Singapore on Aug 22nd, Taiwan on Aug 9th, and Hong Kong on Sept 5th.

Nikkan Sports and Hochi Yomiuri

Aiba Masaki appears at the stage greeting for his starring drama

On January 10th, popular idol group Arashi member, Aiba Masaki appeared at the stage greeting for the pre-screening for his upcoming drama “Last Hope” held at Omotesando Hills.

In the drama, Aiba will be playing the role of a doctor for the first time, and that day, he made an appearance wearing a white coat. When the emcees of the event, Fuji TV announcers, Nishiyama Kikue and Nakamura Mitsuhiro, complimented Aiba how cool he looked in the white coat, Aiba showed a smile, and said, “Am I that cool? I’m gaining self confidence now. I think I will show the cool side of me more this year.”

As reported, “Last Hope” is a medical suspense drama which features a team of doctors who engage in advanced medical care as the “last stronghold” for the patients that were given up by other doctors. It also shows the hidden pasts of those doctors. Aiba’s role “Hatano Takumi” is skilled in diagnosis as he figures out the patients’ symptoms by checking their heartbeat through his stethoscope.

According to Aiba, he was always wearing a stethoscope around his neck even at home while preparing for his role. He said, “I also started to listen to a cardiac sound CD, but when I was listening to it at night, my heart was beating so fast, which made me scared, so I stopped that right away.” Aiba also revealed that he had a hard time reading the lines with lots of medical terms.

As one of the highlights of the drama, Aiba mentioned the afternoon snack time which is indispensable for “Takumi”. He said, “The banana cheese tart on the episode 3 was the best one so far.”
It was also announced that Arashi’s new single “Calling” (to be released on March 6th) has been chosen as its theme song. Aiba explained, “Just like the drama, its lyrics are themed with lives and hopes, and it is a catchy rock number. Since it isn’t very ‘Arashi-like’ song, I had a fresh feeling singling to it.”
To commemorate the broadcast of the drama, there will be an illumination called “Last Hope Illumination”, in which about 250,000 champagne gold colored LEDs will be lighted in Omotesando for 15 days (1/10~1/14).

In the end, Aiba talked about his ambitions for this year, commenting, “This is an anniversary year as I will be turning 30. I am glad I was able to start off this year with this drama, and I want to enjoy it. I also want to be active as Arashi.”

“Last Hope” will begin airing on January 10th on Fuji TV (every Tuesday at 9:00 pm).

Source: Oricon

Image: Last Hope official site

Aiba Masaki visits Taiwan

Arashi’s Aiba Masaki recently attended the world premiere for the documentary, “Nihon Retto Ikimono Tachi no Monogatari“, in Taiwan.

This film was presented in Taiwan to thank the students of Affiliated Experimental Elementary School at Taipei Municipal University of Education, who gathered donations for the victims of the Tohoku Earthquake back in March. A total of 250 people, mainly consisting of students, were invited to attend the screening party.

The students of the school shared a part of their allowance, and donated a total of 300,000 yen (around $4000 usd). Aiba expressed, “I was deeply moved by the support of the children. I am honored to first screen this film in Taiwan, who gave us their warm support.” He then promoted the documentary saying, “I want children all over the world to see the family love and bond of animals that is portrayed in the film.”

A press conference was held before the screening party, where Aiba was asked to compare the members of Arashi to an animal. “Ohno-kun likes to fish, so maguro (tuna)!“,  he responded, causing the crowd to burst into laughter.

Since Arashi has held a concert in Taiwan previously back in 2006 and 2008, the fans enthusiastically welcomed Aiba when he arrived at the airport and while sight-seeing with the students. He promised, “Out of gratitude, I want to hold a live again in Taiwan.”

Source: Sanspo

Photo: Udn.com

Masaki Aiba will be the navigator of the World Artistic Gymnastics

It is confirmed that for the 3rd time, Masaki Aiba will be the navigator of the World Artistic Gymnastics. Press conference was held yesterday. Here's the video for the event..

credit to : Dorothy W Wong @facebook for the awesome video!!!