Latest news with #Akiko
New Straits Times
a day ago
- Entertainment
- New Straits Times
#SHOWBIZ: Tengku Ampuan Pahang visits Akiko Okumura's grave
KUALA LUMPUR: The Tengku Ampuan of Pahang, Tunku Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah, recently paid her last respects to the late Akiko Okumura, also known as Aisyah Abdullah, by visiting her final resting place. In a video shared on social media by Akiko's widower, entrepreneur and social media influencer Abd Ridzuan Abdul Mutalib (better known as Ridzuan Ridzokumura), Tunku Azizah is seen visiting Akiko's grave in Subang Jaya, Selangor. Ridzuan expressed his gratitude in the caption, writing: "Thank you very much to Tengku Ampuan Pahang, Tunku Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah, who is willing to visit the grave of Aisyah Abdullah @ Akiko Okumura." In the comment section, netizens fondly recalled how Tunku Azizah used to leave comments during the couple's live TikTok sessions when Akiko was alive. One netizen commented, "If I'm not mistaken, Tunku Azizah used to comment when Akiko would prepare food for her family. She's lucky that, while people may not know her personally, many people still remember her, including a beloved Sultan's consort." Another added, "Maybe Tunku also feels sad like all of us. Al-Fatihah for a good person, the late Akiko." Akiko was confirmed to have died after falling from the fourth floor of a condominium in Subang Jaya on Feb 28. She married Ridzuan in February 2009, and they have a 13-year-old son, Sky Taizo Okumura.
Yomiuri Shimbun
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yomiuri Shimbun
World Forum on Japanese Culture Set to Kick Off; 1st Session to Feature Speech by Princess Akiko
Yomiuri Shimbun file photo The Cultural Affairs Agency The World Forum on Japanese Culture is set to kick off at the MOA Museum of Art in Atami, Shizuoka Prefecture, on May 31. The number of applications from people wishing to attend the inaugural day has already reached the venue's seating capacity. However, recordings from the day will be viewable on the museum's website and other places at a later date. The Cultural Affairs Agency and other entities established the forum to convey to the world the distinctive characteristics of Japanese culture. Among those characteristics is the value that Japanese culture places on finding harmony between nature and human society, which will feature in the forum amid the divisions and conflicts currently faced by the international community. Leading figures in traditional arts, traditional crafts, fine arts, science and other fields have been invited to speak, providing a variety of perspectives on Japanese culture. Their lectures and discussions will be open to the public and recorded, and the recordings will be made public with multilingual subtitles included. The forum is also expected to cooperate with overseas universities and museums to enable the recordings to be used in classes at those institutions. In the first session on the day, Princess Akiko of Mikasa will give a special lecture titled 'The essence of Japanese aesthetics.' In the second session, a discussion will be held with four participants: Masatomo Kawai, a professor emeritus at Keio University; Kazumi Murose, a lacquer artist designated as a living national treasure; Harvard University Prof. Yukio Lippit; and Tokugo Uchida, director of the MOA Museum of Art. Both sessions will be recorded.
Japan Times
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Japan Times
‘I Still Want To Do It With My Wife': Hapless husband's self-pity wears thin
Behind every starving artist, there tends to be someone else who's paying the bills. That was certainly true for filmmaker Shin Adachi, who spent years as an unsuccessful screenwriter before finally breaking out with '100 Yen Love' in 2014. As he has revealed in two autobiographical novels and their respective screen adaptations, he wouldn't have made it this far without the help of his spouse, Akiko. But in Adachi's fictionalized retelling, his better half is a far cry from the 'devoted wife' archetype beloved of NHK morning dramas. In 'I Still Want To Do It With My Wife,' Chika (played by the single-named Megumi) subjects her husband to a near-constant invective — and you can hardly blame her. Work-shy and out of work, Gota (Shunsuke Kazama) is a hopeless case. He didn't even make ¥100,000 the previous year, yet when he does finally land a gig, he's so out of his depth with the material that he has to get his missus to write it for him. Not only is Chika the main breadwinner, she also seems to be the more effective parent to their son, Taro (Tetta Shimada), who has a developmental disorder. So when Gota approaches her at the end of a long day with a suggestive look on his face, it's understandable that she tells him to get lost. Gota's only confidantes are the neighborhood moms, but they scoff at his complaints that he doesn't get enough credit for doing the cooking and housework. Welcome to being a homemaker, pal. These battle lines will be familiar to anyone who saw Adachi's 'A Beloved Wife' (2020), in which his sex-starved alter ego was played by Gaku Hamada. (Even the names of the lead characters are the same, although this doesn't appear to be a direct sequel.) Kazama, an equally cuddly screen presence, somehow manages to be even more irritating than his predecessor. Adapted from the director's 2019 novel, 'I Still Want To Do It With My Wife' started as a 12-episode drama that aired on TV Osaka earlier this year. Adachi says he'd always envisioned it as a standalone film, which explains why the theatrical cut — edited from the show, with a few extra scenes added — doesn't feel like a digest version. All the same, it frequently betrays its TV origins, both in the rough-around-the-edges aesthetic and the episodic plot. Like many married couples, Gota and Chika are constantly revisiting the same arguments. Although there are a few big moments (a bust-up at a funeral, an emotional meltdown on a busy street), much of the film keeps going round in circles. Adachi's candor is refreshing, but it's still subject to the law of diminishing returns. Much like the character she plays, Megumi ends up having to do most of the work. After spending much of the film's first half in the bathtub — a more onerous acting assignment than you'd think — she's called on to deliver the emotional fireworks later on, too. Shimada, best known to international audiences from Koji Fukada's 'Love Life' (2022), is equally winning as the couple's high-maintenance son. Taking verisimilitude to the extreme, Adachi filmed the domestic scenes in the family's apartment, using long takes and handheld camerawork to heighten the pressure-cooker atmosphere. It gives an extra touch of authenticity to a fitfully engaging film. Adachi can do better than this, but his wife has probably told him that already.
Yomiuri Shimbun
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Women in the Reiwa Era Imperial Family / Princesses Share Father's Ways of Thinking, Continue Legacies
The Yomiuri Shimbun Princess Akiko presents her books to the winners of the 8th national junior high school biblio battle championship, a book review competition, in Kyoto on March 9. This is the third and last installment in a three-part series about what roles women born into the Imperial family should play in the Reiwa era. *** Princess Akiko, Princess Yoko and Princess Tsuguko, the great-granddaughters of Emperor Taisho, have leveraged their individual personalities to support the Imperial family. Going among people Princess Akiko, 43, of the Mikasa branch of the family, teaches at universities as an expert in Japanese art and also writes essays. Last year, her book 'Aka to Ao no Gaun' (Red and blue gown) came out in paperback. The book of essays about her six years in England studying at the University of Oxford for her doctorate became a bestseller, with 380,000 copies sold. 'Princess Akiko is a very friendly person. I was surprised by how high the quality of her manuscripts were,' said Takayuki Nagata, 52, of PHP Institute, Inc. Nagata oversaw the serialization of the princess' essays in a monthly magazine published by the institute. The princess usually lives in Kyoto. She runs an organization that helps pass Japanese culture on to the next generation, and she is personally involved in hands-on events that include traditional crafts and agriculture. At a book review competition in Kyoto in March, the princess told junior high school students and others: 'When you go abroad, you will be treated as a representative of Japan. I want you to read books and learn about the history and culture of your country.' As part of her official duties, she serves as president of 10 organizations, including the Japan-Turkey Society, which she took over from her late father, Prince Tomohito of Mikasa. 'Princess Akiko holds dear to her father's way of thinking, which was that the Imperial family should go among the people and do what they desire,' said Eizo Kobayashi, chairperson of the society. Supporting motorsports Princess Yoko, 41, the younger sister of Princess Akiko, was similarly influenced by Prince Tomohito. Nicknamed the 'Bearded Prince,' the prince devoted himself to the welfare of disabled people and the promotion of sports. In a handwritten letter to the Imperial Household Agency press club in June 2022, Princess Yoko wrote that when she performs her official duties, she asks herself, 'If it were my father, how would he feel?' She also revealed that she suffers from sensorineural hearing loss. The Yomiuri Shimbun Princess Yoko speaks to the winners of the All-Japan junior high school water essay contest in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, on Aug. 1. When she visited Home Hospice Komatsu in Komatsu, Ishikawa Prefecture, in the autumn of 2022, she learned that a child of a staff member at the facility was hearing-impaired. 'So am I,' she told the staff member. 'The princess has chosen to look at her hearing impairment in a positive light,' said Chiaki Sakakibara, 63, who runs the hospice. 'We were very encouraged by the kindness she showed to those around her.' In July, Princess Yoko presented the Princess Yoko Cup at the All Japan Super Formula Championship, Japan's premier auto race. The Yomiuri Shimbun Princess Tsuguko speaks to atomic bomb survivors at the Nagasaki National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims in Nagasaki on Aug. 7. On April 6, Princess Akiko and Princess Yoko visited the Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix to watch the event and help promote motorsports. Balancing work, duties Princess Tsuguko, 39, the eldest daughter of late Prince Takamado, has been balancing her official duties with her activities at the Tokyo-based Japan Committee for UNICEF for more than 10 years. In this respect, she takes after her father, who worked at the Japan Foundation in Tokyo in addition to his official duties. On the committee, the princess is in charge of raising public awareness of UNICEF's work to support poverty-stricken areas around the world, and she travels extensively throughout Japan to do the job. Princess Tsuguko has also sought to promote peace. On Aug. 7 last year, at the closing ceremony of the All Japan inter-high school archery tournament in Nagasaki, she said in her speech: 'Even today, conflicts continue around the world.' 'There are children in the world who are not even allowed to enjoy sports,' she added. 'I hope you will think about what you can do for peace.' During a meeting afterwards with atomic bombing survivors, she crouched down to listen to them speak. 'The Emperor of the Heisei era wishes for peace and repeatedly made trips to pay his respects to the war dead in various places,' said Shigemitsu Tanaka, 84, chair of the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Survivors Council. 'I saw that his wish has been passed on to the Imperial family today.' — This series was written by Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writers Sho Mizuno, Kaori Sakaba and Michiko Otsuka.
Japan Times
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Japan Times
‘Blank Canvas': 'Tough love' of the past isn't so funny anymore
The master-apprentice relationship, usually with a man in the former role and a woman in the latter, has been a popular theme in recent Japanese films. The appeal to the target audience is aspirational, since learning how to make scrumptious tofu or Chinese food, even from an irascible older guy, sounds more fulfilling than whatever dull gig they are actually doing. Kazuaki Seki's 'Blank Canvas: My So-Called Artist's Journey' takes this relationship to cartoonish extremes that may give viewers pause about following in the protagonist's footsteps. Based on an autobiographical comic by Akiko Higashimura and starring Mei Nagano in the title role, the film traces Akiko's path from childhood prodigy (she's compared by her comically indulgent parents to Pablo Picasso) to successful manga artist. But the focus is squarely on Akiko's long apprenticeship under Kenzo Hidaka (Yo Oizumi), an art teacher in her native Miyazaki Prefecture. Kenzo runs his art academy like a hard-nosed phys ed instructor in a lower-tier boys' school, despite enjoying a considerable reputation for his own work. Dressed in a track suit and carrying a bamboo sword, he patrols his cramped classroom shouting terse judgments and commands to his cowed charges, with 'bad' and 'draw' among the favorites. When the lazy and overconfident Akiko joins his class in her senior year of high school, she is shocked by Kenzo's dismissive evaluation of her portfolio ('bad, bad, bad') and his crude methods, which include physical force. (The film frames his periodic manhandling of Akiko as slapstick comedy.) Her feelings hurt and ego crushed, Akiko lies about having stomach pains and makes her escape, only to have Kenzo give her a piggyback ride to the bus stop where he sits with her for an hour until the next bus comes. This loud, abrasive man, she realizes, is genuinely concerned about her welfare and talent. So she returns to his class and, under his tough-love instruction, grows as an artist, though she is still the teenager who hates to exert herself in class and loves to goof off with friends. This attitude gets her into trouble when college entrance exams loom and she faces fierce competition to enter her two selected art schools. Here again Kenzo is gruffly supportive, though Akiko manages to overcome the exam hurdle in her own oddball way. Both Nagano and Oizumi play their roles to the manga-esque hilt, while establishing their characters' strong emotional bonds beneath their mugging antics. So when the story darkens in the third act, the change in tone doesn't come as a complete surprise. The film also details Akiko's rise from amateur to pro without airbrushing the harsh realities of the manga business, starting with its workaholic lifestyles. Nonetheless, Kenzo's violence as a teacher — the sort of thing long excused as ai no muchi (whip of love) — is disturbing, as well as a reminder that 'Blank Canvas: My So-Called Artist's Journey' is set three decades ago. For this former boys' high school teacher, who witnessed a fellow instructor cracking a bamboo sword on adolescent heads, the film is too much a sentimental celebration of an educational past that, in its toleration of abuse, was bad, bad, bad.
