Channel-Ai Community Blog - JPop reviews, articles

Hitomi Shimatani

After a successful stage performance in the musical ” Anne of Green Gables” as Anne, Hitomi Shimatani immediately resumed with her singing career, with the release of her 26th single “Shinku/Ai no Uta”. However her performance did not go unnoticed and luckily this led Hitomi to be chosen to star in yet another musical.

A month after this stage performance the media has already announced yet another musical role for Hitomi. It has been decided that Hitomi Shimatani and Ranran Suzuki are set to play a double starring role at the musical “Girl Friends”. The performances are scheduled to start on January 25th until February 3rd, at Tokyo, the Stage Galaxy Theater of Tenno.

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Maki Goto’s 2008 Calendar

Fall is rapidly approaching and the declining calendar pages are there to remind us all that the calendar season has opened once again. This time of the year is always met with a plethora of calendars, with attractive covers which are bound to sell out fast. As always, the most popular musicians, actors and idols have a calendar designed by their record label or talent agency. These calendars are usually issued by the company Try-X Ltd. Most of the time, calendars are released either in B2 size or else as desktop format.

Hello!Project have released a series of calendars for several sub-groups such as C-ute, Berryz and Morning Musume. On the other hand, several solo artists have once again released her own calendar. Maki Goto, Natsumi Abe and Aya Matsuura are the most popular picks in this category.

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Ayumi performing at a-nation ‘07

The summer season has arrived to a closure with the popular annual field live tour, a-nation. This music festival is organized by avex, where their most popular artists perform on stage. The performances were mobilized in 5 cities and 7 public performances spanning over 26 days. The last public performance was held in Ajinomoto Stadium in Tokyo. Around 45,000 people were present to this event.

This event has been initiated in 2002 and has been a hit. This is the 6th year for a-nation and the popularity of this tour has not waned. Around 230,000 have attended this year.

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Hitomi performing as Anne

J-Pop singer, Hitomi Shimatani has successfully attracted the attention of Japan, this time with her acting skills in the musical “Anne of Green Gables“. The plot of this musical is based on the infamous book written by the Canadian author, Lucy Montgomery in 1908.

With the lead role, Hitomi has aimed towards impersonating Anne. Throughout August, Hitomi and the rest of the cast, will perform at different venues in Japan. It is scheduled that the musical will be performed in eight cities and amount to eleven performances. The tour initiated in the Sapporo Educational Cultural Centre on the 18th August.

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Shooting for the cover artwork

Artist: Ayumi Hamasaki Product Code: AVCD-31274/5 Release Date: 2007.07.18 Debut Ranking: #1 Label: avex trax

While being one of the hottest artists at avex, Hamasaki seems to be permanently set for high budgets and extensive promotional campaigns. Each and every release of hers is highlighted with a lot of hype and expectation from her fans. Throughout the years, the quality of her singles have increased, aiming towards spectacular artwork and impressive promotional videos. Since Hamasaki’s single releases have become less frequent, many are rather excited when a single is announced. In any way, after almost a year after “BLUE BIRD”, Hamasaki would return with a new single called “glitter/fated“.

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