Erika's 6 Demands

As you know it was announced that Erika finally resumed her activities, but what you probably don't know is that all the media agencies received some interesting demands from her along with the fax announcing her comeback.

Erika's relationship with the Japanese media isn't really a nice one and in order to avoid any kind of bad rumors in the future, several media agencies in Japan received 6 demands from her Spanish agency "El Extraterrestre Ltd." -  The Extraterrestrial. Is she referring to herself like that, because she got alienated from her motherland?


Yes, those are demands the media should respect anyway, but Erika wanted to make it clear once and for all. Any agency or journalist violating any of those demands will be excluded from any press events involving Erika and might even face a lawsuit under the Spanish law. That if they sent her an agreement document until the deadline of March 6, 5pm.

Obviously most of the agencies oppose such kind of demands and I doubt that a lot of them sent her their agreement. Why would they agree and make it much easier for her to sue them? Some industry experts also think that this fax could backfire on her. However, some are also intrigued by her methods and wonder how this is going to continue.

Never mess with the media, never mess with Erika?

Written by: www.erika-sawajiri.net
Sources: Tokyo Sports, Several morning news and tabloids
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Sawajiri Erika is back, officially!!

Yes, the day has finally come. Today it was announced that Sawajiri Erika finally resumed her work and her first new work will be the commercial for a beauty company.

Her agent in Japan made the announcement to the media a few hours ago. "She created her personal office in Spain and hired agents in several countries. Our goal is to increase her activities gradually." Her new official website is going to start at 5pm on March 16 as well.

This announcement confirms that Erika really was building up new connections when she and her husband returned to Japan at the end of last year. The result of her new connections will be a new commercial for a beauty company that will start airing later this month. It will be a commercial for "Takano Yuri Beauty Clinic" as mentioned in earlier rumors. With this she is going to follow the footsteps of fellow actress Yonekura Ryoko and singer Gackt who used to be two of their recent image characters.

Their commercials are known for showing a lot of skin in an aesthetic way and it won't be any different for Erika. It's said that they used some interesting CG to create a new and original commercial.

A new photo book is planned for a release in April as well. It was shot by a British cameraman and close friend of Takashiro, but it will not contain any kind of nude photographs unlike claimed in other rumors. It will be a purely artistic collection of photographs and a must-have for all fans left.

Her future as an actress isn't looking that bad either. She received a lot of offers in and outside of Japan and currently has 4-5 scripts that she might be interested in. Erika now also has an agent in Los Angeles who is going to select some promising roles for her in the American market. The most interesting fact still is that she's doing all that on her own. With her own office in Spain, she is going to completely produce her herself.

However, fans in Japan might be a bit sad, since she will stay in Madrid most of the time now. Agents in several countries will collect all offers for her and she will only have to chose her personal favorite at her office without having to travel the world to get her the roles.

It's a fresh and fascinating new beginning for Erika. Time will tell whether she learned from her past mistakes and how successful she is really going to be with her own office, but we will definitely hear a lot more from her again.

Happy New Year, Happy 2010 and welcome back, Erika.

Written by: www.erika-sawajiri.net
Sources: Sanspo
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Comeback movie possible as well?

So many tabloids and blogs are writing about her these days again, it seems like a comeback might really be possible this year. In the last article I mentioned a certain one-way deal with Stardust and that it doesn't include movies or doramas.

Well, there is a 2nd rumor claiming that a comeback movie might actually be an option after all. "Nikkan Cyzo" (unreliable) claims to have an insider in the movie industry who mentioned that she's currently in the talks for an epic movie. They'd like to emphasize that the movie is also going to include a love scene. Of course, no Erika news without the promise to see more skin. Though, I don't have any problems with such scenes as long as it fits into the movie.

The fact that she negotiated with her old agency Stardust again is included in all the recent gossip articles and seems to be the part that you can believe the most. The main topic of the discussions was probably the penalty she got fined with as a result of her contract breach. We are talking about 20,000,000 Yen and neither side wanted to give in. A comeback would be impossible as long as they would continue this dispute. In December they eventually settled their dispute and are on good terms again, more or less.

With a comeback now switched from impossible to possible, Erika and her spouse went to Shanghai for some more holidays. This could be related to her expo commercial rumors as well. Once they come back, they will put all their energy in Erika's comeback.

Commercials or maybe even already a movie? We will see.
Take those rumors as a piece of hope, but don't bet your money on them.

Written by: www.erika-sawajiri.net
Sources: Nikkan Cyzo
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New commercial contracts underway?

Sawajiri Erika might make a come back via commercials in the Japanese market, according to "Shukan Josei".

Insiders and representatives from a certain cosmetics and beauty research company leaked that Sawajiri might actually be on her way to get a new commercial deal done in Japan. Headlines describe it as a semi-nude esthetic commercial, but semi-nude is a very vague term in Japanese society and media.

Several other sources even claim that she might be able to resume her activities at her old agency. However, getting a shot in Japanese doramas or even movies would still be impossible for the time being. Then how could she possibly make a comeback?

How about her music career? People from the record company stated that Sawajiri herself contacted them and asked for a new project no matter what it is, but the chances are very slim and they are said to have already declined her offer anyway.

Things really seem difficult for her in Japan. That's why insiders say that she actually contacted her old agency by the end of last year and begged for their help. This might actually not be the baddest choice at all. Sawajiri got a really bad image after the contract termination and nobody else would offer her some job in the industry. She wanted to talk with her former agency again and settle things amicably. This settlement could be something like a "one-way draft", allowing her to get some new small projects with the help of the agency.

On December 28 Sawajiri and her spouse then returned to Japan in order to find her some jobs. Movies and doramas would be a no-go and musical activities nearly impossible. What's left?

Takashiro, her spouse, has several casting companies in Japan, but that's not what they are aiming for. The best ticket back into the entertainment world would be through one of his subsidiaries and it seems like she already scored her first deal with one of them. An esthetic and beauty company would like to have her for a commercial. It would be a semi-nude commercial, but she doesn't seem to have any problems with that. In fact, it might even be a much bigger impact that way. The name of the company? - Takano Yuri Beauty Clinic.

The production company that has made all of their commercials so far gave a little comment on that matter. "To be exact there isn't anything like a contract as of yet. However, we already contacted Sawajiri's agency 2 years ago and requested her as the new image character." Further they said, "We think that Takano actually would like to help Sawajiri and are positive that she is going to get that commercial deal."

They really seem to want her, so Takashiro didn't wait too long and immediately tried to continue where Sawajiri's agency left off 2 years ago. Both sides are said to meet sometime in February.

A comeback via a commercial for a beauty company might be a very good (and only) choice she has now. Nobody questions her beauty and she can appeal to many women in Japan. Other sources also say that she is going to be in commercials for the "Shanghai 2010 Expo". They are only commercials, but with a lot of effort she might be able to build up a new image and eventually resume her activities as an actress.

Written by: www.erika-sawajiri.net
Sources: Shukan Josei
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We can now honestly say that Erika will have a comeback!!And where?HOLLYWOOD!!..I hope she will have a good start on her new path as an actress..Anyway. Kudos to you Erika!

By the way, i only grabbed this article in this link..http://asianfanatics.net/forum/topic/708571-sawajiri-erika-breaks-her-way-into-hollywood-with-horror-film/

Sawajiri Erika Breaks Her Way into Hollywood with Horror Film

With her reputation already tarnished in Japan, actress Sawajiri Erika has been secretly paving the way
for her comeback. She has become fluent in English and has been actively attending casting calls as part of her plans to break into the North American market. Her husband, filmmaker Takashiro Tsuyoshi has personally helped her produce an introductory video to send overseas. In the footage, a shot of Sawajiri in her wedding gown at Meiji Shrine has left deep impressions with several overseas management companies. According to reports, she has already landed a part in a Hollywood horror movie.

As well, her husband Takashiro Tsuyoshi was invited to film a promotional video for the 2010 Shanghai Expo. He has highly recommended his wife to the sponsors, hoping to land her a modeling job.

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Finally, some good news.

2010 found Sawajiri Erika and her husband Takashiro Tsuyoshi discreetly flying into Japan to celebrate with their family and friends. The couple is apparently still going strong. They reportedly saw a movie on New Year's Eve.

But that's not all.

Since her hasty departure from Japan in September last year, not much has been heard from her. Chinese news sources claim that her husband has sued several media outfits to the tune of three billion yen ($33,231++ US big ones) for defamation of character, as her name was dragged into the Sakai Noriko drug trial, which many still believe is the reason why her former agency, Stardust Promotions, sacked her.

Erika seems to be soldiering on. Apart from rumours about restarting her career as a club DJ, attempting to break into the music scene with an underground, independent label, and publications of photobooks, she has reportedly been in and out of auditions in New York and Los Angeles. Her husband, Takashiro, has personally helped her produce an introductory video to send overseas. In the footage, a shot of Erika in her wedding kimono at Meiji Shrine has left deep impressions with several overseas management companies. According to reports, she has already landed a part in a Hollywood horror movie.

It is not without its downside. An informed source revealed that although Erika may have had a callback, her fluency in the English language could still be an issue.

Whatever the case, 2010 seems to be the year of Erika's revenge. Her comeback - in whatever form - is expected this spring, so stay tuned for more developments.


Sourced from various articles at http://rabbitamane.blogspot.com:
Yahoo!, Sohu Entertainment, United Daily News, Ta Kung Pao, Ming Pao, Apple Daily, Oriental Daily News, and The Sun
Written by yunareira exclusively for ESN.
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Breaking news from Cyzo.
Sawajiri Erika has not been seen in Japan for a while, following the events of her recent expulsion from former talent agency Stardust Promotions. However, an unnamed source close to the actress has come forward to reveal what she's been doing in the meantime.

As we all know, she is currently staying in Europe with media mogul husband Takashiro Tsuyoshi. The source claims, though, that even in the tough economy facing the new year, Sawajiri seeks to make a comeback in the Japanese entertainment industry.

It's not going to be easy.

Sawajiri's name was tied to the Sakai Noriko drug trial, and although Sakai has denied any involvement with the actress, the stigma remains, tainting Sawajiri's already-less-than-savory image.

The source further claims that since it is hard for Sawajiri to find work as an actress, she is looking for new avenues of exposure, particularly in the performing arts.

This would not be Sawajiri's first foray into the music industry. We all know that she has already debuted as a singer under Sony with her first name only, "ERIKA". This time, she has been offered an opportunity to become a DJ by a person who the source claims "... is an ex-boyfriend of Erika. He is a famous club DJ and actor. She is worried about returning to Japan but the ex-boyfriend has connections to a club seeking a female DJ and is looking to debut her as one."

DJ Erika? What do you all think?

Roughly translated from an article by Cyzo.
Written by yunareira for ESN.
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Very little has been heard about actress Erika Sawajiri after she was dismissed from her agency a month and half ago. She left for Spain in late September, avoiding the eyes of the media. The actress has not been seen anywhere nor has she made any public statements.

Most people who know her haven’t the slightest clue as to what she is doing. Asked about Sawajiri’s whereabouts, an acquaintance commented, “She used to contact me shortly after her arrival in Spain, saying she was having difficulties with the language and that she had too much time on her hands. It sounded as though she wanted to return to Japan, and I was a bit concerned about problems with her husband. I haven’t heard from her at all recently. I want to know what’s going on.”

The actress’ life in Spain had been a mystery until recently when it was confirmed that she had been attending classes at a language school located in the inner city district of Barcelona. According to the language instructor, “It was shortly before summer that a very pretty girl from Japan joined the class. I often saw her sitting outside drinking coffee… Her name’s Erika Takashiro. I heard she’s a famous actress in Japan. She was attending class with her husband.”

According to the school staff, the couple had signed up for a short-term intensive course that cost 2,000 euros per student. Apparently, though, their studies didn’t last too long. The instructor confirmed that the two stopped attending after a month.

Sawajiri lives in the vicinity of this language school, an area popular among the art and fashion minded, with stylish cafes and boutiques as well as historical structures. A Japanese expatriate residing in Barcelona says, “I happen to frequent a restaurant that Takashiro visits regularly. The staff there told me that the couple wasn’t satisfied with a rental apartment that cost 1,500 euros and chose a more expensive place. 1,500 euros is like a 100-square-meter apartment. They must have gotten a pretty extravagant apartment.”

Sawajiri was known for clubbing before her agency terminated their contract, and indeed there are several clubs that would be to her liking in the same area.  However, she seems to have found a different way to keep herself entertained. A nightclub staff explained about a “secret” party that requires a member’s introduction to join. “No paparazzi or police, so celebrities can have fun with no worries. Takashiro is well acquainted with DJs overseas, so he has the connections. It’s hard to find out when and where such parties are held because they use coded messages to pass on information.”

And so it appears Sawajiri is enjoying the Spanish nightlife instead of studying. The question is, how long will this last? “She must be getting pretty bored by now,” says a friend of Sawajiri. “She has her pride as an actress and knows well how much she can earn. Something’s bound to happen soon.”


From JapanToday

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... Yeah f****** right.

Rumors are flying that Erika Sawajiri posed nude for a French pornography magazine. Of course all this is unofficial and under the radar.

They say the reason behind it is because she’s out of work and her husband Tsuyoshi Takashiro is running out of money. So to come up with money Erika posed for a “hair” photobook (where you can see just about everything).

“The plan was for Erika to shoot the photos in France (by a half French-man) and then publish the book in Japan. They were also going to dye her and pubic area blonde for the photoshoot. It was going to be a collection of photographs,” said the publication coordinator.

A former publisher explained that if 300,000 copies sold, Erika would be guaranteed at least 100,000,000 yen, but it could be cancelled at once if there was a mistake made during the process.

As translated by suitestaboo@wordpress via this Japanese gossip portal
Edited by yunareira

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Erika is doing fine

In case you are wondering about Erika's current condition, she's doing fine.

You probably still remember how Idzutsu Kazuyuki, the director of "Pacchigi!" sent out some positive words to Erika during a PR-Event for the stage adaption of the mentioned movie back in early October. He cheered her up and said that he would like to get in contact with her via phone. Guess what, she really phoned him.

On a recent event in Tokyo he revealed that Erika really contacted him after hearing the news about his concern. She's currently staying in Spain and Idzutsu was really surprised by her call. "I said it kinda jokingly, but she really called me." Of course he was happy to hear from her, but he didn't want to go into the details of their conversation. "All I can tell you is that she's doing fine."

Good to hear.

Credits to www.erika-sawajiri.net
Source: Sports Hochi
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Next stop: Hollywood?

While other tabloids still try to defame Erika with all kind of absurd rumors and an unlucky panty-shot at Amami Oshima, the Weekly Gendai now published a very short but positive article regarding her future as an actress.

The drug rumors don't seem to stop, even though Takaso Koichi, the husband of Sakai Noriko, explained during his first public hearing that he never met Erika on that island or anywhere else. It's sad that Stardust never cleared those rumors for her, but they never stated that it was the reason for her contract termination either. Tabloids should just stop coming up with more so-called "anonymous" insiders and reporters.

Back to the positive rumor. Gendai says that Erika isn't becoming sulky now that she lost her agency and that she might aim for a restart in Hollywood. The signs are actually looking good, with a successful producer as her husband and her almost fluent English skills. If we want to believe this article, she's even already having an eye on various castings in Los Angeles. Next stop: Hollywood?

Credits to www.erika-sawajiri.net
Source: Gendai
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Divorce said to be a requisite for Erika Sawajiri's comeback

“I used to think that it would take a man like Tsuyoshi Takashiro to handle someone as strong-minded as Erika, but I guess that wasn’t the case,” comments a close friend of Erika Sawajiri. A month has passed since the termination of her contract, and Sawajiri has made no public appearance since.

In the meanwhile, rumors have spread that Sawajiri, 23, is expressing discontent about her husband to those around her. According to the aforementioned source, Sawajiri used to have great respect for Takashiro, 45. “If he suggested getting a Mac computer, she would get one for her own use. She’d install all the software and always listened to music of her husband’s preference. It was as though she would do anything he told her to. But her attitude changed shortly before the contract termination. ‘These days I often feel as though something is just not right about him’ was what she told me.”

Before the couple was married, Shukan Post was at a club event in autumn of 2007 where Takashiro, with Sawajiri in tow, was DJ. It did appear at the time that Sawajiri always remained a step behind Takashiro. To each and every person he would introduce her to, Sawajiri spoke with deference and bowed her head many times, which left a lasting impression.

Shukan Post has reported previously of the gap between the media projects ostensibly credited to Takashiro in his work portfolio and the facts. As his wife, Sawajiri must have been aware of the discrepancies. “Erika had this admiration for the kind of relationship between John Lennon and Yoko Ono, and married Takashiro because she saw him as sophisticated and felt he could ‘better’ her. Once they started living together, I guess she found out that wasn’t true – like she woke up to reality. I once mentioned something negative about his DJ work and his clothing, and she actually agreed with me,” adds the friend.

Sawajiri is currently staying in Europe, and her comeback to show business is nowhere in sight. But an executive of an entertainment management company claims that there still is a possibility provided that she divorces Takashiro.

“Prior to her termination, there was some talk about transferring to a different agency that’s more music-oriented, involving an offer of several hundred million yen. Nothing came out of it apparently, but the recent events pretty much have proven that her husband is the problem. Negotiations might resume if she agrees to sever her ties with Takashiro.”

According to an entertainment journalist, it is “common knowledge” that problems arise when a man gets involved in the career of an actress or female show-biz personality. In fact, one of the reasons for Sawajiri’s contract termination had to do with Takashiro’s use of his wife to promote a certain fashion brand without the consent of her agency. Needless to say, her former agency must have considered Takashiro as a nuisance in view of their business.

The rumored marital rift and the requirement to divorce her husband as a condition for her comeback… What decision Sawajiri will make remains to be seen.

Source http://www.japantoday.com/category/shukan-post/view/divorce-said-to-be-a-requisite-for-erika-sawajiris-comeback

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Official Announcement from Stardust

Today the talent agency Stardust Promotions has finally made it official that they terminated Sawajiri Erika's contract at the end of September. We still lack any solid hints at what this "serious contract violation" might have been, but at least we finally have some kind of official statement regarding this matter.

Stardust managed all of Erika's activities, her short music career under the name of ERIKA, all her photo collections, her work as an actress and so on. That's also the reason why it took them so long to make a proper statement, they had to cancel or adjust the deals on all of those branches.

Right now she's once again staying in Europe with her spouse, the hyper-media creator Takashiro Tsuyoshi. There are various speculations about what she's going to do next like simply studying abroad, making a fresh start as a professional graphic designer or maybe even reviving her acting career in Europe. The only thing that seems certain is that she probably won't show herself to the Japanese media again for a while.

Her will to resume her acting career is still very strong as far as we know and her agency even wanted to get her into an epic movie project, but in the end they maybe couldn't take her selfishness anymore and had no choice but to part with her.


Credits to www.erika-sawajiri.net
Source: Sanspo
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Takashiro to sue the Japanese media, in Spain?

Rumors are heating up about a possible lawsuit against the Japanese media by Sawajiri Erika's husband, the hypermedia creator Takashiro Tsuyoshi. We still lack any official statements from Erika or her agency about the terminated contract, but it seems like that Takashiro will use the time until they reach a proper settlement to strike back at the Japanese media and their made-up rumors.

According to some reporters in Japan, Takashiro plans to attack at the media beyond everyone else's expectations. As for now, several newspapers are said to have received a written complaint from Takashiro, stating that all the reports about that electric bicycle incident as well as as the reported reasons for her discharge (the drug rumor) are nothing but groundless rumors. "As a result of those groundless rumors, I'm going to take you to court." The last part of his written complaint.

Editorial departments are used to receive such letters, but this time they might have been a bit puzzled. The reason is that Takashiro is said to have written this complaint completely in English. However, the newspaper companies don't really get why he had to write this in English and don't even think about of settling this in a more peaceful way. Instead they are already using all their energy to prepare themselves for this lawsuit.

It's also normal that journalism eventually can result in lawsuits and stuff like that, but once again Takashiro chose a slightly different way of how to approach his lawsuit. He won't bring this to a courtroom in Japan, instead he intends to settle this in a court in Spain. This means that the companies would have to come up with the costs for decent interpreters, the flight and the hotel just to advance into the court. If a star was to file a lawsuit like this in Japan, the media would be all over the case and would even make in-depth reports from both sides as well as from the actual trial. However, in Spain it would be almost impossible for the Japanese media to deliver a proper coverage. Indeed, a very clever move by Takashiro.

He also seems to have a lot of time on his hands at the moment. As you might have known, Takashiro actively participated in the bid to bring the 2016 Summer Olympics to Tokyo, but now that the IOC decided on Rio de Janairo, he doesn't have to work on this project anymore.

Is Takashiro really going to sue both, Erika's agency and the Japanese mass media in general?
We will keep you updated...

Credits to www.erika-sawajiri.net
Source: npn
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Is STARDUST losing trust?

The recent cancellation of Sawajiri Erika’s contract by her agency Stardust Promotions might eventually become a much bigger problem for the agency itself. They are loosing a lot of trust from fellow agencies and from their own signed talents.

Stardust is known for having a great portfolio of popular actresses such Tokiwa Takako, Takeuchi Yuko, Shibasaki Kou and so on. Actresses alone usually don’t make a movie successful and thus you should always put a famous actor on their side. For a long time now Stardust have been suspected to have some kind of relationship with Johnny’s, Japan’s greatest source for highly popular male idols of all kinds. Both agencies were able to create some really popular pairings in doramas and movies alike such as Tokiwa and Kimura Takuya in "Beautiful Life", Shibasaki and Kimura in "Good Luck!!" and many more.

However, that relationship might not be that healthy anymore. The most recent reason seems to be the often talked about movie "Space Battleship Yamato" starring Johnny’s Kimura Takuya. Both sides unofficially agreed to have Sawajiri as the heroine in that movie, but due to the cancellation of her contract, Stardust suddenly had to pull her out of the movie. This outcome is supposed to have turned SMAP’s female chief manager into a really bad mood.

"Based on the very close relationship between Stardust and that manager, they unofficially agreed on Sawajiri for the role. However, one side then suddenly nullified this agreement and caused their relationship to become much more unpleasant. Sure, it might have been an accident and they had no choice but to pull her out of the movie, but a ‘contract cancellation’ can always be interpreted as ’self convenience’ as well." An insider from the mass media told us.

Source: http://www.kawaii-joyuu.com/?p=3071

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Erika going nude?

The totally unreliable site naimaga (Entertainment for Men) reports on a new photo book that is supposed to come out early next year and that it will feature the natural beauty of Erika, minus them annoying clothes.

According to them, it's her last weapon to make a revival from the dead in Japan's entertainment industry. Their insider source said that the theme of this new photo book is going to be "naturally" with her husband Takashiro Tsuyoshi himself working as the photographer. They shot and will shoot the pictures on various locations around the globe from the most beautiful grasslands to the hottest deserts. Erika is also said to reveal her E-Cup boobies, since it's supposed to be all "naturally" and so on...

The revival plan includes a release of "Erika-sama Nude Photo Collection" at the beginning of the upcoming year. Will this really become her fate...?

Comment: First of all, you shouldn't put too much trust into this rumor! Second, you can still believe the part about a new photo book. It wouldn't be surprise me to see a new photo book and it wouldn't be surprising to have more alluring shots than in the past, but I highly doubt she's going to expose her front. There's probably cleavage, but rumors with Erika and the word "nude" in one sentence get more clicks than just a cleavage rumor... I guess that's what they are thinking.

Credits to www.erika-sawajiri.net
Source: naimaga
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Idzutsu cheering on Erika

Today was a PR-Event to announce the start of production for the stage adaption of "Pacchigi!" and the original director Idzutsu Kazuyuki (56) attended the event as well.

In 2005 he created the original "Pacchigi!" movie with no other than our Sawajiri Erika (23) in the role of the heroine, her breakthrough in the international movie world. He's involved in the stage play adaption to make sure that it stays true to the original and on the occasion of that event he also had a few sympathizing words for Erika. "Sawajiri-san, I want to know how you are doing. Please contact me once. Don't let yourself become discouraged by this repelling society, please hang in there."

Would he like to work together with her again? "I'd do it, if I got the chance. I have her number, but I wonder if she's going to pick up the phone." He said with a smile.

Credits to www.erika-sawajiri.net
Source: Sankei MSN
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Erika at graphic design exhibition in Germany

Still no official word from her agency about the termination of contract, but at least we seem to have an update about what she's doing at the moment - if we can believe those rumors.

Last week Erika "escaped" to Germany in an overnight flight and many wondered why she traveled to Germany instead of her husband's stay in London. Apparently she's in Frankfurt, Germany to further pursue her other dream of becoming a graphic designer and it's even going to include her so-called "world debut".

Please don't interpret it as a world debut as actress, but more of a first big and worldwide exposure of Erika herself. You probably still remember the "100 Erikas" advertising campaign produced by Sony Ericsson a long while ago. It already got displayed at an exhibition in Tokyo, but now it's even going to get a nice amount of exposure a the Ars Electronica Center in Linz, Austria starting in November. The Ars Electronica Center is the biggest media art museum in Europe, maybe even the biggest in the world.

The art director who created the "100 Erikas" is the award-winning Tanaka Noriyuki. He made himself a big name in the world as the creative director of the popular brand Uniqlo (the little flash gimmick on the right is from Uniqlo, too!). He is said to be THE inspiring example for Erika and her newfound love for graphic design and she obviously admires him a lot.

Erika told a friend of her mother just before her departure, that she's going to attend an exhibition for graphic design in Germany during the first 10 days of October. She also said that she's actually going to put some of her own works on display during that exhibition.

That friend also told the magazine, that Erika polished her English skills a lot in order to be prepared for whatever roles might await her in her future career, or what's left of that. When she returned to Japan a while ago, that friend tried to talk to her in English on purpose and Erika had no problems to reply in English at all. They only stopped their English conversation to make Erika's mom feel less awkward - "My mom is becoming embarrassed, so let's stop that."

Another good thing is to hear that Erika still loves her work as an actress. "It's incredible with how much concentration she read through the script at home." To quote her friend. It makes me kind of sad to read this, now that we know that she studied the script for nothing. After Germany she's going to go back to Spain in order to become even more fluent in English and to further improve her skills as a graphic designer.

Will we be able to follow the career for an aspiring new graphic designer, in case she won't be able to make a comeback as an actress anymore? Who knows...

Credits to www.erika-sawajiri.net
Source: Josei Jishin (mag/tabloid)
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KimuTaku tried to lecture Sawajiri by phone?

We've got another amusing rumor regarding the recent situation. Apparently it seems like that starring actor of "Space Battleship Yamato" - Kimura Takuya tried to lecture Sawajiri Erika by directly calling her on her mobile phone.

KimuTaku is known for being a person who prefers for everything to proceed in a logical manner, what comes first in the production, when do design the sets and so on. He is very well respected for this kind of attitude, but on the other hand he can be very sensitive when things don't go according to the general plan. Now Sawajiri (and her agency) caused a very big mess in the schedule of Yamato, thus he got so angry that he simply had to call her and give her a lecture.

As you all know, Sawajiri was planned to play the heroine in the movie mentioned above. Then her agency suddenly pulled her out of the movie by the end of September, followed by a still ongoing termination of her contract. Now the team of Yamato is forced to redo everything from the movie posters to the costumes, not to mentioned the overall delay in the schedule.

Yamato is a 2 billion yen big movie project (~22 million USD) that preceded a 5 year-long planning phase. Soon they are going to start their tie-in project with a huge convenience store chain and even place ads on stuff like rice balls. There is also going to be a mobile game going to get released over the next months. All in all the PR costs are going to make up another 500 million yen (5,5 million USD).

You can imagine the extra costs for every mistake or surprise during the actual production phase. KimuaTaku is very well aware of that and didn't want to have a troublemaker like Sawajiri on board to begin with, but eventually her agency managed to get an OK out of him, only to pull her out a couple of months later.

KimuTaku guessed that it once again was her selfishness that caused her to get necked by her agency and directly wanted to speak to her to give her good lecture. They say that he gave in to his anger and spontaneously grabbed his phone to call her. He didn't want to get through to her via her agency, he directly wanted to speak to her and tell her a few things from an actor to an actress.

Yes, KimuTaku thinks about her as a troublemaker and rather wants to keep her out of his own projects, but that doesn't mean that he isn't worried about her. That phone call wasn't only to give her some criticism, it was also meant to teach her about some rules you should follow in the industry. Insiders say that he actually wanted to convince her to personally apologize to the staff and to come clear with what's true and what's not. There simply are too many rumors out there after all.

Now the question, how did she react?

She didn't. Eventually he only reached her voicemail box saying the same message as on her website - "see you at the next stage". KimuTaku still left her a voicemail with everything he wanted to say to her. We will probably never find out how she reacted to his message and whether she maybe even called him back. Still, isn't this an amusing little rumor?

Credits to www.erika-sawajiri.net
Source: TokyoSports
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Live-action "Yamato" details revealed

The live-action "Space Battleship Yamato" movie had its cast publicly revealed on Friday, along with other new details about the project. The film is being directed by Takashi Yamazaki with a projected release date in December 2010.

As previously announced, SMAP member Takuya Kimura (36) will star as the protagonist Susumu Kodai, while Meisa Kuroki (21) has been confirmed as the replacement for Erika Sawajiri (23) in the role of Yuki Mori.

Two characters have been modified for the movie. Crew members Aihara and Dr. Sado have been changed into females, played by Maiko (24) and Reiko Takashima (45), respectively.

The other cast members revealed so far are Toshiro Yanagiba (as Shiro Sanada), Naoto Ogata (as Daisuke Shima), Hiroyuki Ikeuchi (as Hajime Saito), Shinichi Tsutsumi (as Mamoru Kodai), Isao Hashizume (as Heikuro Todo), Toshiyuki Nishida (as Hikozaemon Tokugawa), and Tsutomu Yamazaki (as Juzo Okita). The actor playing the antagonist Desslar has not yet been announced.

The CG-heavy film has an estimated budget of more than 2 billion yen. Filming will start later this month.

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