Well, hello, Ebizu! I thought the kabuki star was disgraced, and then I find him giving me this come-hither look outside the new(ish) palce of posh menswear, Hankyu Men in Yurakucho. Decent coffee downstairs at the Monocle Cafe brought me there twice in one week.
Can someone explain to me how celebrity rehabilitation works in Japan? Was he forgiven because alcohol was involved? Or has he seduced a defenseless nation into taking him back?
Nothing’s better than a full-on Japanese apology, except perhaps when performed by an illustrious actor. This time it was Kabuki star Ichikawa Ebizo apologizing for getting into a drunk brawl in posh Nishi Azabu that caused injuries including a fractured left cheek bone, two chipped front teeth, and multiple internal and head bruises.
The “prince of Kabuki”stands to lose 100 to 200 million yen in product endorsements (US$1.2 to 2.4 million). And in true Japanese fashion, his shame threatens the overall image of kabuki, or so some say. The Yomiuri covers the facial reconstruction side of the story.
I’d like to think about how long his vow- “I won’t feel like having a drink for a while”– will last, particularly in light of this handsome actor’s drunken wedding image below.
Update: After reaching some sort of out of court settlement post-Xmas, Ebizo’s explanation for the fight: “Ebizo has claimed he was struck without warning when he was providing care to the man, who had been drinking heavily.”
Guest Post: Created by Kathryn of Project Kathryn.
Readers, you are in for a huge treat!
After I complained that many of my loyal fangirl readers seem fixated on the super-young (at least from the perspective of this cougar, aka milf), Kathryn volunteered to introduce adorable Nakamura Shido. I love how her profile includes Arashi, Kathryn’s favorite group, and Donki! Thanks, Kathryn!!
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Shido Nakamura is apparently a famous Kabuki actor. Not being up with such cultured things like that, I only really noticed him when watching Letters from Iwo Jima (a damn fine movie – I resisted watching it for ages because I hate war movies but I’d highly recommend it).
After that, he became known (to me) as “the guy from Letters… no, not Nino, not Watanbe Ken, the other guy…”
Then I found out all about his kabuki past (he then became “the kabuki guy from Letters from Iwo Jima”) and, suddenly kabuki didn’t seem so boring. I could sit though some traditional Japanese theatre for Nakamura-san.
More recently he was a guest on Arashi ni Shiyagare – http://www.dramacrazy.net/japanese-variety/arashi-ni-shiyagare-episode-3/ as the “big brother” guest. He taught Arashi how to make ramen in a manly fashion *swoon*. He has a quiet, dry sense of humor you rarely see in guests on Japanese variety shows. But best of all, he talked about how, when he gets lonely in the middle of the night, he goes shopping at Don Quixote! And he loves it when he gets recognised and asked for autographs and photos. He (cleverly, perhaps) didn’t say which branch he shops at because that could possibly be opening the floodgates of fangirl stalking.
Still, good looks, manliness, sense of humor and shopping at Donki = a combination that will win my heart.
Tokyo Moe 