Most Loved/Most Hated Women Of 2011

The tabloid magazine BUBKA published it’s annual rankings of most loved and most hated women of 2011 as voted by it’s readers. As you’ll see by the women on the hated list, I’m very surprised and curious as to why several of the names down on the list has been chosen but first let’s have a look at the Most Loved list which contains several AKB48 members.

The Most-Loved Women of 2011

01 – 319 votes – Ayase Haruka
02 – 286 votes – Sasaki Nozomi
03 – 261 votes – Maeda Atsuko (AKB48)
04 – 245 votes – Itano Tomomi (AKB48)
05 – 238 votes – Shinoda Mariko (AKB48)
06 – 197 votes – Hara Mikie
07 – 165 votes – Kitagawa Keiko
08 – 136 votes – Horikita Maki
09 – 124 votes – Oshima Yuko (AKB48)
10 – 113 votes – Aragaki Yui
11 – 104 votes – Takei Emi
12 – 96 votes – Fukada Kyoko
13 – 88 votes – Ueto Aya
14 – 76 votes – Yamamoto Azusa
15 – 62 votes – Yuuka
16 – 60 votes – Watanabe Mayu (AKB48)
17 – 53 votes – Naka Riisa
18 – 46 votes – Kichise Michiko
19 – 41 votes – Kashiwagi Yuki (AKB48)
20 – 34 votes – Suzuki Airi (°C-ute)

I can’t really comment on Ayase Haruka as I’ve never seen her in anything but she looks like a nice enough person and it’s good to see Acchan at no.3 followed by Tomochin and Mariko.

The Most-Despised Women of 2011

01 – 612 votes – Sawajiri Erika
02 – 189 votes – Saeko
03 – 166 votes – Komukai Minako
04 – 145 votes – Ueno Juri
05 – 142 votes – Becky
06 – 113 votes – Okamoto Mari
07 – 92 votes – Itano Tomomi (AKB48)
08 – 90 votes – Ueto Aya
09 – 82 votes – Ogura Yuko
10 – 77 votes – Toda Erika
11 – 72 votes – Yoshitaka Yuriko
12 – 61 votes – Hoshino Aki
13 – 53 votes – Kinoshita Yukina
14 – 45 votes – Michishige Sayumi (Morning Musume)
15 – 41 votes – Hirosue Ryoko

It shouldn’t be any surprise to see who’s at no.1 in the Most Hated list. I’m not sure what Erika can do to make the Japanese general public like her again. She’s trying her best to change but it’s going to take a while for people to forget what she did in the past. I’m really shocked to see Becky, Juri Ueno, Aya Ueto and Erika Toda on this list. What have they done to deserve being on it? I don’t think they’ve been in any damaging scandals over the past year. Becky for instance has been one of the most active Japanese actresses that has been raising money and helping out people that have been affected by the tsunami. BUBKA readers must have short memories. Tomochin who’s at no.7 is one of those AKB48 members that can split people’s opinions about her so no wonder she appears on both lists. Aya Ueto is here because she’s embarked on a relationship with EXILE’s Hiro and the fans are pissed off or jealous of her.

Due to the number of votes being so small, don’t make the mistake of thinking that the 2 lists represent the feelings of the majority of Japanese people because they probably don’t do that at all. I’d like to see a nationwide survey with more people involved asking which actress they like and hate to see if it would come close to matching the BUBKA lists.

Erika Sawajiri Involved In Possible New Controversy

Erika Sawajiri never seems to be out of the headlines these days and is now involved in a possible new controversy. Erika has returned back to Spain alone where she has stayed since 2009 and there are rumours that she has a new boyfriend there who’s 29 years old and is 5’10” in height. But that’s not the issue here. There are rumours buzzing around that her new boyfriend is a cultivator of marijuana and this brings with it unwelcome attention to Erika who is trying to restart her career in Japan. This will not help things at all. Pictures of Erika with this man has surfaced on Facebook. There’s been no word from Erika herself but her mother has denied the story saying that it’s a complete lie and she has no new lover. If the rumours are indeed true she can kiss her comeback goodbye because no agency in Japan will want anything to do with her again.

Erika Sawajiri IS Getting A Divorce

Today saw Erika Sawajiri tell the Japanese press what they’d all been waiting for and that was to say that she is indeed getting a divorce and that procedures are in their final stages.  In a tearful press conference at the Takano Yuri Beauty Clinic, she revealed that she and Takashiro Tsuyoshi have both mutually agreed on the divorce. So all the rumours about both of them getting back together were rubbish. It seems the only reason that they were seen together was to finalise the divorce proceedings. She didn’t answer any questions from the media.

Erika stated that she has no work lined up although she does want to return to acting. Whether AVEX is still interested in her after this press conference is unknown. However it’s not all doom and gloom for her. An announcement is expected on February 28th about a possible CM contract for Erika.

Erika has burnt a lot of bridges whilst she’s been away from Japan and it’s going to take a long time before the Japanese public warm up to her once more. I wish her the very best of luck in achieving this.

EDIT: Erika’s soon-to-be-ex-husband has objected to her interview yesterday. He wasn’t too happy at all that details on the divorce were given to the press and wants Erika to tell the whole truth about what’s going on. He feels aggrieved that the press is trying to be on her side once more. This saga is set to get nasty in the near future I believe. Expect Erika to issue a statement about this latest development.

The Latest On Erika Sawajiri

One of the most hated female celebs in Japan is finally back in her homeland. That’s right, Erika Sawajiri touched down in Narita at 10am this morning but refused to answer any questions for waiting reporters before heading to her home. She was expected to come back for the Christmas & New Year holidays but it seems she elected to stay in Spain where she’s been for the past couple of months.

The media are of course desperate to find out what the hell is going on with her marriage – is it on or off? There was rumours during October that she had reconciled with her husband so that’ll put her at loggerheads with companies that want to work with Erika but have told her to divorce her husband first. It’s unknown how long she’ll stay in Japan and if there are any potential work offers going to come her way during her time back in Tokyo.

I’m sure Erika will keep everybody guessing on her situation until the time is right for her to reveal all.

EDIT: Erika is scheduled to make a press conference on January 23rd which will clear everything up about her current situation. The speculation about companies specifically AVEX not giving her a contract until she divorces has prompted AVEX President Max Matsuura to say that nothing of the sort was ever said and that it’s all rumours by the media.

Top 10 Most Hated Japanese Female Celebs 2010

For the past 3 years Erika Sawajiri has been no.1 on the most hated Japanese female celebs ranking by women readers of the magazine Shukan Bunshun but this year she’ll be glad to know that she’s no longer at the top. The bad news is she’s only dropped down to no.2 so she still isn’t very popular in the country. The countdown goes like this:

10 Norika Fujiwara
09 Sayumi Michishige
08 Isono Kiri
07 Hosoki Kazuko
06 Koda Kumi
05 Renho
04 Masami Hisamoto
03 Akiko Wada
02 Erika Sawajiri
01 Tani Ryoko

I’m surprised to see Sayumi Michishige and Koda Kumi on the list. I’m guessing that Japanese women don’t like her ‘I’m so cute’ character that Sayumi plays – I’ve never found it annoying. It’s only an act after all. And as for Kumi – what has she done wrong this year? Women still aren’t upset at her comments last year about amniotic fluid being rotten in the womb if you’re over 35 years old and pregnant are they?

I’ve got to admit I’ve never heard of the person at no.1 – Tani Ryoko before but I’ve read that she’s supposed to be popular and a good sportswoman but maybe after entering politics she’s pissed off some people?

Erika Sawajiri Getting Divorced

There have been rumours floating about for a while that Erika might be getting divorced from her husband. On Fuji TV’s programme “Mr Sunday”, they said that she is indeed going to divorce from Tsuyoshi Takashiro. The media waited to hear from Erika herself. Then came the official announcement on her website that the news was true and she is definitely getting divorced.  Nobody knows why she’s splitting from her husband but apparently the favorite speculation is that it has something to do with financial troubles.

Already the knives are out for Erika saying that she’s a gold digger who only married her husband for the money and now she’s getting divorced she’ll get a nice big fat chunk of his wealth. I don’t think this news will change anybody’s opinion in Japan about her. She might be hated even more actually because of it.

In other Sawajiri news, her plans for a comeback in Japan is making progress and she may be signed up soon with non other than AVEX. They have confirmed that they are in talks with her and have plans for her to make an acting comeback in a TV drama series.

Erika Sawajiri Tops Hated Poll For 3rd Year Running

This news is a month old but I thought I’d post it anyway. Japanese magazine Shuukan Bunshun ran a poll with readers being asked to vote which Japanese female celebrity they hate. Not surprisingly Erika Sawajiri came out on top, the unfortunate thing is she’s been top now for 3 years in a row. Is there anybody in Japan with a good word to say about her? Has her reputation been torn to shreds in such a way that there’s no way for her to come back? Well according to some rumours it appears her marriage may be on the rocks. They’re implying that Erika has been saying not so nice words about her husband to people. Despite being fired by her agency recently, it seems the door to coming back into the showbiz world may not be completely closed to her………….if she divorces her husband that is. Her former agency viewed her husband as a nuisance to their business and a bad influence on Erika. We’ll see what happens in the future but right now Erika is not in Japan and who can blame her for fleeing the country once more. I’d imagine she’d be vilified if she went out in public. Her whereabouts are somewhere in Europe – possibly London again or Spain.

If Erika came out on top in the poll, who were the others that came after her. It’s got Wada Akiko at no.2 and comedian Masami Hisamoto at no.3. I don’t know either but I do know the person at no 4 and that is the shamed actress/musician Noriko Sakai. I’d like to see the complete list of the people in this poll to see if I recognise anymore of them.

What’s your opinion about Erika Sawajiri? Is the Japanese people’s hatred of her justified or has this gone too far now and enough is enough?

My Top 10 Japanese TV Idols Part 2

Such has been the success of my original post that I felt obliged to do a sequel as there was some idols that didn’t make it to the Top 10. Look at this as my Top 11-20 Japanese idols so here we go:

11. Yukie Nakama

Mention the name of Yankumi and you’ll instantly think of Yukie Nakama in the Gokusen series. 29 year old Yukie Nakama will always be synonymous with the role of the tough on the outside but sweet on the inside teacher who makes a difference for a delinquent class of male troublemakers in a rough school.  But Yankumi isn’t the only memorable role she’s done over the years. She starred in the hilarious detective drama Trick alongside Abe Hiroshi whom she shared great chemistry with over the course of 3 seasons and 2 movies. Let’s not forget she’s also dabbled in some movies such as the controversial Love & Pop and the great Shinobi:Heart Under Blade. I’ve always loved watching Yukie in doramas and movies whether it’s light hearted or serious stuff but I always seem to prefer her in comedies. Even though some of her roles might make her look unpretty, in real life Yukie is a beautiful woman.

12. Kyoko Fukada

This pretty 26 year old actress, model and singer has a long list of doramas to her resume ever since her debut way back in 1997 but I suppose I first noticed her in the 2007 comedy Yame Onna Kabe Onna with Misaki Ito set in a department store. I just fell for her bubbly personality and stunning looks. Movie fans will recognise her as the loli from the excellent Kamikaze Girls or more recently as the sexy villainess Doronjo in Yatterman.You could do no wrong than to check her role in the comedy drama Karei Naru Spy that ran over the Summer.

13. Misaki Ito

32 year old Misaki Ito has looks to die for and with her tall height makes her a desirable object of desire for many Japanese men.  Misaki has taken a variety of different roles over the years but it was the outstanding 2006 drama Densha Otoko where I first noticed her. Although she’s good in serious drama it was her pairing up with Kyoko Fukada in Yama Onna Kabe Onna as the flat chested sales person Megumi who’s paranoid about the size of her bust compared to her colleague Marie that really endeared her to me. She’s done a couple of movies but nothing that’s memorable apart from Ju-On The Grudge.

14. Erika Sawajiri

It’s a shame that this young lady’s attitude has destroyed her once promising career but she let fame go right to her head and now she’s left with nothing………apart from a rich husband!!! 23 year old Erika starred in my all time favorite J-dorama One Litre Of Tears and another tearjerker called Taiyo No Uta. Her acting was fantastic in both of them but especially in One Litre Of Tears.  She had a music career that could have been great as I loved her singing in Taiyo No Uta and the theme song to the dorama Mop Girl called Destination Nowhere. I bought both her singles. Who knows what caused her to implode in that infamous press conference for the movie Closed Note in 2007 but it’s possible that we might have seen the last of her since her agency fired her last week and she lost an important comeback role in Space Battleship Yamato to Meisa Kuroki. Which agency would take somebody on with a difficult personality? It’s a shame but it’s her own fault.

15. Haruka Kinami

23 year old Haruka Kinami wasn’t a leading actress until lately. She was usually cast in a supporting role until the 2009 dorama Zeni Geba and since then her profile has increased even more with a good role in chapter 2 of the popular movie trilogy 20th Century Boys. Haruka caught my eye in the dorama Dance Drill in 2006 when her ‘fake’ miserable character hid the fact that she so desperately wanted to join the cheerleading team. There was something about her that I liked. Most people wouldn’t even call her drop dead gorgeous  – maybe average at best but I really like this girl a lot. I think she’s pretty and I hope she gets more leading roles in the future.

16. Keiko Kitagawa

Keiko first came into prominence as Sailor Mars in the live action Sailor Moon series back in 2003. I thought she was brilliant as Rei. Since that time, the 23 year old has gone on to even star in a Hollywood movie – The Fast & The Furious 3 Tokyo Drift. She hasn’t been acting in that many doramas, only 4 in fact and I need to see her in Mop Girl and Buzzer Beat very soon. I’m assuming that Keiko has been diverting her energies to passing her university degree and taking on roles in movies over the past couple of years.  With her university days now finished, I hope we’ll see a lot more of her on the TV.

17. Ayaka Komatsu

Beautiful Ayaka is another 23 year old idol who started out in the Sailor Moon live action dorama with Keiko Kitagawa as Sailor Venus and actually got reunited with Keiko again in Buzzer Beat. Along with her acting career, Ayaka is also a popular gravure idol.  One of her memorable roles is as the abused girlfriend of Arashi idol – Jun Matsumoto’s character in the controversial My Love My Sister movie. She has yet to attain a leading role in a dorama but I think it’s only a matter of time before that takes place.

18. Yu Kashii

Most people will recognise Yu Kashii from her role in the Death Note movie but I became a fan of her when I saw the classic high school movie Linda Linda Linda back in 2005. She was amazing in that movie. The 22 year old is married to the Japanese actor Joe Odagiri.  Some other great acting roles of hers has been in the dorama Yukan Club as the man-hating Noriko and in the comedy My Boss My Hero. Lately I saw her in the disaster movie 252:Signal Of Life.  She’s a very attractive girl.

19. Eiko Koike

It was in the violent apartment movie 2LDK that I first clapped eyes on this stunning woman and ever since I’ve tried my best to catch whatever movie/dorama she’s been in.  She’s another actress who’s a very popular gravure idol in Japan thanks to her prized assets!! She’s unlikely to be given a leading role in a dorama or movie as I don’t think she’s got the pulling power to get ratings. The 28 year old is married to pro-wrestler Sakata Wataru.

and finally at no.20 we have:

20. Mayuko Iwasa

22 year old Mayuko has been busy in a number of doramas since 2004 and has starred in some of the more popular ones such as Nodame Cantabile, Galcir, Liar Game and Hana no Kimi and it was in Galcir that I noticed her first as a member of the ParaPara group that was at the centre of the storyline. I think she’s a versatile actress able to do serious and comedy roles and of course she’s also very pretty. Yet another actress who’s gone onto the gravure scene.

Erika Sawajiri To Be Fired By Her Agency

The troubled career of Erika Sawajiri is set to cause further headaches for her this week when her agency Stardust Management is due to fire her for breach of contract.

Ever since her petulant strop in 2007 during a PR event for the movie Closed Note, Erika has been mostly out of the spotlight – disappearing off to London with her then-boyfriend to have English language lessons before coming back to Japan to marry in January.

Her agency though has been concerned that there are rumours that she’s been taking drugs whilst in Ibiza and hanging around with disgraced actress Noriko Sakai. It seems she’s also prone to doing things without her agency’s consent so they’ve had enough of dealing with her difficult personality.

The announcement that they’re firing her is likely to happen quite soon. I doubt that Erika really cares to be honest. She doesn’t seem to be making an effort to try and be nice and apologise for her past behavior.