Chieko married who?

I know I've been missing out on a lot of Japanese entertainment news but I saw this yesterday and I knew I had to talk about it. On August 8, actress/singer Chieko Kawabe filed for marriage with television producer Masato Ochi. Now, this normally wouldn't be a big deal. However, Kawabe is 21 and Ochi is double her age at 42. My jaw dropped at this news. I've watched Kawabe when she was Sailor Mercury in the Sailor Moon stage musicals; I watched her when she was Naru in the live action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon drama; I enjoy her music immensely and have been awaiting more from her. And now she married a man twice her age. Well, I still wish her happiness and I hope that there isn't something (read: pregnancy) that forced her into the marriage.

Website of the Week: Japan Zone

I know, I haven't had a Website of the Week for the entire month. Here is the latest edition. I try to keep up to date on various entertainment news coming out of Japan. One of my favorite websites is Japan Zone. The news is generally in small, easy to digest blocks and it's updated once a day. It's just enough to know what's going on without getting too complicated.