Ito Hideaki plays Sky Football for Coca-Cola

Actor Ito Hideaki joined a team of professional skydivers to play football 3600m above the ground for a new Coca-Cola Zero commercial, 'Wild Sky Football'. Filming took place in California at the end of July.

Ito, who had to scuba-dive in the series 'Umizaru' talked about the similarities to this new challenge. "The feeling of suspension in both activities is very similar. And of course both are sports with a certain amount of danger, so they're similar in that way too. I think getting used to skydiving is a little more scary than scuba-diving but that makes it even more enjoyable."

To commemorate the 5th year since its introduction, Coca Cola Zero has also made changes to its packaging. The CM started airing on 15th August.

Horikita Maki takes the train!

In mid-July, at around 6pm, Horikita Maki was spotted at Shibuya Station dressed casually in a long-sleeved shirt, loose-fitting jeans and sneakers. Maki was with a woman who seemed like her manager. They got off a train on the Saikyo Line and headed to the fare-adjustment machine before exiting the station, most likely to NHK where she is currently filming 'Umechan Sensei'. A witness commented,"Never in my dreams did I even think a top-notch actress like Horikita-san would use the train to get around." So why is a leading actress in movies and dramas travelling in this manner? "This is an effect from Kuroki Meisa's shotgun marriage to Akanishi Jin. After the shock announcement, planned events were cancelled and sponsors started cancelling commercial contracts. These amounted to losses of several hundred million yen. Because of that, the agency has been trying to find ways of saving money, even if it's a little. It seems that there has even been occasions when Horikita rode a bicycle to the set of Umechan Sensei," explains a writer for a weekly magazine.

 ...
and also making headlines, Ayase Haruka shops for her own groceries on 3rd August.

Source

Ayase Haruka takes over downtown Tokyo in Akko-chan promotion

Posters of Ayase Haruka as Akko-chan dressed in 13 outfits have taken over trains and the premium advertising space in Shinjuku Station as a run-up to the opening of movie 'Himitsu no Akko-chan'. Thirteen media outlets online also each covered the promotion with a different photo. HImitsu no Akko-chan is a manga by Akatsuka Fujio but the movie version is an original story. In the movie 10-year-old Kagami Atsuko uses a magic compact, which can transform her into anything she wants, into a 22-year old university student. Her love interest is played by Okada Masaki. The movie opens on 1st September.

Post National Day Present

(From Channel U)

To SGers, let's hope this is a prelude to Arashi arriving on our shores (^8^)b

VS Arashi: Premieres 13 August, Monday, 8pm
Zenkai Girl: Premieres 18 August, Saturday, 11.30pm

Uniqlo x Bleach

Uniqlo releases Bleach Graphic T-shirts priced at 1500 yen (US$19/SG$24) in 8 different designs.