A night party held by the eldest son of Yasushi Yokoyama and the nephew of “Katsushin”… A direct report on the party of two people who have the blood of big stars in their veins!

Late in November, late at night in a corner of Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo, a grand evening party was being held.

It was actor Kiichiro Wakayama’s 59th birthday party. The party was attended by actors, singers, and many other people from the industry. At the venue, singers who participated in the party performed their own songs and videos of Mr. Wakayama in his younger days were shown, making the event a great success.

Among the many people involved in the event was actor Kazuya Kimura (54). Kimura, whose father is the comic storyteller Yasushi Yokoyama (51 years old), is currently active as a V cinema actor. In November of this year, a women’s weekly magazine reported his love affair with a common woman, Ako. They are planning to enter the family register in January next year.

Kimura was at the party with Ako, and Ako was also there. Ako is a talented young woman who works for a major financial company.

Kimura’s father is close to Kimura and they met through that relationship. Kimura has been a member of Wakayama Kikaku, an entertainment agency run by Wakayama, since October of this year, and she was at the celebration party because of that connection.

Wakayama, on the other hand, is the son of the famous actor Tomisaburo Wakayama (62 years old) and the nephew of Shintaro Katsu (65 years old). He is also known as a disciple of action star Shintaro Chiba (82), who passed away in August of the year before last. However, in February 2002, he was arrested on suspicion of violating the Methamphetamine Control Law (use of methamphetamine). He was convicted and sentenced to one year and six months in prison with a three-year suspended sentence, and in recent years has continued to perform mainly on stage. Wakayama, however, is said to have received some good news.

He will appear in an NHK period drama to be broadcast on the 29th of this month. The title is “Ooka Echizen Special: Great Turmoil! Hakusu of Fate. Mr. Wakayama will play the role of Horibe Yasube, an Ako Ronin. It is his return to TV after an absence of about 10 years. The lead role will be played by Noriyuki Higashiyama, 57, president of “SMILE-UP.” (formerly Johnny’s). Higashiyama has announced that he will retire from the stage at the end of this year, and this film is attracting a lot of attention from industry insiders as it may be the last film in which he will appear.

On the day of the party, this magazine reporter directly interviewed both Wakayama and Kimura as they came out of the restaurant. Kimura’s rumored fiancée, Ako, was standing next to him.

When the reporter said, “Congratulations on your engagement,” Kimura bailed and then said, “But the star of the show today is Kiichiro, so I won’t talk! He laughed it off. When we next asked Wakayama about his return to the drama series, he simply raised his hand and said, “I’m sorry, but I can’t give you an answer right now. We later asked Wakayama about his return to the drama series.

–How did your return to the drama series come about?

I received an offer from the NHK production side at the end of last year, and we shot it in February of this year. We shot the film at Toei’s Kyoto Ohata Studio, and some of the staff were veterans who had been there for a long time. When they said to me, ‘Welcome back,’ I felt from the bottom of my heart that I was really glad to have continued as an actor. I was able to work on every single cut with sincerity.

He also shared his memories of Higashiyama, with whom he co-stars in the film.

When my father passed away in 1992, he took time out of his busy schedule of regional filming and rushed to see me at 4:00 in the morning, saying, ‘I want to see Mr. Wakayama’s face. I felt that he was a truly serious person. I am still sad to see him retire. I hope he will come back to the world of entertainment someday.

Wakayama, Kimura, and Higashiyama. The three of them, coincidentally, started their lives over again at the same time, but they all seem to have taken three different paths.