Chinese-language movies, produced chiefly in Hong Kong and Taiwan, are rapidly becoming popular in Japan, especially among younger women. This phenomenon might be ascribed to the charm of the films themselves, but it can also be traced to the popularity of the starring actors. The most popular of them in Japan is Takeshi Kaneshiro, who also happens to be one of the four top idols in Taiwan. Kaneshiro, 23, with a Japanese father and a Taiwanese mother, was born and raised in Taiwan and has a good command of five languages: Japanese, Cantonese, Mandarin Chinese, English and Taiwanese. He took advantage of his appearance in a TV commercial in his high school days to enter the world of entertainment. So far, he has released eight CDs as a singer and appeared in 10 movies. His popularity took a sharp upturn with his appearances in Chungking Express in 1994 and its sequel Fallen Angels in 1995, both directed by Wong Kar-Wai of Hong Kong. These movies have not only raised him to idol status in Taiwan and Hong Kong but brought him special attention in Japan as well.
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