Video: Little Girl at the TV Window

Japan's No. 1 attraction is a nonstop mover and talker

Six minutes until air time, and still no sign of the star. Standing on the portico of Tokyo's TV Asahi station, her manager, her producer and her director nervously scan the driveway. Five minutes.

Four minutes. Nothing. At three minutes to the hour, a blood-red Mercedes screeches through the gate, careering into a reserved parking place. Out pops a 5-ft. 3-in., 99-lb. woman who, with her porcelain complexion, delicate features and glistening black hair, might pass for a Kabuki doll. As she scampers along on 2-in. wooden platform shoes, her mouth is al...

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