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Ryoko Yonekura, Masao Kusakari win Best Smile awards

Nov 10, 2017 (Japan Today) - Japanese actress Ryoko Yonekura, 42, has had a big week. On Monday, she was a guest at the dinner for U.S. Presidfent Donald Trump and his wife Melania. Then on Wednesday, she was a winner of the annual “Best Smile of the Year 2017” award, along with actor Masao Kusakari, 65.

When asked about her impression meeting the 45th president of the United States, Yonekura replied it was "a good experience" while flashing her "best smile."

The "Best Smile" award, whose concept is "good teeth, good smiles throughout Japan," honors celebrities with the "toothiest, shiniest smiles of the year" chosen by the Japan Dental Association.

Yonekura, who currently stars as the miniskirt-wearing doctor in the TV Asahi drama "Doctor X~surgeon Michiko Daimon" (Thursdays at 9 p.m.), humorously commented, "Lately, I've been told that I overuse my character's catchphrase, 'I never fail,' so I feel like I'm showing you all my stuck-up smirk."

Reporters also asked Kusakari, who co-stars with Yonekura in "Doctor X,"when he felt like he showed his "best smile," to which he replied, "When I first saw Ryoko Yonekura in a miniskirt on the set of 'Doctor X.'

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Typhoon No. 15 caused growing disruption to Japan's Obon holiday travel on August 11, with dozens of flights canceled and railway services suspended as the storm made landfall in southern Ibaraki Prefecture at around 8 p.m.

Typhoon No. 15 (Chan-hom) made landfall in southern Ibaraki Prefecture at around 8 p.m. on August 11, marking the first typhoon landfall in the prefecture since official statistics began in 1951, as strong winds and heavy rain spread across eastern Japan.

Japan's H3 Rocket No. 9 successfully placed the Michibiki No. 7 navigation satellite into its planned orbit after lifting off from the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture at 4:23 a.m. on August 11, marking the country's second consecutive successful H3 launch.

The Tokaido Shinkansen operated its first overnight service ahead of the Obon holiday period, offering travelers a 15,000 yen trip from the Tokyo area to Kyoto and Shin-Osaka while allowing them to save on hotel costs and arrive earlier than the first regular morning trains.

Typhoon No. 15 is expected to approach and likely make landfall somewhere in the Kanto region on August 11, bringing strong winds and heavy rain that could disrupt conventional rail services, expressways and flights while also affecting a wider area extending into Tohoku.

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