• Membership Drive Contest
• Message Boards BEING CHANGED OVER
• Pics/translation of Ken's Birthday Card

Website Updates

January 1, 2005

Happy New Year!

A privacy policy has been added to the website. It is accessible from the home page until all of the pages are re-done in the new style. Simply, anywhere you see text links to the main section at the bottom of the page, you will be able to access the Privacy Policy.

I'm in the process of adding English translations to the Japanese titles of Ken's works. Actually, I had started this a couple of weeks ago, but although I've finished the translations, I haven't got a lot of them on the website yet. Please note that when you see "aka....", that is not a translation, that is the actual title of the English release. If you know of any releases in a language other than Japanese which are not mentioned, please contact KWWF with the language, the title, and the original Japanese title. If you don't know the original Japanese title, knowing the English translation will most likely help me to determine which it is. If you know any other relevant information (year of that language's release, official website, informational website, website for purchasing) that would be even more helpful!

If I am missing any of his works, please let me know! I have done extensive searching of the Internet over the past year, and so far as I know, I have the single most complete English-language list of his works online. Please be aware that the veteran 20-year Japanese actor Ken Watanabe to whom this website is dedicated (the one who starred in The Last Samurai) is not the same as the Hollywood-based "Ken" Kensaku Watanabe who has starred in many Bruce Lee movies and Ninja movies. (To make things more confusing, "our Ken" just moved to Hollywood!)

At least, all the pages of Ken's past works (movies, radio, TV, theatre, music) have been changed over to the new style.

December 11, 2004

I've been ill and (obviously) not able to work on the site. A couple weeks ago, someone had reported an error with the PayPal Shopping Cart...I almost forgot about it by the time I was back online. Anyway, it is now FIXED.

Pictures and translation of Ken's Birthday card have been added.

October 30, 2004

The "Video, Audio and Transcripts" page has been added, and it includes a NEW VIDEO INTERVIEW WITH KEN from the L.A. Premiere! Actually, the interview is with several cast members, and they are all short. I would describe Ken's as "short but cute"!

The Media section has been updated. News Articles and Press Conferences, Interviews, Editorials and Reviews are added. Video and audio links and transcripts were not yet added. There are a lot more at my personal site that I need to transfer over, but for now I'm doing the new stuff, stuff just found, and some of the same stuff that I happened to find again while looking for the new stuff!

October 29, 2004

The Resources section has been added. It includes such information as Shopping Links, Japanese History and Culture, Japanese Language, and (soon to come) Computer Software.

The Memoirs of a Geisha pages (in the Future Works section) were created. There is a more detailed synopsis of the movie, along with links to information about cast & crew, the novel on which the movie is based, interview with Arthur Golden (the book's author) shopping links, news links, etc.

October 26, 2004

The Future Works page was created, with a brief synopsis and picture related to Ken's upcoming projects.

October 23, 2004

The Members Area and the SiteMap have both been updated, including links to "Ken-Sites by KWWF Members" and the message board, The Front. An awesome picture of Ken at L.A. premiere of The Grudge (a remake of the Japanese movie, The Juon) has been added to the rotating images on the home page! (Thanks to lamxlam for the links!)

I also just realized that I never updated the button-links in the folders below the main site folder...so clicking them from the "store" or "members" areas brought you to an error page. This has been fixed on the entire site.

October 22, 2004

Forms have been updated with longer field lengths where necessary. The KWWF message board, The Front, is officially open. This is only open to KWWF members. You must create an account there, then with your full (real) name, KWWF MemberID, and the Screenname you are using on the account on the Boards...then I can add you to the hidden group and you will be able to see all the forums.

October 20, 2004

The "Ken-Sites by KWWF members" Online Form has been added. This is a members-only feature. A link will be created to your "Ken-Site" and placed here on the KWWF website!

The Online Form to report Articles or Press Releases you have found about Ken has been added. Anyone can use this form.

October 17, 2004

The "FanMail" Online Form has been added. Anyone can use this form. FanMail will be forwarded to Ken, and also 1 letter will be printed in each issue of Watanabe Zensen.

The "Q & A" Online Form has been added. This is a members-only feature. Have a question about Ken? Every issue one question will be published in Watanabe Zensen and answered.

The "Fan-Written Article, Reviews and Editorials" Online Form has been updated for better field-by-field checking. You will also have the option to review your basic information (minus actual article text, notes, or sources) before you submit. This will allow you to at least double-check your name, contact information, title, and URL.

October 12, 2004

The "Fan-Written Articles, Reviews and Editorials" Online Form has been added. This is a members-only feature...you will need your MemberID.

October 11, 2004

The "Submissions" page has been added...you can access it by clicking the "Contact" button, then clicking the "Submissions" link. You can use the online Submissions area to send news article links, your name for the PenPal feature in Watanabe Zensen, questions about Ken, reviews you've written, etc. If you want to send your submission via regular postal mail, you should see this page, anyway, to see how you should categorize it.

The "PenPals" Online Form has been added. This is a members-only feature...you will need your MemberID.

(Some submission features are for fan-club members only. Those forms will be password-protected soon enough, but before then, I will double-check who's sending those items.)

October 10, 2004

Website style is being adjusted to use CSS instead of tables, for the following reasons: 1, to better seperate content and style; 2, to avoid using transparent spacing images that might cause a security warning for users about possible "webbugs"; and 3, so that, in the future, I can create additional stylesheets for WebTV, and other limited browsers.

I've been sick for 3 weeks now...this last week I just had to spend a lot of time in bed to try to get over this. So many features that were going to be available 10 days ago, I am just getting to now...for example, online submission forms.

September 25, 2004

Remaining pages have been changed over to the new style. A "SiteMap" has been added...if you take a peek here, you will have an idea of what will be available in the "Members Area"! The time-delay of the JavaScript image rotator on the home page has been slowed down a 2nd time, to 1000.

September 24, 2004

The new style is still being applied to the rest of the website. The KWWF Store was improved. The general navigation of the website is undergoing minor adjustments and new pages are being added. Important content has been added to the pages about the fan club...please read those pages, they will answer some of your questions.

September 23, 2004

A slideshow of some of the best closeups of Ken Watanabe was added to the new style.

September 22, 2004

A new style was designed for the website, but not yet applied to "live" pages. Buttons and the official KWWF logo were added. These items were provided by "flowersinthedirt", who won the Logo-Design Contest. The layout, text and colors were changed.

September 17-18, 2004

The KWWF Store section was added to the website. Memberships, renewals and fan-club merchandise can now be ordered online.