NHK has announced the artist lineup for the 63rd Kouhaku Uta Gassen. This year will have a total of 50 artists performing, 25 for each of the Red and White Teams. 12 artists are making their first appearances – 6 from the Red Team and 6 from the White Team. The artists, in Japanese alphabetical [...]

Goriki Ayame (20) will star in Fuji TV‘s Monday night drama series this winter, titled “Biblia Koshodou no Jiken Techou.” This will be her first lead role during golden time, not to mention a “Getsu 9” series, though it will also mark her 7th consecutive season appearing in a drama series on a commercial network. [...]

Actress Mizukawa Asami (29) has been chosen to star in an NTV drama series next season, tentatively titled “Share House no Koibito.” Since the series will air on Wednesday nights at 10:00pm, this marks her first lead role during the prime time hours (7:00pm-11:00pm). As the title suggests, the series is a romance story is [...]

Ikeumi Ryo‘s award-winning shojo manga “Kiyoku Yawaku” is getting a live-action movie adaptation, starring Nagasawa Masami (25) and Okada Masaki (23). This will be their first time acting together. Shinjo Takehiko, who previously handled the “Paradise Kiss” and “Boku no Hatsukoi wo Kimi ni Sasagu” adaptations, will serve as director. “Kiyoku Yawaku” was originally serialized [...]

Singer-songwriter YUI (25) announced through her official website on Monday that she will be putting her activities on hold at the end of this year. This is the second time in her 8-year career that she has decided to go on hiatus, as she also took a break at the end of 2008 until mid-2009. [...]

On Monday, GQ Japan presented its 2012 GQ Men of the Year awards. A total of seven men were chosen, including actor Oda Yuji, who celebrated the 25th anniversary of his acting debut this year, as well as the 15th anniversary of the hit “Odoru Daisousasen” franchise that cemented his career. Besides Oda, the recipients [...]

TOKIO‘s Nagase Tomoya (34) will star in a new drama series next year, his first lead role since “Unubore Deka” in 2010. The show, titled “Naku na, Hara-chan” (“Don’t Cry, Hara-chan”), will have Nagase playing a manga character who comes to life. The screenplay is an original written by Okada Yoshikazu, whose previous credits include [...]

On Sunday, it was announced that Morning Musume member Tanaka Reina (23) will graduate from the group and from Hello! Project at the end of the group’s 2013 spring concert tour. At the same time, she will also be launching a new band as a lead vocalist. The news was announced during Morning Musume’s concert [...]

Last week, it was revealed that Utada Hikaru recorded a new song as the ending theme for “Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo” (Evangelion Shingekijoban Q), which opened in Japan this past weekend. Titled “Sakura Nagashi,” this is her first new song since she went on hiatus in 2010, but it has been emphasized that [...]

Artist Murakami Takashi, best known for pioneering the “superflat” style, will make his live-action directorial debut with a film called “Mememe no Kurage” (“Jellyfish Eyes”). In addition to directing, he is also handling the original story and the character design. Although the movie will not be released in theaters in Japan until April 26, 2013, [...]

The recent remake of the “GTO” live-action drama series will continue next year with a 2-hour special episode, titled “GTO Oshougatsu Special.” Fuji TV will broadcast the episode during the New Year’s holidays, on January 2 at 9:30pm. EXILE member AKIRA (31) will naturally reprise the starring role as the former gang m member-turned-teacher Onizuka, [...]

NTV has released its initial artist announcement for the “Best Artist 2012” music show, which will be broadcast live over three and a half hours on November 28. So far, 30 artists have been announced, with more expected to be added within the next two weeks. The artists performing are: Ayaka Arashi Ikimonogakari AKB48 EXILE [...]

The 45th Nihon Yusen Taisho award ceremony was held on Wednesday, and for the 7th time, singer Hikawa Kiyoshi received the grand prize. His song “Sakura” topped a field of 8 nominees, which included AKB48, JUJU, Nishino Kana, Fairies, Otsuki Miyako, Mizumori Kaori, and Kouzai Kaori (who has previously won the grand prize once). Hikawa [...]

Actor Ito Atsushi has been chosen to lead a TBS drama series called “Apoyan ~ Hashiru Kokusai Kuukou.” The show will also feature Kiritani Mirei as the heroine (her first in a prime-time drama series), along with supporting performances by Kanjiya Shihori and Yanagiba Toshiro. “Apoyan” is based on the novel “Koisuru Kuukou” by Shinno [...]

Singer Hamasaki Ayumi (34) has a new boyfriend, reports this week’s issue of Josei Seven. She is currently in a relationship with 28-year-old Uchiyama Maroka, who has performed as one of her backup dancers since a-nation in the summer of 2007. Hamasaki also personally admitted to the relationship in a message to her fan club [...]