Young singer Aoyama Teruma (21) has recorded the theme song for the Japanese release of the movie "Hachiko: A Dog's Story." "Wasurenai yo" will be heard at theaters across the country from June 13. Directed by the renowned Lasse Hallstrom and starring Richard Gere and Joan Allen, the movie is a Hollywood adaptation of one of the most famous stories in contemporary Japan. It tells of a professor who brings his Akita dog with him when he moves to prewar Tokyo. The strong bond between the two continues even after death, with the faithful dog waiting for the return of his master outside Shibuya station every evening for ten years. Today a famous statue stands in that same spot and it has become a popular meeting place. The story has been adapted several times for both the big and small screen in Japan, and the new movie will be released here as "Hachi, Yakusoku no Inu."

Management for Tomizawa Takeshi (35) yesterday announced that the comedian got hitched back in April. They described his new bride as a 30-year old ippanjin native of Tokyo. Tomizawa is the boke half of manzai duo Sandwichman, who made their big breakthrough when they won a comedy Grand Prix event in 2007. His comic partner Date Mikio (34) recently announced that he is engaged to marry freelance TV announcer Kumagai Maiko (38) in July.

Katori Shingo Off to Broadway

SMAP member Katori Shingo (32, photo left) is to make his return to the stage - on Broadway no less. Well, actually off Broadway, but the local media has been reporting it as the first time for an original Japanese stage production to play New York's famous theater district. Katori will star in the musical comedy "Talk Like Singing," written and produced by the prolific Mitani Koki (47, photo right). The supporting cast includes Kabira Jay (46), whose mother is American, and Horiuchi Keiko (38), a veteran of such musicals as "Cats" and "West Side Story." The musical director is Konishi Yasuharu (50), a former member of the J-pop pioneers Pizzicato Five, who wrote and produced Katori's million-selling single "Shingo Mama no Oha Rock" in 2000. The production is scheduled for 13 shows, November 12-22 at the 850-seat Skirball Center, New York University. Japanese audiences will have to wait until next year to see the show at home. Katori last acted on stage 12 years ago, but in the meantime he has appeared in a slew of big-budget movies and TV dramas as the five members of SMAP have ascended into the ranks of Japan's most marketable celebrities. He has worked with Mitani several times before, including the NHK taiga drama "Shinsengumi."

Glay Rock the Boat

J-rock band Glay performed a last-minute free concert for thousands of fans in Yokohama yesterday. With the temperature rising to a balmy 27 degrees, 15,000 fans gathered at Nipponmaru Memorial Park and enjoyed the strange juxtaposition of a rock band and an old sailing ship. The port of Yokohama is currently celebrating the 150th anniversary of its opening, and it's 15 years since Glay debuted. Those numbers probably have as much to do with the reported head count as accuracy. Glay are also scheduled to play two shows at the Nissan Stadium in Yokohama in mid-August, with a combined audience of 150,000. Yesterday's show, the band's first free live concert in five years, was only announced at 8am. They performed five songs, including "I Am XXX" from their new album, "The Great Vacation Vol.1" to be released on Wednesday. The Nipponmaru, launched in 1930, was used as a training vessel until its retirement in 1984.

Fuji TV announcer Shimada Ayaka (35) is engaged to marry a publishing entrepreneur this summer. The couple are said to have met in 2007 and are planning a wedding in July. Shimada majored in Russian at Jochi (Sophia) University and joined the Fuji network in 1998. She is a presenter on the "FNN Speak" afternoon news show. Kondo Masazumi Robert (44) was born in San Francisco and raised in the U.K. and Japan. He obtained an MBA from Cornell University and worked briefly for the The Industrial Bank of Japan before forming his own company, Resonance, in 1998. The company published the car & bike magazine "ahead."

B'z Dive Back into Action

Japan's rock supergroup B'z (profile) have been named to the lineup for this year's 10th SummerSonic festival. The 3-day event is scheduled for August 7-9, with over 100 local and international artists performing at two venues in Tokyo (actually Chiba) and Osaka Prefectures. The lineup had until this week included a "special guest from Japan" and that turns out to be B'z. The duo will take the stage before headliners Linkin Park in Tokyo on August 8 and Osaka on August 9. B'z performed at the event for the first time in 2007, but the festival will be their first, and probably only, live appearance this year after they toured last year to celebrate their 20th anniversary. They usually sell out their shows very quickly, so the there will undoubtedly be increased demand for the remaining SummerSonic tickets. B'z are scheduled to release the new single "Dive" on August 5, though it's already airing in the current TV commercial for the Suzuki Swift car. Other major acts in the SummerSonic lineup include: My Chemical Romance, Nine Inch Nails, Hoobastank, Beyonce and Ne-Yo; local names like Dragon Ash and Boom Boom Satellites; blasts from the past include Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, The Specials and Sonic Youth.

Nezumi Sempai Bows Out

Singer Nezumi Sempai (36) has decided that one year in the limelight is about all he can take. He held a press conference yesterday and told reporters that he plans to retire from showbiz by the end of the year. "Show business is tough, a lot tougher than I imagined," he said. "And I really haven't made that much money from it." With his distinctive punch perm hair and sunglasses that make him look like a typical yakuza, he had a breakthrough last year when his debut single "Roppongi, Giroppon" topped the enka carts and sold over 100,000 copies. But he has failed to follow up on that success and has become the epitome of the "ippatsuya" or one-hit wonder. Before last year's success he went through about a dozen career changes, including acting in and directing porn movies. But now that he has a young daughter, he said "I won't be going back to that. From tomorrow, I'm going to go to Hello Work," referring to the nationwide employment service centers. Before he bows out, he does have one more single on the way. "Okane" (Money) is scheduled for release on June 16 and he will perform a one-night-only concert in Tokyo on June 21.

Stay Away From the Gun!

Just how strict is Japan when it comes to firearms? Talento Harada Noburo (57) recently found out, and he and TV producers are currently the subject of a police investigation. Their crime? Allowing Harada to simply hold a hunting rifle during a live broadcast on a local TV network show without having first obtained official permission. Harada was visiting a hunting club in the town of Yogocho for the January 17 edition of the "Tokimeki Saga's" show when one of the members handed him the rifle. Harada is not a registered gun owner and the law states that permission must first be obtained from the prefectural public safety commission. In accordance with the Swords and Firearms Control Law, Saga prefectural police are investigating he incident, produced by the local Biwako Housou. Police have questioned Harada and carried out a search of the company's premises and are thought likely to file charges. Biwako spokesman Ito Akihiko said, "We were unaware that we were breaking the law. We are cooperating fully with the investigation." Harada, on his second marriage to a former Nikkatsu porn actress, is a former member of the folk duo Anonenone. Top J-pop producer Komuro Tetsuya, who himself recently endured a serious run in with the criminal justice system, was once a backing musician for the duo.

Arashi Storm Oricon Charts Yet Again

The success of Arashi's latest single shows that they are the hottest Johnny's Jimusho act these days. It's no surprise that their 26th single, "Ashita no Kioku/Crazy Moon-Kimi Wa Muteki," entered the Oricon chart at No.1, the group's 15th consecutive chart topper since February 2004. But it has also sold over half a million copies in its first week, as did their previous release "Believe/Kumori Nochi Kaisei" in March. The last artist to manage those numbers twice in a row was the hugely popular Southern All Stars vocalist Kuwata Keisuke in 2001. Arashi debuted in 1999 and their popularity has been broadened by their appearances on variety shows, dramas and major movies.

It was announced yesterday that SMAP's Katori Shingo (32) is to take on an iconic manga role. He has been named to play the lead in the first ever TV drama adaptation of the manga "Kochira Katsushikaku Kamearikoenmae Hasshutsujo," commonly known as KochiKame. The manga has sold over 130 million copies since it first appeared in the Shuukan Shonen Jump magazine in 1976. Set in a downtown police station, it revolves around the bumbling adventures of chief patrol officer Ryotsu Kankichi, a man strong enough to survive falls from Tokyo Tower and a speeding shinkansen (bullet train)! The drama will air on TBS on Saturday nights from August, taking over the same time slot currently occupied by fellow SMAP member Kimura Takuya in "Mr. Brain."