Akira Kurosawa's 1962 film "Sanjuro" will be remade by director Yoshimitsu Morita, and actor Yuji Oda will play the lead role of Sanjuro (originally played by legendary Toshiro Mifune). The Haruki Kadokawa Corporation acquired the remake rights to both "Sanjuro" and "Yojimbo" in May of last year.

Pop idol Hideaki Takizawa (of Tackey & Tsubasa) will perform in an autobiographical work this September at Tokyo's Nissay Theatre. Takizawa, who is 24, entered show business at the age of 13 and has been highly successful. According to Takizawa, the play will contain not only the happiness in his life, but also times of loneliness and private moments. 37 performances are scheduled between September 5 and September 28. His agency, Johnny's Jimusho, is managing the project.

Rumor has spread that actress Eri Fukatsu is currently dating stylist Haruhisa Shirayama. The latest issue of gossip magazine FRIDAY contained photos of the pair together, including one of them sharing an umbrella. It was also reported that Shirayama's car has been frequently spotted at Fukatsu's residence.

Aniplex recently announced a Rurouni Kenshin 10th Anniversary DVD boxset, and the set is scheduled to ship on December 20. The boxset includes all 94 episodes of the TV series, a special episode, the OVAs, and the theatrical release. A special features DVD, a remix CD, a sakabato letter opener, and a visuals book will also be part of the set. The set is a pre-order only limited release, up until August 31, at a price of 84000 yen (approximately $737 US). An image of the set can be seen at the CDJapan site.

At around 4:30am on Wednesday, actor Shido Nakamura ignored a red light while driving in Setagaya and was stopped by a patrol car. The officer detected the smell of alcohol and gave Nakamura a breathalyzer test, which showed 0.35 mg/L (the legal limit is 0.15 mg/L). He was taken into custody for both violations.

Nakamura stated that he had been drinking champagne aboard a plane late Tuesday night, then had met with friends at a Nishi-Azabu bar at midnight. He was driving a female friend home when he was stopped. At a press conference later on Wednesday, he apologized for the incident, and he also stated that he wishes to retreat from drama acting for the time being. He hopes to rebuild his career from scratch.

Nakamura has been a kabuki actor and screen actor since 1981. He married actress Yuko Takeuchi in 2005.

Square Enix has announced a limited-edition Final Fantasy III set for the DS Lite. The set will go on sale the same day as the DS Lite version of the FFIII game, August 24. The set features an "FFIII Crystal Edition" DS Lite, which is similar to the Crystal White DS Lite, except that 4 of the game's characters are illustrated on the console's cover, along with a serial number. The set will retail at 22780 yen (approximately $200 US).

Nintendo announced that the "Jet Black" version of the DS Lite will go on sale in Japan on September 2. This follows on the heels of Nintendo's recent announcement of the "Noble Pink" DS Lite, which goes on sale on July 20.