On Thursday, Toho announced that Yui Ichikawa will be replacing Aoi Miyazaki as Nana "Hachi" Komatsu for the film "NANA 2." Miyazaki co-starred with Mika Nakashima in last year's hit movie "NANA," based on the popular manga of the same name. The sequel was announced before Miyazaki had signed another contract, and she later decided to decline the role, causing many to believe that the film would be cancelled. Now that Ichikawa has accepted the role, production on the sequel will proceed. The film is scheduled for release on December 9.

Actor Takehiro Murata (46) will be marrying actress Rika Nakae (26) this October. The two first met 4 years ago when they both appeared in the drama Shomuni Final. Coincidentally, they both currently appear in the eighth series of Wataru Seken wa Oni Bakari.

The 11th All-Japan National Young Beauty Contest was held on Wednesday. The grand prize was awarded to 17-year-old Tantan Hayashi, who is half-Japanese, half-Chinese. The other prize-winners in the contest were Rikako Tanaka, Shiori Kutsuna, Karen Miyazaki, and Emi Takei.

On Tuesday, NHK announced its taiga drama for 2008, titled "Atsuhime." Atsuhime was a woman in the late Edo era to the Meiji era and was the wife of Iesada Tokugawa. The drama will be based on Tomiko Miyao's "Tenshoin Atsuhime," while Kumiko Tabuchi (News no Onna, Brand) will be in charge of the screenplay.