"Bushi no Ichibun," starring Takuya Kimura and directed by Yoji Yamada, will have its premiere screening on October 20, the eve of the 19th Tokyo International Film Festival (October 21-29). Both Kimura and Yamada will attend the event. The theatrical release of 'Ichibun' is scheduled for December 1.

NTV has announced a special drama about the life of Megumi Yokota, who was kidnapped as a child by North Korea in 1977. The special is titled "Saikai ~Yokota Megumi-san no Shinjitsu~" and will air on October 3 at 9:00pm.

Actresses Mayuko Fukuda and Nana Katase will both play the role of Yokota. The theme song will be Ai Kawashima's "Mou Hitotsu no Yakusoku."

Idol/actress Yui Aragaki (also known as "Gakki") will be making her movie debut as the female lead in "Waruboro," an adaptation of Gets Itaya's semi-autobiographical novel. Aragaki will take on the role of Yamada, a pure and diligent student. She is the classmate and love interest of the main character, a rebellious delinquent called "Ko-chan" (played by Shota Matsuda).

Actor Keisuke Koide and actress Saeko are currently dating. They hit it off while working on the drama "Oishii Proposal," which aired this spring. The couple is somewhat unusual because they attend rival universities Waseda and Keio. Koide is a fourth-year student at Keio, while Saeko just entered Waseda in the spring. The two will again appear together this fall in the Nodame Cantabile drama series.

Read Tokyograph's new feature article, "Fall 2006 Drama Preview."