On Saturday, "Ai no Rukeichi" opened on 288 screens nationwide. The film is based on Junichi Watanabe's sexually explicit novel about an affair between a housewife and a writer.

Recognizing the delicate nature of the film, Toho Cinemas Namba in Namba, Osaka, held female-only screenings to let women enjoy the film without having to worry about the presence of men. This is the first time this has happened for a nationally screened film, but positive feedback has led to the possibility of similar screenings in other cities.

Comic Gumbo, Japan's first free weekly manga magazine, debuts on Tuesday. The weekly is produced by Dejima, a venture publishing company started by entrepreneur Akihiko Kai. Its target audience is males in their 20s to 40s.

The magazine will feature two complete stories and eleven series, including works by Tatsuya Egawa, Motoka Murakami, Hiroyuki Yoshida, and Syufo Itahashi. Each issue is expected to have 230 pages, which is relatively light for a manga weekly. Like other free publications such as Hot Pepper and R25, the magazine makes its revenue by selling pages to advertisers. In Gumbo's case, approximately 26 pages will be devoted to ads.

Dejima plans to produce 100,000 copies per issue, handing them out at about 30 train stations in the greater Tokyo area.

Director Yoji Yamada's "Bushi no Ichibun" (also known as "Love and Honor") will make its international premiere at the 57th Berlin International Film Festival, which runs February 8-18. The film will open the Panorama section, then will be screened again as part of the Culinary Cinema program. It will not be in the Competition section, however.

Also, Michael Arias' animated film "Tekkon Kinkreet" has been selected for the Generation 14plus section.

The 12th annual Critics' Choice Awards were held in Santa Monica, California on Friday night. Martin Scorsese took home Best Film and Best Director for his movie, "The Departed," while "Little Miss Sunshine" and "Dreamgirls" each won four awards.

Clint Eastwood's "Letters from Iwo Jima" took the prize for Best Foreign Language Film. Actress Rinko Kikuchi failed to win the Best Supporting Actress award, which instead went to Jennifer Hudson.

Actress Kimiko Yo recently revealed that she has been married since last March. The announcement came during a TV program that aired late on Friday night. Her husband is an art staff employee at broadcaster NHK.

Actress Maki Horikita will star in the upcoming film, "Koisuru Nichiyoubi ~Watashi. Koishita," directed by Ryuichi Hiroki. It is the second film based on the TV drama series "Koisuru Nichiyoubi," also known as "Love on Sunday."

Horikita will play a high school girl suffering from terminal cancer, and the story will revolve around her last love during her final three months. To prepare for the role, Horikita is undergoing a special diet designed to deplete the salt level in her body. Although unhealthy, it is a technique sometimes used by actors in order to appear ill.

The film is scheduled to open on June 9.