The popular 2005 Korean movie "Watashi no Atama no Naka no Keshigomu" (also known as "A Moment to Remember" and "The Eraser in My Head") will be remade into a drama special this spring. NTV will broadcast the special in its "Kayo Drama Gold" time slot (Tuesday 9:00pm). Kyoko Fukada and Mitsuhiro Oikawa will play the lead roles.

The movie itself was a remake of the 2001 Japanese drama series "Pure Soul ~Kimi ga Boku wo Wasuretemo~." The original story involves a young couple who discover that the wife suffers from Alzheimer's disease. In that version, the couple is a company president's daughter and a carpenter. In the upcoming remake, the couple is a female art school student and an artist.

The special will be directed by Marehiro Karaki, who also directed "Pure Soul." The rest of the cast includes Hiroshi Fuse, Yoshiko Tanaka, and Akiyoshi Nakao as the wife's parents and brother. Eiichiro Funakoshi will also make a special appearance as a doctor.

Sakura-Con has announced that with the support of avex, musical group m.o.v.e will perform at this year's convention. Both the group and the convention are celebrating their 10th anniversaries.

Sakura-Con will be held in Seattle on April 6-8.

TV Asahi announced that it will end its "Kayo Jidaigeki" time slot (Tuesday 7:00pm) in September. While the time slot will no longer carry regular series, the network plans to still use it for jidaigeki specials that run longer than one hour.

Actor Kurodo Maki, who performs as a music artist under the name AKTION, will release his first single on March 7. Maki is the son of actor and folk singer Mike Maki, but unlike his father, Maki's music of choice is hip-hop.

Maki first began using the name AKTION as a guest artist on his friend ZEEBRA's single, "Neva Enuff," in 2001. He has since been featured on several other works, but this will be his first as the primary artist.

The new single, titled "Still Neva Enuff," is a reference to the original, but this time ZEEBRA will be the guest artist. The coupling song is titled "Ash to ash Dice to dust."

15-year-old idol Rion Sakamoto has been chosen as Sponichi Annex's new image girl, known as the "Anneco" (a combination of "annex" and "ko," meaning girl). Sakamoto is the fifth girl to take on the position, succeeding Sayaka Tashiro. The "Anneco Correspondence" site can be found here.

Sakamoto has appeared in commercials before, including one for the Nintendo video game "WarioWare: Smooth Moves." She released her first DVD in December, and is scheduled to make her silver screen debut this fall in the movie "URAHARA."

Former Nippon Ham outfielder Tsuyoshi Shinjo has been chosen as a PR manager for three Hollywood films opening in Japan this year, including "Deja Vu" and the third "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie. Shinjo will formally assume the position at a press conference in Los Angeles on February 7.

Actress Takako Uehara, along with models Sayo Aizawa and Jun Hasegawa, have been appointed as the new image characters for the popular tea drink Sokenbicha (produced by Coca-Cola). Commercials will begin airing on February 5.

Fuji TV will broadcast a drama special titled "Mama ga Ryouri wo Tsukuru Riyuu" ("Why Does Mama Cook?"). Talento Masami Hisamoto and actress Ryoko Hirosue will co-star.

Hisamoto plays a mangaka with a younger husband and a child. She is not very good at cooking, and her diet consists of very simple meals. Hirosue, on the other hand, is an iconic and charismatic culinary writer with a refined taste. The drama will focus on their clash of values when they end up working together to create a gourmet manga.

The drama will air at 9:00pm on March 3. The rest of the cast includes Ikkei Watanabe, Ryuta Sato, Shingo Katsurayama, and Takehiko Ono.

NHK has announced on its site that a third series of "Yagyu Jubei Nanaban Shobu" is in the works. The new series (full title: "Yagyu Jubei Nanaban Shobu: Saigo no Tatakai") takes place 12 years after the Shimabara Rebellion. The master swordsman Jubei has already begun to lead a quiet life with his wife, but he is called upon for one final mission.

Hiroaki Murakami and Riho Makise star in the drama. It is scheduled to begin on April 5 in NHK's "Mokuyo Jidaigeki" (Thursday 8:00pm) time slot.