Talento Becky has been appointed as this year's campaign character for e-Tax, the government's electronic tax filing system. The campaign began Friday, the same day that tax returns began being accepted.

Cha Kato finally returned to work on Friday, appearing on Fuji TV's mid-morning program, "Kotaete Chodai!" It has been about four months since he had to be hospitalized and operated on due to an aortic dissection.

Kato is also scheduled to resume acting. He has been given a role in the upcoming Fuji TV drama series, "Oniyome Nikki Ii Yu da na," which begins in April. Kato will play the irresponsible bath-house owner and father of Kazuma Yamazaki (Gori). This is his first regular role in a drama series in five years.

The four-member Johnny's Jr. unit Musical Academy will star in a play called "Survival Island." The production is an adaptation of the British play "Neville's Island" written by Tim Firth. It is a comedy about four salarymen who get shipwrecked on an uninhabited island. This will be the first time that Musical Academy appears in a play with no other cast members.

"Survival Island" will run from May 11 to May 21 at the Sunshine Theatre in Tokyo. Afterwards, it will make a short run (June 1-3) at the Hyogo Performing Arts Center.

Sports Hochi reports that TOKIO's Taichi Kokubun and singer/songwriter aiko have broken up. They began dating in 1998, and Kokubun publicly announced their relationship in 2001. A marriage seemed to be near, but busy schedules eventually led to their separation. The breakup happened last August.

Comedy duo License announced that they have changed their name to The Charanporan. This is sure to cause confusion as there already exists a duo named Charanporan, also working under Yoshimoto Kogyo.

The phrase "charanporan" means "sloppy" or "irresponsible," and usually refers to someone speaking freely.

The 30th Japan Academy Awards were held on Friday. "Hula Girl" continued its award-winning streak by taking Picture of the Year, along with several other awards. Meanwhile, the critically-acclaimed "Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo" earned the newly established Animation of the Year prize. Here is the list of winners:

• Best Picture: Hula Girl
• Best Animation: Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo
• Best Actor: Ken Watanabe (Memories of Tomorrow)
• Best Actress: Miki Nakatani (Memories of Matsuko)
• Best Supporting Actor: Takashi Sasano (Love and Honor)
• Best Supporting Actress: Yu Aoi (Hula Girl)
• Best Director: Sang-il Lee (Hula Girl)
• Best Screenplay: Sang-il Lee, Daisuke Habara (Hula Girl)
• Best Music: Gabriele Roberto, Takeshi Shibuya (Memories of Matsuko)
• Best Cinematography: Mutsuo Naganuma (Love and Honor)
• Best Lighting Direction: Takeshi Nakasu (Love and Honor)
• Best Art Direction: Toshiyuki Matsumiya, Nariyuki Kondo (YAMATO)
• Best Sound Recording: Nobuhiko Matsukage, Tetsuo Segawa (YAMATO)
• Best Film Editing: Yoshiyuki Koike (Memories of Matsuko)
• Best Foreign Language Film: Flags of Our Fathers