Harue Kano, the suspected thief of her sister Kyoko Kano's possessions, showed up at police headquarters in Akasaka, Tokyo, last Saturday to submit herself for questioning. She was accompanied by her lawyer.

Harue has been managing the Kano Sisters duo for a few years (and was originally a member of the group), but Kyoko became unable to contact her at the beginning of this year. Kyoko visited Harue's apartment only to discover that Harue was missing, along with approximately 500 million yen worth of items that Kyoko had stored there.

Details of the interrogation have not yet been released.

Singer Ami Suzuki will star in a tokusatsu hero drama special this spring. The drama, titled "Skull Man: Yami no Josho," is based on the classic 1970 manga "Skull Man" by Shotaro Ishinomori. The story revolves around an antihero character seeking vengeance against the one who murdered his parents when he was a child.

Suzuki plays the role of an office lady at a pharmaceutical company, and her fiance is played by Shigeki Hosokawa. The entire drama will be filmed in front of a greenscreen.

The special is being produced to accompany the "Skull Man" anime series, which is being produced by animation studio BONES. Fuji TV will air the special on April 21 as an "episode 0," and the anime will begin on April 28.

Last month, comedy duo Oriental Radio's variety show "Orikyun" moved into a prime time slot, an impressive accomplishment for a team that barely debuted in 2004. Now they are poised to take an even more impressive step - into the coveted golden time block. (Prime time is 7:00-11:00pm, golden time is 7:00-10:00pm.)

The duo's new program is called "Shukan Ori Raji Keizai Hakusho," a quiz show with an economic and financial theme. It starts on April 17 in NTV's Tuesday 9:00pm slot.

Singer Rimi Natsukawa, who went independent last month, has recorded a song for a new JVC Everio commercial that begins airing on Tuesday. Unlike her previous songs, Natsukawa's new recording is a step into the jazz genre - it is a cover of George Gershwin's "'s Wonderful." She has never covered an English-language song before, so she received instruction from an English teacher to be able to sing it.

This is her first project since leaving her agency. There have been rumors that Natsukawa is planning to end her career entirely, but she denies the claims. She plans to take a short break after a scheduled concert next month, then will aim to release a new song by September. There have also been rumors of a boyfriend, but Natsukawa denies that as well.

Director Shohei Imamura's "Vengeance is Mine" is being adapted into a drama special. The 1979 film, which starred Ken Ogata, told the story of real-life serial killer Iwao Enokizu. The movie won many awards, and the original novel itself (written by Ryuzo Saki) won the Naoki Prize.

Toshiro Yanagiba will play the lead role this time. TV Tokyo will broadcast the special in a three-hour time slot during March.

Actress/singer Aya Ueto will star in a remake of the Korean drama series "Hotelier." The original series aired in 2001 on the Korean network MBC. It was later brought to Japan in 2003, and was also popular there.

Ueto will play the heroine (previously played by Song Yun-ah), an assistant manager at a high class hotel. The storyline will remain roughly the same as in the original series.

The new series will be broadcast on TV Asahi in the Thursday 9:00pm time slot, beginning in April.

Actor Ken Kaneko will be resuming his acting career. In 2004, he began training as a mixed martial arts fighter, but has decided to retire from the sport. During his short career, Kaneko fought in three matches, all losses.

The three former members of Yellow Magic Orchestra will play a single concert as the unit Human Audio Sponge at the Pacifico Yokohama on May 19. The performance is part of the "Smile Together Project" organized by the Children's Cancer Association of Japan.

The group has performed under the name of Human Audio Sponge once before, in Barcelona, Spain in 2004.

The nominees have been announced for the Seiyu Awards, which will take place in Tokyo on March 3. Aya Hirano received the most nominations, with five nominations in four of the eight categories: Female Lead, Female Supporting Character, Female New Performer, and Song (two nominations).

The full list of nominees can be found in the forums.

Actress Hiromi Kitagawa will appear in her first jidaigeki role in TV Tokyo's "Yorozuya Heishiro Katsujinken." She will play the first love of the protagonist Heishiro (Shunsuke Nakamura).

The series begins in April, airing in the Friday 8:00pm time slot. Jundai Yamada will also appear in the drama.