In a twist in the Kano Sisters incident, Harue Kano has claimed that she actually owns the items that she allegedly stole from her sister Kyoko.

Earlier this month, Kyoko reported to police that Harue had disappeared with approximately 500 million yen in items that belonged to Kyoko. Harue later showed up for questioning but denied any wrongdoing. Kyoko is seeking to take the case to court.

Now, Harue is claiming that the items, including a 300-million-yen diamond ring, actually belong to her. Kyoko admits that she did lend her the items for attending parties and other events. So now the case has become a question of whether Kyoko actually lent the items to Harue, or gave them to her.

Reports that there is a man involved seem to have been confirmed. Kyoko's lawyer revealed that Harue is currently dating a Belgian man with intentions of marriage, and the two were living together in Tokyo.

By the time that Hikaru Utada's new single, "Flavor of Life," went on sale Wednesday, it had already sold more than 2 million copies through the Chaku-Uta mobile download service, setting an impressive new record for sales prior to the release of a CD.

The single has been available since January 5, and it entered the download charts at #1. Between January 26 and February 23, it maintained its hold on the #1 spot for a total of 29 consecutive days.

"Flavor of Life" is currently being used as the image song of the popular TBS drama series, "Hana Yori Dango 2."

Johnny's Jimusho has released the first set of new calendars for seven of its popular groups. The calendars for Tackey & Tsubasa and Kanjani8 went on sale Wednesday. On Friday, the calendars for KinKi Kids, Arashi, KAT-TUN, and Johnny's Jr. will be released, while NEWS fans will have to wait until next Thursday (March 8).

Yoshimoto Kogyo has published its annual "otokomae" (handsome man) and "busaiku" (ugly) rankings for its comedians. The company's magazine, "Monthly Yoshimoto," received about 21,000 ballots this time.

For the second year in a row, the title of most handsome comedian went to Satoshi Inoue of Jicho Kacho, with Akira Kawashima (Kirin) and Shingo Fujimori (Oriental Radio) rounding out the top three. Meanwhile, Yama-chan of Nankai Candies also won a second consecutive title as ugliest comedian by a landslide, receiving 8,350 votes while runner-up Takashi Yoshida (Black Mayonnaise) received only 1,126 votes.

Actor Shota Matsuda will appear in Fuji TV's new drama series "LIAR GAME," which stars Erika Toda as the college student Nao Kanzaki. Matsuda will play the role of the swindler Akiyama, who helps out Kanzaki when she becomes involved in a mysterious money game.

The series begins on April 14 and will air on Saturdays at 11:00pm.

Actor Hideo Takamatsu died from a heart attack in his home on Monday morning. He was 77. Takamatsu was active in both films and television dramas, such as the 1969 series "Judo Icchokusen."

Tenor Masafumi Akikawa continues to break records. His single "Sen no Kaze ni Natte" has been selling incredibly well since his first-time appearance at last year's Kohaku Uta Gassen, even though the single originally debuted last May. Last month, the single became the first by a classical artist to reach #1 on the charts.

This past week, "Sen no Kaze ni Natte" sold about 73,000 copies. This puts the song's total sales so far at about 534,000 copies, breaking the record for a single by a classical artist. The previous record-holder was Yoshikazu Mera's 1997 single "Princess Mononoke," the theme song to the animated film of the same name. That song sold 504,000 by the time it left the charts in July 1998.

Akikawa also holds the records for highest-ranking album and best-selling album by a Japanese vocalist with his recent "Ifu Dodo"; it has peaked at #14 and has sold over 69,000 copies to date.