Singer/actress Aya Ueto will appear in a new commercial for Lotte's Almond Chocolate Crisp. Ueto will play a woman suffering from "acute oversweetness syndrome" - she passes out whenever she sees a sweet man. The commercial begins airing on March 5.

Actress Maki Horikita will appear in a new commercial for the Shiseido deodorant product Seabreeze Deo & Water. She and idol Misaki Ikeda will play high school students who work up a "good sweat" during their club activities. The commercial goes on the air on April 20.

Actress Naoko Iijima will make a special appearance in the TBS comedy series "Joudan Janai!," which begins on April 15. The series stars Yuji Oda as 40-year-old Keita, who marries a 20-year-old woman (Juri Ueno) that happens to be the daughter of his former girlfriend (Shinobu Otake). Iijima will appear as the manager of a family restaurant where Keita works after he gets laid off from his company.

Filming began recently, and Oda presented Iijima with a cake and flowers for her birthday (February 29). The last time the two appeared in a drama together was 11 years ago in "Mahiru no Tsuki."

Rika Ishikawa and Nozomi Tsuji of Morning Musume will both appear in a play titled "Itsunohika Kimi Kaeru," directed by Shunichi Okamura. In this fictional work, famous Taiwanese singer Teresa Teng is actually Taiwan's "secret weapon" against China.

Ishikawa and Tsuji will be double-cast as an idol who becomes a substitute for Teresa Teng (played by singer en-Ray). Toshio Kakei will play Teng's producer, and Meisa Kuroki will appear as a Chinese spy.

The play will be performed at Tokyo's Nissay Theatre on May 4-22, then at Osaka's Theater Drama City on May 25-28.

This summer, Koichi Domoto of KinKi Kids will star in his first drama series in five years. The announcement came at the end of Domoto's performance in the long-running musical "Endless Shock" on Wednesday.

Domoto will play a karate practitioner who trains as a sushi chef, seeking the true art of the fist. The drama will apparently include action scenes as well.

The series will begin in July on TV Asahi, and will be broadcast in the Friday 11:15pm time slot.

22-year-old actor Kazuki Enari will become the first to play the role of Nobita in a live-action "Doraemon" program. The show is titled "Gimon Nanmon Doraemon!" and will feature a computer-generated Doraemon answering questions related to food, while Nobita will serve as a support character. Guests include actress Saki Aibu.

TV Asahi will broadcast the program on March 25 at 3:30pm.