Singer/actress Takako Matsu is celebrating the 10th anniversary of her debut single, "Ashita, Haru ga Kitara," with a renewal of the song. The song's writer, Yuji Sakamoto, has written additional lyrics, and the song will be recorded with both Matsu's old voice and her current voice. The new version, titled "Ashita, Haru ga Kitara 97-07," will be released online on March 21.

Matsu will have a busy schedule for the rest of 2007. She appears in the upcoming "Tokyo Tower" movie (April 14) and will release her 8th album on April 25. Then in May, she will go on her first concert tour in four years. Matsu will also appear in the "HERO" movie scheduled for September.

A PR event was held on Thursday for a new Calpis Water commercial featuring Masami Nagasawa. The commercial depicts a young boy (Sosuke Ikematsu) falling for the older Nagasawa after she gives him a bottle of the drink. Broadcast begins on the 7th.

The Haruki Kadokawa Corporation is facing a lawsuit over the production rights to "Genghis Khan: To the Ends of the Earth and Sea," which opens in theaters this weekend.

According to the suit, the plaintiff was part of a committee that had been preparing to produce the film. The committee began raising funds in 2002, and in 2005, Kadokawa requested a transfer of rights in order to produce the movie. Although an agreement was reached, the suit alleges that Kadokawa has refused to sign an official contract for the rights transfer.

The suit seeks 150 million yen in damages. Kadokawa officials said they could not comment as they have not yet received court documents.

On Thursday, actress Maki Horikita attended an event for the 2nd "12-sai no Bungakusho," a writing competition for students under the age of twelve. The event served to present the awards for the first competition while kicking off the second. Horikita has been named as the special judge for this year's contest. Last year's special judge was Aya Ueto.

On Thursday, rock band EXILE made a surprise appearance at the graduation ceremony of Nagasaki Prefectural Sasebo Tosho High School, alma mater of the band's newest member, TAKAHIRO. He graduated from the school in 2004.

At the end of the ceremony, TAKAHIRO appeared on stage, to the surprise of the 200 graduates and their fellow students. As he greeted the students, the rest of the band members joined him on stage. They proceeded to perform three songs, including their latest single, "Michi." TAKAHIRO was just as moved as the students, expressing his own happiness for EXILE coming to his alma mater.

Figure skater Shizuka Arakawa, who won a gold medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics, will appear in an upcoming episode of the long-running anime series "Sazae-san." The decision was made as a project to commemorate the show reaching 1,900 episodes this past Sunday. The special episode will air on March 18.

Arakawa will also serve as the voice actor for her character, who can be seen performing the Ina Bauer, a move that Arakawa is especially known for. This is the first time that a real person has voiced his or her own character on the show.

Former Hikaru Genji member Kazumi Morohoshi will star in a drama series for the first time in 20 years. The series is titled "Usagi ga Mochitsuki" and will be broadcast on satellite network BS-i on Saturdays at 11:30pm, starting on April 28. Morohoshi plays the president of a struggling advertising firm who also suffers from an inability to feel love.

The ceremony for the 14th Yomiuri Theater Awards was held on Wednesday at the Palace Hotel in Otemachi, Tokyo. The winners were:

• Grand Prize, Best Actor: Yasunori Danta
• Best Actress: Shinobu Terajima
• Best Director: Kazuyoshi Kushida
• Best Staff: Shusaku Futamura
• Best Play: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
• Haruko Sugimura Award: Tsuyoshi Kusanagi

The first announcement for the lineup at this year's Fuji Rock Festival (July 27-29) has been released:

Ash, The Ataris, Blonde Redhead, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Fountains of Wayne, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Iggy Pop & The Stooges, The John Butler Trio, Jonathan Richman, Justice, Kaiser Chiefs, Kemuri, Less Than Jake, The Shins, Simian Mobile Disco

The current issue of FRIDAY has published an interview with Ai Kago, who was suspended from Morning Musume last February for underage smoking (FRIDAY was also the magazine that caught her smoking). According to the article, Kago has been working in the offices of Up-Front Agency since January 23. The agency, which manages Hello! Project, said that they are preparing for Kago's comeback, though no details have been decided.

Hello!Online has a summary of the interview in English.

According to Mitsuhiro Oikawa's official site, he will be appearing in the upcoming "Hotelier" drama, which stars Aya Ueto. The series begins in April and will be broadcast in TV Asahi's Thursday 9:00pm time slot.

From the information on the site, the cast listing includes: Mitsuhiro Oikawa, Seiichi Tanabe, Saeko, Akane Oda, Yuko Fueki, Mayumi Hori, Mikihisa Azuma, Masahiro Komoto, Nagisa Katahira, and Naoto Takenaka.