On Monday, the Japan Post revealed its new logo and uniforms. Actor Jun Kaname and actress Rio Matsumoto attended the event, modeling the uniforms.

Talento Kazushige Nagashima also showed up to promote his postal service-related movie "Postman," which he is both planning and starring in. The cast includes Kie Kitano and Sachie Hara. The film is scheduled to open in February 2008.

To promote its new Yebisu The Hop beer, Sapporo Breweries Limited has gathered seven musicians to appear in its commercial.

The artists are violinist Emiri Miyamoto, oboeist Fumiaki Miyamoto, percussionist ASA-CHANG, and singers Miu Sakamoto, Tamaru Yamada, Keiichi Sokabe, and Ayano Tsuji. They will collaborate using various instruments to perform a song called "Dai 3 no Otoko."

The beer goes on sale on April 4. The commercial will begin airing on the same day.

Actress Yu Aoi, who won several awards for her performance in last year's "Hula Girl," will be making her first appearance in a Shakespearean play in October. She has been cast as Desdemona in Yukio Ninagawa's production of "Othello."

Mr.Children's latest original album, "HOME," sold over 693,000 copies last week, earning them #1 on the Oricon albums chart. With those sales, they also became the second group to sell a total of 50 million copies (albums and singles).

B'z first achieved that milestone in 1998, and currently have sold more than 75.6 million units. Mr.Children, who debuted only one year after B'z, have finally reached that mark with 50.6 million units (26.9 million singles, 23.7 million albums).

"HOME" is Mr.Children's fifth consecutive #1 album, and their tenth overall.

The last album to sell more than 600,000 copies in its first week was Southern All Stars' 2005 album, "Killer Street."

Hikaru Utada's latest single, "Flavor of Life," took the top spot on the Oricon singles chart for the third week in a row. It sold over 80,000 copies, while Kumi Koda's new single, "BUT / Aisho," came in second with 64,000 in sales.

Utada is the first female artist in over four years to hold #1 for three consecutive weeks. Ayumi Hamasaki's "Voyage" last accomplished the feat in October 2002, and Utada herself did it in April of the same year with her single, "Hikari."

Actress Misaki Ito and comedian Hidehiko Ishizuka have been chosen to host the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards Japan. Ishizuka remarked on their unlikely combination, "If you were to compare us to foods, Misaki-chan would be mille-feuille and I would be daifuku."

The awards will take place on May 26 at the Saitama Super Arena.

British rock band The Cure has been announced as part of the lineup for this year's Fuji Rock Festival. The band last played in Japan in 1984.

Hayao Miyazaki has finally announced his next film, titled "Gake no Ue no Ponyo" ("Ponyo on a Cliff"). The story centers on a 5-year-old boy named Sosuke and a princess goldfish named Ponyo who desires to become human.

According to Ghibli World, the character of Sosuke is based on Goro Miyazaki's son. Producer Toshio Suzuki also mentioned that most of the film takes place in the sea.

Location hunting started last July, and production began in early October. The Studio Ghibli Diary indicates that Joe Hisaishi will be in charge of the music.

The film is scheduled for release in the summer of 2008.

Actor Eiji Funakoshi died of a stroke on Saturday night in a Shizuoka hospital. He was 84.

Funakoshi made his screen debut in 1947, and is well-known for his starring role in Kon Ichikawa's 1959 film "Fires on the Plain." Overseas, he may be better known for his appearances in the "Gamera" movies. Over the course of his career, he acted in approximately 200 films.

In the 1970s, he began acting in television dramas, such as "Jikan Desu Yo" and "Necchu Jidai." In 1989, the government finally awarded him the Shiju Hosho for his achievements as an actor.

Eiji was the husband of former actress Yumiko Hasegawa and the father of actor Eiichiro Funakoshi.

The final episode of the TBS drama "Karei Naru Ichizoku" aired on Sunday night. Video Research Ltd. revealed that it averaged a 30.4% rating in the Kanto region, with a peak of 35.5%. However, in the Kansai region, it fared even better with a rating of 39.3% and a peak of 44.9%.

Meanwhile, the final episode of "Hana Yori Dango 2," which aired on Friday, came in second again. It only averaged 27.6% in the Kanto region and 26.0% in the Kansai area.