Pop star Ayumi Hamasaki kicked off her first Asia tour with a performance at Taiwan's Taipei Arena on Friday. Approximately 10,000 fans attended the event, which was also her first solo concert outside of Japan.

Hamasaki performed a total of 20 songs, appearing in seven different outfits during the show. The entire tour is filled with special effects, with an estimated total production cost of 1.8 billion yen. Approximately 300 staff members from Japan are accompanying Hamasaki on the tour.

After Taiwan, Hamasaki will be performing in Hong Kong, China, and Japan. 170,000 fans are expected to attend one of the 13 performances during the tour.

Singer-songwriter Natsu Kai (the second daughter of rock musician Yoshihiro Kai) has announced the first ever highway rest stop tour. Kai releases her second single, "drive," on April 4. On the 6th, she begins her 3-day tour to promote the single, visiting six rest stops (also known as "service areas") on the Tomei Expressway. She will first perform in Shizuoka, then Aichi and Kanagawa.

Kai will travel in an ad-wrapped car, which she will drive herself. She currently has only a temporary license, so she will be aiming to get a permanent one by the end of the month.

On Saturday, popular singer Masaharu Fukuyama performed a concert at the Yokohama Arena. During the performance, Fukuyama's new Pepsi Nex commercial began playing on the electronic screen. Then, surprise guests Erika Sawajiri and Satoshi Tsumabuki joined Fukuyama on stage. They held a short talk session, announcing that the three of them will appear together in a different version of the Pepsi commercial, which begins airing on the 27th.

A few weeks ago, it was reported that Hello! Project member Ai Kago (of W) was in the process of making a comeback after having been suspended for a year for underage smoking. Now, it appears that it may take even longer.

The April 7 issue of Weekly Gendai reports that Kago has been smoking again, and further claims that Kago is seeing a man 18 years older than her.

A reporter for the magazine took pictures of the two of them holding hands outside an onsen ryokan in Kusatsu, Gunma. They spent the night there on the 17th, and returned to Tokyo the next morning by car. The reporter says that Kago smoked a cigarette in the car, but no pictures were provided as evidence.

When the two arrived in Tokyo, the reporter confronted them. The man, Yasuyuki Ishimoto (who is the owner of the popular Shibuya cafe SOMA), denied a love relationship with Kago. He stated that Kago is his cousin, and he further mentioned that he already has a fiancee. According to him, the two of them were in Kusatsu for a family function. The reporter apparently did not ask about Kago smoking, however.

Kago's agency said they are in the process of verifying her relationship with the man.

The idol unit Tegomass (Yuya Tegoshi and Takahisa Masuda of NEWS) will be in charge of the opening and ending themes for the "Lovely Complex" anime series, which is based on Aya Nakahara's popular manga.

It was announced at the Tokyo International Anime Fair that the opening song is titled "Kimi + Boku = Love?" and the ending song is titled "Kiss ~Kaerimichi no Love Song."

"Lovely Complex" will start airing on April 7 in TBS's Saturday 5:30pm time slot.