Actor Mocomichi Hayami will star in an NTV drama special titled "Doubutsu 119," scheduled to air on June 30 at 9:00pm. Hayami will play the role of a veterinarian who runs a mobile veterinary service, dedicated to treating all animals in need. Other cast members include Taro Yamamoto, Yui Ichikawa, and Sei Hiraizumi.

Sumire Haruno, the top star of the Flower Troupe of the Takarazuka Revue, announced that she is leaving the company on December 24. Her final performances will be in "Goodbye Marseilles" (September 21 - October 29) and "Love Symphony" (November 16 - December 24). A press conference will be held in Osaka on Thursday.

Tomohisa Yamashita of NEWS has been given his first starring role in a movie. The film is based on the "Kurosagi" drama series that aired on TBS last spring. Yamashita and several others, including Maki Horikita and Yui Ichikawa, will reprise their roles from the drama. Yasuharu Ishii has been named as director, and the film is slated for release next spring.

43-year-old kabuki actor Ukon Ichikawa has married for the third time, it was discovered on Wednesday. His wife is a 34-year-old who works for a music organization. They first met five years ago, and their relationship led to marriage last year on December 9, the birthday of the actor's teacher, Ennosuke Ichikawa III.

Ukon has been married twice before, but has no children.

Cross-dressing comedian Yakkun Sakurazuka has reportedly found romance. His partner is his hair and make-up artist, a woman in her late twenties described as being short and more beautiful than a model. The two are also said to be in partial cohabitation.

Sakurazuka became a big hit last year with his Sukeban Kyoko character, where he dresses up in a schoolgirl sailor suit and carries a shinai (bamboo kendo sword). Sakurazuka apparently uses a private changing room for getting into character, and it was there that romance blossomed with the woman.

Yakkun's agency said it was a private matter, so they could not comment.

In February, TV Asahi announced that it is ending its "Kayo Jidaigeki" time slot this September. The final series to run in that hour-long block will be a new "Surounin Tsukikage Hyougo" series, starring Hiroki Matsukata as the title character.

The drama's story revolves around Tsukikage Hyougo, an independent and adventurous ronin who regularly gets involved in trouble but always manages to resolve it.

The original "Tsukikage Hyougo" novel series was written by Norio Nanjo. It was adapted to television as "Surounin Tsukikage Hyougo," which ran as two series between 1965 and 1968. That version starred Matsukata's father, Jushiro Konoe. It also recorded a viewership rating of 35.8% in February 1968, which is the second best rating in TV Asahi's history.

The new series begins airing in July at 7:00pm on Tuesdays.

Actor Kenji Sakaguchi has been appointed as a main caster for Fuji TV's exclusive broadcast of the 2007 World Judo Championships. He will be in attendance at the event, which is taking place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on September 13-16 (14-17 in Japan).

The last time the championships were held in Rio de Janeiro was in 1965. At that competition, Kenji's father Seiji Sakaguchi earned the bronze medal (he also won the national championship in the same year).

The younger Sakaguchi, who is only a second-degree black belt, will be accompanied by announcer Rio Hirai for the coverage of this year's tournament. Hirai is actually said to have been named by her parents after the Brazilian city.

Actress Erika Sawajiri is promoting another Sony Ericsson phone. The W52S "Walkman," which goes on sale later this month, has 2GB of internal memory and is stated to be capable of 110 hours of music playback.

Sawajiri will be seen performing kung-fu moves in the phone's commercial. The ad begins airing on the 30th.