24-year-old TBS announcer Yuko Aoki is currently dating a younger freelance director, according to magazine FLASH. Earlier this month, they were seen leaving Aoki's apartment, riding together on a motorcycle. The magazine also points out that the bike has been constantly spotted outside the apartment.

Aoki is currently a regular on "Sunday Japon." She is also a former winner of the Miss Keio crown, in 2001.

Talento Sayuri Kokusho is reported to be back together with her ex-husband. The two have known each other since they were classmates in junior high. They got married in November 2000, but divorced three years later.

According to the latest issue of Weekly Post, Kokusho put him in charge of her management office last July, and now the two are living together.

Rock band L'Arc~en~Ciel has announced that they will put out a new release every month for five months, starting in August.

The streak will begin on August 29, with their single "MY HEART DRAWS A DREAM." It will be followed by the DVD of last year's Tokyo Dome performance in September, a single in October, a single and an album in November, and a video clip DVD in December.

The band also just kicked off their 2007 tour.

Actress Yu Aoi will play the lead voice in a special Fuji TV anime production that airs this summer. Titled "Miyori no Mori," it boasts a staggering production cost of more than 200 million yen.

"Miyori no Mori" is based on the manga of the same name by Hideji Oda. The original comic was serialized in Akita Shoten's Mystery Bonita magazine in 2003. The story is about an 11-year-old girl named Miyori (Aoi) whose parents leave her with her grandparents in the countryside. Because of her family situation, she naturally closes herself off, until she encounters the spirits in a nearby forest. The plot also incorporates a modern theme in the issue of environmental destruction.

The special, which has a running time of 130 minutes, cost approximately 210 million yen to produce. By comparison, a typical anime work costs only about 13 million yen for 30 minutes.

Actress Etsuko Ichihara will play the voice of Miyori's grandmother. Other members of the voice cast include Hiroyuki Amano and several Fuji TV announcers, such as Aya Takashima, Midori Matsuo, Toshihiro Ito, Noriko Yoshizaki, and Kyoko Sasaki. Nizo Yamamoto is in charge as director.

The anime will air on August 25 at 9:00pm.

Johnny's Jimusho once again dominates the music charts this week. Kanjani8's second full album, "KJ2 Zukkoke Daidassou," ranked #1 among albums, selling approximately 212,000 copies. This is not only the first #1 for the group, but also the first for an enka artist since Oricon began tracking albums in 1970. It is also the first enka album to sell more than 200,000 copies in its opening week.

Meanwhile, on the singles chart, KAT-TUN scored their fourth consecutive #1 release with "Yorokobi no Uta."

An announcement on the official website of music unit AAA informed fans that Yukari Goto is leaving the group.

Last month, she was scheduled to perform in a live "Delicious Gakuin" concert with misono, dream, the rest of AAA, and others. Just before opening day, she dropped out due to health problems. She later requested to take an extended break from the group for treatment, and it was decided that it would be best for her to withdraw from AAA.

Oricon revealed the results of this year's survey asking singles in their 20s and 30s which celebrity they would want to get married to.

At the top of the women's list was Masaharu Fukuyama, who was also ranked first last year. #2 was Koichi Domoto, followed by Hiroshi Tamaki.　Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, Junichi Okada, and Teppei Koike all tied for fourth.

The #1 choice among men was Masami Nagasawa. The rest of the top five were Kaori Manabe, Yuka, Megumi Yasu, and Saki Aibu.