Singer-model-actress Anna Tsuchiya will appear in an NHK documentary titled "Shukubo: Kokoro to Karada Mitsuru Tabi." The program shows her spending two days at the Bodaiji Temple in Mount Osore, where she leaves behind her material life and studies under a Zen priest to improve herself.

Broadcast is scheduled for the 16th on the NHK BShi channel.

Monkey trainer Taro Murasaki, better known as the human half of the duo Taro and Jiro, is reportedly married to Miwako Kurihara, a producer for Fuji TV.

In March, the network aired a drama special about Murasaki's life, and Kurihara was in charge of the production. Through working together on the project, they developed a relationship and eventually married.

Cover band Maki Ohguro & Friends is reuniting. The five-member group consists of Maki Ohguro, Satoshi Takebe, Kohei Tsuchiya (The Street Sliders), Shinya (LUNA SEA), and Yoshihito Onda (Judy and Mary). The group formed briefly in 2004 and released an album together.

The band will go on tour in five cities from October 11 to 25.

18-year-old technopop singer Aira Mitsuki will release her first CD on August 8. Her single, titled "Colorful Tokyo Sounds No. 9," will be the official song of the soon-to-open Transformers Cafe in Tokyo.

In May, Mitsuki won the Mega Trance Utahime Audition out of a field of 6,325 contestants. She was supposed to enter university in New Zealand this spring, but she gave it up to pursue her dream of becoming a singer.