In separate announcements, the theme songs for two upcoming drama series have been revealed.

Rock band UVERworld will provide the theme for NTV's adaptation of "Hataraki Man," starring Miho Kanno. The song is titled "Ukiyo CROSSING" and goes on sale November 14.

Meanwhile, actress Erika Sawajiri will release her second single under her singer name of ERIKA. "Destination Nowhere" is scheduled for release on November 28, and will be used as the theme song for TV Asahi's "Mop Girl," starring Keiko Kitagawa.

According to Josei Jishin and FLASH, comedian Hidekazu Nagai is currently involved in a civil trial over an incident in the Philippines.

In late May, Nagai visited the Philippines with a friend. They picked up two local women and took them back to a hotel, but Nagai's partner was only 17 years old. The next morning, Nagai found himself in custody of the police after the girl's parents reported the incident. Nagai ended up posting 11 million yen for bail and settling the matter out of court.

However, suspicion later arose that the incident may have been part of an extortion scheme targeting Japanese men, and that the girl, the parents, and the police were all accomplices. This possibility has led to the start of a civil trial.

Earlier this month, Nagai moved to New York to study English and standup comedy for a year. He asserted that the move had nothing to do with the incident, and he is ready to return to Japan if he needs to appear in court.

Kumi Koda is collaborating with Korean boy band TVXQ (also known as Tohoshinki) for her 38th single, "LAST ANGEL." The idea for a collaboration developed last year, when they both performed at the Asia Song Festival.

"LAST ANGEL" will be the image song for the Japanese version of "Resident Evil: Extinction," which opens in theaters on November 3. The single goes on sale four days later.

On Sunday, the Ottawa International Animation Festival ended on a high note for Japanese director Koji Yamamura. His "Franz Kafka's A Country Doctor" won the festival's Nelvana Grand Prize for Best Independent Short Animation, making him the first Japanese to earn that honor.

This is the fourth major animation festival where Yamamura has earned a Grand Prize. His 2002 short "Atamayama" took top honors at the Hiroshima International Animation Festival, the Annecy International Animated Film Festival, and Animafest Zagreb.

It was reported in July that former SPEED member Eriko Imai and current 175R vocalist SHOGO had started living separately. Now, the inevitable divorce has arrived.

Imai wrote on her official website that the two have talked things over many times, but discussions always turned to divorce. One source said that they plan to file the divorce within the next few days.

The couple married in June 2004, and they had a son that October. It appears that Imai will have custody of the child after the divorce.

On Monday, Johnny's Jimusho held a press conference to announce the formation and debut of a new unit, named Hey! Say! JUMP (short for Johnny's Ultra Music Power). The group is the largest Johnny's act in history, featuring 10 members in all.

JUMP is an expansion of the Hey! Say! 7 unit that formed earlier this year. Five members have been added, and the lineup has been split into two sub-units. Hey! Say! Best will consist of the five high schoolers: Kota Yabu, Yuya Takaki, Kei Inoo, Hikaru Yaotome, and Daiki Arioka. The younger members will become the new Hey! Say! 7, consisting of Yuto Nakajima, Keito Okamoto, Ryosuke Yamada, Yuri Chinen, and Ryutaro Morimoto. Together, the members of JUMP have an average age of 15 years old.

The group's first single will be released on November 14, titled "Ultra Music Power." The song will be the theme for Fuji TV's broadcast of the Volleyball World Cup, which is being held in Japan starting in November.

In addition, their first concert on their own is scheduled for December 22 at the Tokyo Dome.