Popular model Jessica Michibata has been given her first regular television role. Starting on the 7th, TBS will broadcast a new show called "Cinema Style," in which Michibata introduces viewers to new movies. The program is scheduled for 11:40am on Sundays.

Michibata is said to love movies, watching as many as fifteen a month. For the past four years, she has been writing a movie column for monthly magazine Soup.

Mega-producer Haruki Kadokawa is working on the debut of a new singer, a 25-year-old going by the name of ASUKA. She made her public debut on Monday, when it was announced that her first single, "Shirotsubaki Benitsubaki," will be released November 14.

Kadokawa has recruited some top talent for ASUKA's first song. While he will be producing the music video, famous photographer Kishin Shinoyama is in charge of the CD jacket, and the music is being created by lyricist Takashi Matsumoto and composers Tatsuro Mashiko and Satoshi Takebe.

The producer met the woman last year when she attended his guest lectures at Onomichi University. He happened to hear her sing at an event after the lectures, and he was immediately impressed.

Kadokawa was responsible for building up popular idols such as Hiroko Yakushimaru and Tomoyo Harada, but ASUKA is his first new artist of the 21st century.

On the 6th, Nippon Broadcasting System will launch "Tackey no Takizawa Denpajo," the first regular radio show for Tackey & Tsubasa member Hideaki Takizawa. The program will have no specific genre, covering a variety of topics. Takizawa hopes to interact with listeners and take their requests to shape the direction of the show.

"Tackey no Takizawa Denpajo" will air at 10:30pm on Saturdays.

Tadashi Kakihana, an announcer for the Nippon Broadcasting System, is getting married to voice actress Hiromi Nishida. Kakihana made the announcement on Monday at the start of his new radio show.

The two met in 2004 when they both worked on the same show. They have now been dating for about two years, and they plan to register their marriage in December. A ceremony will be held next March.

Takeru Kaido's medical mystery novel "Team Batista no Eikou" is finally being turned into a movie. The book won the grand prize of the "Kono Mystery ga Sugoi! Awards" in 2005, and its popularity resulted in roughly 25 movie studios and television networks fighting over adaptation rights. In the end, TBS won out, and is teaming with Toho to release a film on February 9 of next year.

The story revolves around a university hospital and a team of doctors specializing in the Batista procedure, an alternative to heart transplantation. The team has a 100% success rate until they perform three consecutive operations that result in the patient's death. An internal investigation begins to determine the reasons for the failures.

The protagonist of the novel is a male doctor in his forties, but TBS suggested replacing the character with a young female. As a result, Yuko Takeuchi now plays the lead as Taguchi, a doctor in charge of the investigation. She initially declares the incidents as accidental deaths, but an eccentric employee from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (played by Hiroshi Abe) suddenly appears and asserts that the deaths were actually murders. Together, the two continue to probe the matter.

Yoshihiro Nakamura is directing. Filming begins on the 7th.

NHK's morning drama series "Dondo Bare" ended its run on Saturday. The show started on April 2 with the lowest ratings for a premiere episode in Asadora history (14.9%), but the series finale achieved a strong 23.2% rating (17.8% in the Kansai region).

Overall, the series averaged a respectable 19.4% rating (15.7% in the Kansai region) over its six-month run.

NHK's next Asadora, "Chiritotechin," begins on Monday.