Oricon asked 500 female high schoolers which celebrities (male and female) they would want as a teacher. Popular television dramas seem to have had a strong impact on the results, as the #1 choices were Yukie Nakama ("Gokusen") and Tetsuya Takeda (the "3 Nen B Gumi Kinpachi Sensei" series). In addition, the #3 spots were taken by Nanako Matsushima and Takashi Sorimachi, who both played teachers in "Great Teacher Onizuka."

For female celebrities, #2 was Kumi Koda. Kaori Manabe ranked 4th, followed by Masami Hisamoto. Hitomi Kuroki and aiko tied for 6th. The rest of the top ten were Rei Kikukawa, Yuki Amami (who also played a teacher in "The Queen's Classroom"), and Ryoko Shinohara.

Sho Sakurai ranked second among men. Masaharu Fukuyama was #4, and B'z member Koshi Inaba was #5. The bottom of the list included Naohito Fujiki, Tamori, and Hiroshi Tamaki. Sanma Akashiya, Koichi Domoto, and Akihito Okano (of Porno Graffiti) tied for 9th.

Talento Miho Takagi is returning to acting after more than a decade. She will appear in NHK's short drama series "Hitogata Nagashi," which begins on December 1.

The drama focuses on the friendship of three women in their forties. Yasuko Sawaguchi plays the lead as a woman fighting against breast cancer. Takagi and Miyuki Matsuda play the other two main roles.

It was announced on Wednesday that singer Agnes Chan successfully underwent surgery for breast cancer on Monday. According to her husband and manager, she discovered a lump in her right breast on September 19, and on the 25th it was diagnosed to be early-stage cancer. She immediately opted for surgery to remove the tumor.

Chan is currently recovering in the hospital and is expected to be released as early as the 5th, with hopes of returning to work by the 9th.

On Wednesday, EMI announced that Hikaru Utada's digital sales for 2007 so far have reached 10,491,000. According to the firm, no artist in the world has previously had digital sales of over ten million in one year, let alone in just nine months.

"Flavor of Life" is responsible for most of the sales, having sold more than 7.3 million digital copies, while "Beautiful World" has sold more than 800,000.

Utada is releasing another single soon, titled "Stay Gold" (no exact release date announced yet). The song will be used in Asience commercials starting on the 11th.

Former Yokozuna Masaru Hanada (also known as Wakanohana) divorced his wife Mieko on Tuesday. The two notified the media of the event the following day.

The two married in June 1994 and had four children. They began having problems after Hanada retired from sumo in March 2000. He busied himself as a talento and a businessman, leaving him with little time for his wife and kids. About five years ago, Mieko requested that they live separately, and they had been doing so since then.

This past January, Hanada requested a divorce. They made it official on October 2. Mieko has custody of the children, while Hanada is paying child support.

Popular NTV announcer Ryoko Sato recently got married, it was discovered on Tuesday. Her husband, identified only as A-san, works in the news division at the same network.

Sato was assigned to the show "NNN Kyou no Dekigoto" in April 2003. A-san was working on the same show, and their professional relationship grew into a romantic one. They announced their engagement to their colleagues early last month, then registered their marriage weeks later.

Sato's regular shows include "Zoom In!! SUPER" and "Asaten Saturday," while her husband is currently in charge of an evening news program.

Sho Sakurai (of Arashi) has been chosen as the main caster for Fuji TV's broadcast of the 2007 Volleyball World Cup, which will last from November 2 to December 2.

The World Cup marks a significant event in Arashi's history - shortly after their debut, Arashi served as special supporters for the 1999 competition, and their debut single "A-RA-SHI" was used as the image song, bringing them widespread fame.

This time around, the new Johnny's group Hey! Say! JUMP will be providing support and the image song, "Ultra Music Power."

Sakurai will be working with announcer Rio Hirai in covering the event.