According to her blog, idol Shoko Nakagawa recently had an encounter with a groper. Starting with this post, she mentioned the incident in three updates to her blog between Friday night and Saturday morning.

Nakagawa did not say when or where the incident occurred, but she briefly described what happened. She had been carrying something with both hands when a young man passing by took the opportunity to touch her breasts while saying "sorry."

Nakagawa expressed her outrage on her blog, where she included drawings of her offender. She further mentioned that the incident made her feel like leading a campaign to prevent such molesters.

The selection of Japan's representative for the 2008 Miss International competition was held on Monday. The winner, chosen from a field of 3,667 applicants, was 23-year-old Kanagawa native Kyoko Sugiyama. Sugiyama currently appears in magazines and on television under the name "Kyoco."

On Monday, Warner Bros. made an announcement regarding the "Sushi Ouji!" movie. The film's official title is "Ginmaku Ban Sushi Ouji! ~New York e Iku~." Aside from Koichi Domoto and Yuichi Nakamaru, the main cast includes Yumiko Shaku, Tsuyoshi Ihara, Kinya Kitaoji, and Lina Ohta.

The film is still scheduled for theatrical release during Golden Week 2008.

More guests have recently been announced for this year's Pacific Media Expo (November 9-11 in Los Angeles). Among them are voice actress Yukana, voice actor Kenjiro Tsuda, director Hiroyuki Tanaka, and character designer and animator Takahiro Umehara.

Two musical guests have also been added to the lineup for the Pacific Music Live: "horror themed goth band" The Candy Spooky Theater and the mysterious D&L.

Producer Tsunku has revealed plans to establish a new idol project, titled NICE GIRL Project (abbreviated as NGP), sometime next year. The undertaking is a collaboration of four companies: TNX, Up-Front Agency, Tanabe Agency, and Spacecraft.

According to an interview with Oricon, Tsunku already has several plans for the project, but it appears that not much has been formalized yet. First of all, The Possible (composed of Hello! Project Eggs) will be transferring from Hello! Project to NGP. Spacecraft's group Canary Club will also be officially attached to the new project.

Tsunku is currently thinking of adding one to three more units by recruiting from Spacecraft and other model agencies, and is already in the process of holding an audition. One possibility Tsunku mentioned is a Hello! Project-style public audition around next summer.

While the groups will of course be involved in music and theater, Tsunku plans to make the Internet an important part of NGP. Performances will be viewable online, along with other videos. Tsunku suggested entertainment shows emphasizing humor, along the lines of the early days of The Drifters and the Crazy Cats.

Based on Tsunku's comments, one of the motivations behind the new project is to develop competition for Morning Musume (and Hello! Project in general). He feels that things will be more interesting if there are rival idol units, and he hopes that the competition will help the groups to improve.

Tsunku also plans to cultivate a new producer to follow in his footsteps. He wants a "second Tsunku" to handle NGP when he's busy with other work, such as Hello! Project.

NICE GIRL Project is expected to begin formal operations between April and July of 2008.

15-year-old Rio Yamashita, who became the image girl for Mitsui Rehouse this past April, has been selected to star in her first film - an adaptation of the fantasy story "Mahou Tsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto," directed by Shun Nakahara.

"Mahou Tsukai" was originally a script written by Norie Yamada that won the Kido Prize Scenario Contest, organized by the Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan (also known as Eiren). It has been turned into a manga illustrated by Kumichi Yoshizuki, an anime series, and a novel. Both the manga and the anime are known by the English title "Someday's Dreamers."

The story revolves around the growth of a young girl (Yamashita) who travels to Tokyo to train as a magic user. There appear to be some changes to the story's details, such as the girl's hometown (Hokkaido instead of Iwate) and name (Sora Suzuki instead of Yume Kikuchi).

Filming began on September 29 and is expected to wrap up at the end of this month. The movie has been scheduled for release in early summer 2008.

An audition was held for the lead voice of Lyra in the Japanese dub of "The Golden Compass" (directed by Chris Weitz), and the winner was announced on Sunday. From a pool of 5,104 applicants, the honor went to 13-year-old fashion model Mariya Nishiuchi, who makes appearances in the magazine nicola.

Nishiuchi was also awarded one million yen and a Toyota Noah, and will attend the film's world premiere in London on November 27. The movie opens on March 1 in Japan.

32-year-old model Nica revealed on Sunday that she is currently pregnant, with a due date of January 17. She married in June 2006 and was pregnant last year, but she suffered a miscarriage in October.

Aside from modeling, Nica manages a relaxation spa in Tokyo. She plans to continue working after the child is born.