Oricon's last hairstyle survey showed that Maki Horikita's short cut was popular for the summer. In the survey's fall edition, which was directed at high school girls, singer Kaela Kimura seized the #1 spot, bumping Horikita down to #2.

Ayumi Hamasaki and Masami Nagasawa tied for third, followed by Mika Nakashima, then YOU.

Tsuyoshi Domoto had the dubious honor of ranking 7th, in a tie with Yuri Ebihara. He wasn't the only male to be named, however - some girls also placed votes for Joe Odagiri and Kanjani8 member Shota Yasuda, among others.

The top ten list concluded with a three-way tie for 9th: Kumi Koda, Aya Ueto, and Yui Aragaki.

15-year-old singer Mitsuki Takahata (known by her stage name Mitsuki) will provide the image song for the Japanese dub of Disney's "Meet the Robinsons," which opens in Japan on December 22.

Japanese staffers recommended Mitsuki to the movie's director, Stephen J. Anderson. After meeting with her, Anderson agreed. It was also decided that she would play the voice of Lizzy. This is her first voice acting role.

The song, titled "Hitomi Hiraite," is written and produced by singer Ai Kawashima. The single is being released on November 28.

Toshifumi Fujimoto, one half of the comedy duo FUJIWARA, was seen on a date with idol Izumi Watanabe, according to FRIDAY. The two watched a movie together at a Shinjuku theater, then spent the night at Fujimoto's apartment.

Fujimoto has previously said on television that he has a girlfriend whom he lives with in Osaka. When asked about Watanabe, his agency Yoshimoto Kogyo stated that the two are good friends.

The children's song "Oshiri Kajiri Mushi" continues to be popular. NHK's "Minna no Uta" has extended the song's run again, meaning that it will remain on the air at least until the end of January.

The song first appeared on the show in June. Songs usually only last for two months, but after "Oshiri Kajiri Mushi" found immense popularity, it was quickly extended until November. The most recent extension puts the song's run at a total of eight months, tied for the longest with Noppo Takami's 2005 hit "Grasshopper Monogatari."

Arashi member Kazunari Ninomiya has been chosen as an image character for an ad campaign by the recently privatized Japan Post. The tradition of sending out New Year's cards has been fading away in favor of e-mail, but the post office is hoping that Ninomiya can help persuade consumers to use its services. He will appear in commercials starting on the 25th.

The company also recently announced that it has teamed up with KDDI to offer a new service that lets users create New Year's cards through text messaging.

The official site for the "Shabake" drama special, starring Yuya Tegoshi, lists the scheduled broadcast date as November 24, from 9:00pm to 11:10pm.

Fuji TV still has no website available for the Mao Inoue-starring "Hanaikusa" special, but sources online are reporting that magazines and newspapers have listed the broadcast date as November 23 at 9:00pm.

Talento Ikue Sakakibara was recently the victim of theft. Her bag was stolen from her car on Tuesday night while she was visiting a friend. Among other things, the bag contained about 60,000 yen, some credit cards, and her license.

Sakakibara had driven her car to a nearby friend's house in the Setagaya ward of Tokyo. She parked in an alley outside the house, planning to just chat a bit. She returned to her car thirty minutes later to find that the bag, which had been placed in the passenger seat, was missing.

Thinking that she might have left it at home, she returned to her own place. Unable to find it, she reported it to the police, who are now looking into the incident. According to the investigation, Sakakibara had carelessly left the car window partly open, and the thief reached through it to open the door. Nothing else was taken besides the bag.

21-year-old Takahiro Nishijima, a member of the music group AAA, has been given a starring role in Sion Sono's latest work, "Ai no Mukidashi." Nishijima has acted on stage and in a television drama, but he has never appeared in a movie before. He is also the first AAA member to star in a film.

The story is an original script by Sono. Nishijima plays Yu, a young man with a penchant for peeping. He lives with his father, a Catholic priest (Atsuro Watabe). By chance, he meets a woman named Yoko (Hikari Mitsushima) and falls in love with her, but she and her family have become involved in a new religious cult. As a result, Yu ends up in a conflict against that cult.

The role is said to be a difficult one, but Nishijima commented that he is looking forward to it as a learning experience.

Filming is set to begin this month, with a target release date in early summer 2008. Sono is aiming to take "Ai no Mukidashi" to festivals next year, including Cannes and Venice.