The government announced on Friday that the 2007 Bunka Korosha ("Person of Cultural Merit") is being awarded to 74-year-old actor Tatsuya Nakadai. He has appeared in dozens of films, including Akira Kurosawa's "Kagemusha," and has been running the Mumeijuku acting school for more than 30 years.

An award ceremony will be held on November 5 in Tokyo.

On Monday, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles is opening a retrospective exhibit by Superflat artist Takashi Murakami. The exhibit includes the first original animation directed by Murakami. The ten-minute episode is the first in the "kaikai & kiki" series, featuring two of his most well-known characters. The cartoon is being produced by his 100-person Kaikai Kiki studio.

A preview of the episode can be seen on the MOCA website.

Singer-songwriter Bonnie Pink performed at the Nippon Budokan on Friday. During the show, she announced that she will be making her CD debut in Sweden next year.

Bonnie Pink has previously traveled to Sweden for recordings. She first visited there in 1996 and now views the country as a second home. She was last there this past spring recording her latest album, "Thinking Out Loud," which was released in July. While there, she also held a live studio performance over the Internet for her fans back in Japan.

"Thinking Out Loud" will be released in Sweden during February of next year.

Masahiko Kondo's first child has been born, it was learned on Friday. His wife, whom he married in June 1994, gave birth to the boy on the afternoon of October 8. Kondo was scheduled to appear at a traffic safety event on the same day. Immediately after the event, he rushed to the hospital, but missed the birth by less than five minutes.

The child was expected to be born in mid-December. He is currently in an incubator at the hospital, but is said to be developing healthily. He will likely be released in about a month.

Kondo named the child Gosuke. The name was chosen partly for its stroke count, but also for its symbolism. The kanji for "go" is made of three of the same character, each meaning "car" - Kondo is the owner and director of a racing team. He also explained that the bottom two characters represent him and his wife, supporting the third character on top, representing the child.

Kenji Aoki's revelation that he had an affair with Mieko, the ex-wife of former yokozuna Masaru Hanada, has led to the breakup of his group. Some media outlets had speculated that Aoki was trying to create publicity for himself, but this move by his agency appears to counter that theory. Aoki's unit, JACKJACK, is being dissolved at the end of this month, and his own career will be suspended indefinitely.

The other three members of JACKJACK are leaving the agency.

Oricon ran a survey asking 500 high school girls, "If you could become a particular celebrity for only a day, who would you be?" Out of female celebrities, the number-one answer was pop star Ayumi Hamasaki, apparently perceived as having a glamorous lifestyle.

At number two was Maki Horikita, partly chosen because of her role in the "Hana Kimi" drama series, where she was surrounded by good-looking men. Kumi Koda tied for second with Horikita.

Erika Sawajiri, still recovering from bad press, ranked fourth, ahead of popular actress Masami Nagasawa. Ai Otsuka and Karina were not far behind, tied for sixth.

The survey also covered male celebrities. "Waratte Iitomo" host Tamori surprisingly topped the list. Many girls commented that they wanted to experience his work. The always-popular Takuya Kimura came second. L'Arc~en~Ciel's hyde made the list at #3, along with Tomohisa Yamashita. Fifth place saw a three-way tie among Masahiro Nakai, Kazuya Kamenashi, and Minomonta.