The Chunichi Dragons defeated the Nippon Ham Fighters 1-0 on Thursday, winning their first Japan Series in 53 years. On top of that, starter Daisuke Yamai and closer Hitoki Iwase combined to pitch the first perfect game (and no-hitter) in the history of the Japan Series.

Yamai struck out six over eight innings, then handed it over to Iwase, who struck out the last three batters in the ninth. Opposing pitcher Yu Darvish took the loss. Even though he struck out 11 and gave up only five hits through seven innings, the Dragons were able to score off a sacrifice fly by Ryosuke Hirata in the second inning.

Infielder Norihiro Nakamura earned the title of series MVP. He had four RBIs over the five games.

The Dragons-Fighters matchup was a repeat of last year, when the Fighters won in five.

Talento Otoha, who is married to comedian Takashi Fujii, gave birth to her first child on Wednesday. The baby girl weighed in at 2,588 grams.

On Thursday, singer Michiyo Heike also became a mother, giving birth to a daughter weighing 3,444 grams.

Starting in January, TBS will broadcast a daytime drama titled "Kyoto e Okoshiyasu!" (weekdays, 1:30pm). The series is a human drama set in Kyoto's red-light district. One of the main cast members is Tamao Nakamura, who plays the "mama" of an old teahouse. It is not yet clear whether that is the lead role or not.

Nakamura is no stranger to that time slot - since 1992, she has starred in all nine series of "Inochi no Genba Kara." The last one aired in the spring of 2006.