Singer Kaela Kimura will perform the theme song for the Japanese dub of the fantasy film "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium," which stars Natalie Portman and Dustin Hoffman. This is her first handling a movie theme song.

The song, titled "Jasper," is a collaboration with techno artist Takkyu Ishino of Denki Groove. Ishino is composing and producing, while Kimura is writing the lyrics.

The single goes on sale February 6, ten days ahead of the movie's opening in Japan.

Singer-songwriter Ayaka has been chosen to supply the theme song for the animated film "Doraemon: Nobita and the Legend of the Green Giant," which opens in theaters on March 8. The song is titled "Te wo Tsunagou."

Ayaka made the announcement on Monday during a performance at Doshisha University, part of her "school festival tour." For her encore, she appeared on stage holding hands with Doraemon, then sang the song for the first time in public.

TV Asahi's drama adaptation of Seicho Matsumoto's mystery novel "Ten to Sen" (also known as "Points and Lines") aired over the weekend. Starring Beat Takeshi, the two-part drama achieved high viewership ratings in the Kanto area: 23.8% on Saturday and 23.7% on Sunday.

Takeshi has starred in two other drama specials based on Matsumoto's work: "Harikomi" and "Kichiku," both in 2002. Those were popular as well, getting ratings of 20.7% and 21.5%, respectively.

Singer Yuna Ito is releasing a duet single with international superstar Celine Dion, titled "Anata ga Iru Kagiri ~A WORLD TO BELIEVE IN~." The ballad features Ito singing in Japanese and Dion singing in English.

Earlier this year, several Japanese artists participated in a Celine Dion tribute album, and Ito sang the opening track, "My Heart Will Go On." Dion was reportedly taken with Ito's voice, and she suggested a duet.

Recording and PV filming took place in Las Vegas in October. Ito will release the song as her 10th single on January 16. It is also possible that Ito will make a guest appearance on stage during the Japan leg of Dion's world tour, which visits Tokyo and Osaka in March.

KAT-TUN released their fifth single on November 21, titled "Keep the faith." The song sold 351,000 copies to rank 1st on the singles chart. It also set the record for highest opening week sales so far this year, which they previously set in June with "Yorokobi no Uta" (300,000 copies).

All five of their singles have been chart-toppers, and all of them exceeded 300,000 in sales during their first week. Only KinKi Kids have accomplished that same feat.

Meanwhile, KAT-TUN's new DVD, released simultaneously with their single, is their fifth consecutive release to top the music DVD chart. At 175,000 copies sold, it also has set the opening week record for the year.

On the album rankings, L'Arc~en~Ciel secured the #1 spot with "KISS," moving 221,000 copies. This is their seventh #1 album.

Model Hinata Eto has been chosen as the 2008 Sapporo Beer Image Girl, it was announced on Monday. Eto, who is 24, grew up in Sapporo.

Pop group NEWS has announced their first two Tokyo Dome concerts, to be held on January 9 and 10 of next year. The shows have been squeezed into their winter tour, which begins on December 15.

According to sources, the tour was originally intended to accommodate a total of about 310,000 fans, but demand for tickets reached close to 600,000. In particular, their seven Yokohama Arena shows (January 3-6) have a total capacity of 105,000, but 120,000 people still found themselves unable to get a ticket. As a result, the two Tokyo Dome shows were added to the tour.

Because of NEWS' busy schedule, the dates were set for January 9-10. This is said to be the first time that a Johnny's artist has performed at the Tokyo Dome on a day other than a weekend or holiday.

The group has also added an extra show at the Grand Messe Kumamoto on January 12.

Nozomi Tsuji and Taiyo Sugiura became parents on Monday. Nozomi gave birth to a girl at 12:45am. The child, weighing 2,730 grams, was named Noa (希空).

Fuji TV held a press event on Monday for the upcoming "Nodame Cantabile" drama special. Titled "Nodame Cantabile Shinshun Special in Europe," it will air in two parts on January 4-5 at 9:03pm.

The network also announced that all 11 episodes of the original drama series will be replayed in the Kanto area on January 2-3.

On Sunday, comedian Motohiro Takewaka revealed on his blog that he became a father last week. His wife gave birth to a baby girl on November 22.

Takewaka, who is one half of the duo Buffalo Goro, has been married since June 2005.

Vogue Nippon held its 2007 Women of the Year awards ceremony on Monday. This year, a total of 11 women were honored, including Miss Universe Riyo Mori, model/singer Anna Tsuchiya, and actresses Maki Horikita and Haruka Ayase.

The other winners who showed up to the ceremony were director Naomi Kawase, comedian Tomochika, beauty advisor Yukuko Tanaka, and actresses Rei Dan and Sumiko Fuji. Figure skater Miki Ando and violinist Mayuko Kamio were unable to attend and receive their awards.