In July, it was rumored that singer Rumiko Koyanagi and actor Masataka Ishibashi were planning to get married, but Koyanagi denied that they were in a relationship at the time. Now, she has admitted that they were dating, though they have already split up.

On Tuesday's broadcast of "Super Morning," Koyanagi said that the two first met in April 2006 when they appeared together in a play. They dated for about a year, but broke up about a month before the relationship was publicized.

Sports Hochi has revealed the winners of its 32nd Hochi Movie Awards.

Masayuki Suo's "Soredemo Boku wa Yattenai" picked up two of the eight awards, earning Best Picture while star Ryo Kase earned Best Actor. Kumiko Aso won Best Actress for her performance in Kiyoshi Sasabe's "Yunagi no Machi, Sakura no Kuni."

Best Supporting Actor went to Shiro Ito for "Shaberedomo Shaberedomo" and "Maiko Haaaan!!!," while Best Supporting Actress went to Hiromi Nagasaku for "Funuke Domo, Kanashimi no Ai wo Misero."

Teen actress Kaho won Best Newcomer for her starring role in "Tennen Kokekko." That film, along with "The Matsugane Potshot Affair," earned Nobuhiro Yamashita the title of Best Director.

Lastly, Best Foreign Film was given to Robert Altman's "A Prairie Home Companion."

For the new year, TV Asahi will broadcast a drama special titled "Ten to Chi to." Also known as "Heaven and Earth," the story has previously been turned into a taiga drama and a film.

TOKIO's Masahiro Matsuoka will star as Uesugi Kenshin. This is his first time playing the lead in a jidaigeki drama.

The rest of the main cast includes Atsuro Watabe as Takeda Shingen, Yoshino Kimura as Nami, Tsunehiko Watase as Usami Sadayuki, and Kinya Kitaoji as Bishamonten.

The exact broadcast date has not yet been decided.

The International Nail Expo 2007 was held on Monday and Tuesday in Tokyo. As always, the event featured the Nail Queen awards, given to celebrities who have contributed to the image of the nail industry.

In the talento category, Becky won her third consecutive award, while Kumi Koda won her second in a row in the music artist category. Mao Inoue took the award in the actress category.

The other winners were IKKO (culture category), Masato (mens category), and Hiromi Go (special award).

Japan Men's Fashion Unity held the 36th edition of its annual Best Dresser awards on Tuesday. The winners this year were kabuki actor Ebizo Ichikawa, actress Chiaki Kuriyama, actor Koji Yakusho, director Naomi Kawase, violinist Iwao Furusawa, car designer Ken Okuyama, and Ricoh president Masamitsu Sakurai.

Barely a day after announcing that she was putting her blog on hold, talento Chinatsu Wakatsuki has resumed activity.

Several newspapers had run stories reporting that Wakatsuki was considering retirement from show business. She commented on the articles by writing, "I don't want to retire. I want to keep working a little longer."

Japanese bands MUCC and D'espairsRay have announced that they will be participating in the 2008 Taste of Chaos tour. The tour was founded in 2004 by Kevin Lyman, who also created the highly successful Warped Tour.

D'espairsRay has not yet given more details beyond the fact that they'll be on the tour, but MUCC has stated that they will be part of the North American portion of the tour, which includes 46 dates from February to May. In addition, MUCC will play concerts in Japan both before and after the tour. The band has also said that their new album (coming out in March) will be made available in North America and Europe.

Previous Taste of Chaos bands include The Used, My Chemical Romance, Taking Back Sunday, Rise Against, and Senses Fail.

On Monday, talento Chinatsu Wakatsuki stated on her blog that she would be temporarily taking a break from blogging, saying that her mind is a mess right now. According to her management agency, Wakatsuki is currently sick and will possibly be back in a couple of days.

However, her words suggest otherwise, and reports are now surfacing that Wakatsuki may be looking towards a career change. According to some sources, Wakatsuki mentioned to close friends that she wants to "fade out" from show business by the end of the year. Other sources say she is looking to become a media creator.

Rumors of retirement have been circulating since as early as last November, when she took leave of work for several weeks due to poor health, though the reports were denied at the time.

Wakatsuki's blog was launched in January, and it quickly became the #1 blog on Ameblo. The entry announcing her break has already received thousands of comments by fans.

Comedian Sumiko Nishioka, best known for her "SM queen" character, has been given her first acting role, starring in the music video for "Hyaku" by seven-member band Ossan. The song appears on their first full album, "Okiraku Mood," which goes on sale December 5.

In the video, Nishioka takes on a very different look, playing an ordinary OL troubled by her long-distance relationship.

Korean-born enka singer Kye Eun Sook was arrested on Monday evening for possession of stimulants. Officers from the Kanto-Shinetsu Regional Bureau of Health and Welfare conducted a search of her house while she was present and discovered some stimulants and drug paraphernalia. The bureau had already been investigating the case for about three months.

About 0.6 grams of stimulants were discovered in vinyl bags. Additional empty bags were found, suggesting that Kye may have been using the drugs on a regular basis. Police also seized two glass pipes.

The 46-year-old Kye admitted possession, saying that the drugs were for personal use. Police are currently investigating where she obtained the drugs from.