Rumors have been floating around that popular idol Leah Dizon was going to retire next month, but some fresh announcements have proven the news to be false.

On March 26, she will hold her first "overseas" concert at HITEC in Hong Kong. On the same day, she will simultaneously release her 4th single (titled "Love Paradox") and a new photobook in Japan.

Dizon will also hold a special event on the 14th of this month at the Harajuku Ameba Studio to commemorate the one-year anniversary of her debut single, "Softly."

Takanori Nishikawa will be resuming his activities as T.M.Revolution. According to Sports Hochi, he will be a guest of honor at this year's New York Comic Con, though he has not yet been officially announced by the convention.

Nishikawa has not been active as TMR since September 2006, instead focusing on acting and his new band, abingdon boys school. However, he will be picking up the TMR name again with the theme song for the "Soul Eater" anime series, which starts on April 7.

Nishikawa says he is restarting TMR with the goal of spreading his music more globally. He is scheduled to perform at the New York Comic Con on April 19 (the convention runs from the 18th to the 20th).

The All Nippon Producers Association held its 2008 Elan d'or Awards ceremony on Thursday. Masayuki Suo's "Soredemo Boku wa Yattenai" was named Best Film, while NHK's "Hagetaka" was named Best Drama.

The producers for those two works - Shoji Masui and Daisuke Sekiguchi for "Soredemo," Kei Kurube for "Hagetaka" - earned the Best Producer awards. Honorable Mention prizes were given to Yoshihiro Suzuki ("Saiyuki") and Katsuaki Setoguchi ("Karei Naru Ichizoku," "Hana Yori Dango 2").

Newcomer Awards were presented to Yui Aragaki, Nao Omori, Shun Oguri, Shihori Kanjiya, and Rei Dan.

A set of special awards honored the late actor Hitoshi Ueki, as well as the production staffs of "Karei Naru Ichizoku," "Koizora," and the "Shinshun Wide Jidaigeki" series.

Actor Shinichi Chiba (now known by the stage name JJ Sonny Chiba) got in a fight on Wednesday night with a male acquaintance. Police have taken statements from both men and are investigating the incident.

The man, 49, was at the NTV Tower plaza in Higashi-Shinbashi on Wednesday night. Chiba was at a nearby restaurant when a friend told him that the man was spreading rumors about Chiba having money problems. The actor took offense, and he confronted the man at the plaza. Chiba struck him once in the face, and also hit him on the back of the head after knocking him down. Both men reportedly suffered minor injuries.

Police are trying to determine who initiated the violence and whether either of them were drinking. Most likely, the matter will be settled out of court.

Fuji TV's serial drama "Lost Time Life" will be taken to the stage next month as part of a tie-in project. Titled "Lost Time Life: Shinjitsu e no Countdown," the play will be based on the drama's second episode (airing this Saturday), in which NEWS member Keiichiro Koyama stars as a rookie detective working with an older cop (Ikko Furuya).

Koyama will play the same character for the stage version. Other cast members include Hiroo Ohtaka and Mai Takahashi.

The play will run from March 24 to April 13 at The Globe Tokyo.

Electro group tokyo pinsalocks has announced a show at the Knitting Factory in New York on March 25. According to a press release from JapanFiles, they will be joined by the New York-based Sakura Madams.

tokyo pinsalocks is also performing at Anime Boston on March 21-23.

The hack-and-slash video game series "Oneechanbara" is being adapted as a live-action film, starring talento Eri Otoguro as the katana-wielding, bikini-clad cowgirl Aya. Chise Nakamura and Manami Hashimoto will co-star.

Limited theatrical release starts in late April.

TV Asahi announcer Emi Takeuchi has found romance at another network, according to the new issue of Josei Seven. Her partner is Fuji TV's Kenichiro Sakurai, a former announcer now working for his network's sports division. Takeuchi currently handles the sports corner on "Houdou Station," which led to her acquaintance with Sakurai.

The magazine spotted Takeuchi spending the night at Sakurai's apartment last month and also took pictures of the couple on a date. Both networks have declined to comment, however.

Takeuchi has previously been linked to Noriyuki Higashiyama, Ebizo Ichikawa, and businessman Yoshitaka Nojiri (before his marriage to model Ryoko Tanami).

Sakurai got married in 2002, though he apparently divorced last summer. He has been with Fuji TV since 1997, but he began working behind the scenes after causing a death in a traffic accident in 2001.

Last month, NTV announced a drama special set during the Tokyo bombings of World War II. Now, TBS has also revealed its own drama special dealing with the same period, though it will have a different focus.

Like the NTV production, this drama is tentatively titled "Tokyo Daikushu." Toru Nakamura plays the role of the late Koyo Ishikawa, a policeman assigned to photograph the destruction caused by the air raids. He was later ordered to turn over the film to the GHQ, but he steadfastly refused. Only 33 of his photos have survived to this day.

For this drama, approximately 80 survivors have been interviewed in attempt to realistically depict the circumstances of the bombings.

TBS plans to air the show on March 10, a week before NTV's two-night special.