Last week, it was announced that the live-action "Dragonball" movie has been delayed. It was originally scheduled to open in theaters worldwide on August 15, but the date has been pushed back to April 3, 2009. However, it was reported today that Japan will end up getting the movie ahead of everyone else, sometime in March 2009.

On January 23, Thelma Aoyama released her chart-topping single "Soba ni Iru ne." The song began chaku-uta full distribution the same day, and it has already reached 1 million downloads, becoming the fastest seller ever.

According to management from her record company, the song topped the daily chaku-uta charts for 42 consecutive days, from the song's release on January 23 until March 4. It took one additional day to push the song over 1 million downloads, easily beating the previous 91-day record held by GReeeeN's "Aiuta." The song also ranked #1 in six different mobile download categories during the month of February.

Japan's best-selling song was re-released last week, and it appeared on the Oricon sales charts for the first time in close to 9 years.

Masato Shimon's "Oyoge! Taiyaki-kun" was first released in 1975, then was revived in 1992 on the mini-CD format. The latter saw a resurgence in 1999 and last charted at #74. Overall, the song has sold around 4.55 million copies, and has now been recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as Japan's best-selling single.

Last month, Pony Canyon announced that it was re-releasing the song on March 5, this time in the regular CD format. It sold about 4,000 copies in its first week to chart at #32, its first top 50 appearance since 1976.

Hidetsugu Shibata of the comedy pair Untouchable had his second child, a girl, born on Tuesday. Shibata married in October 2005 and a son was born the following month.

Shibata was hospitalized this past December for acute hepatitis and was barely discharged at the end of last month.

Singer ASUKA has been chosen to provide the theme song for the movie "Kamisama no Puzzle," which is the first collaboration between director Takashi Miike and producer Haruki Kadokawa. The film is adapted from a sci-fi novel by Shinji Kimoto and stars Hayato Ichihara and Mitsuki Tanimura.

ASUKA debuted as a singer in November, under the guidance of Kadokawa. The producer decided to make this film's theme song her second single, also titled "Kamisama no Puzzle." Miike was reportedly also impressed by her, praising her "pure voice."

Trailers for the movie start running in theaters this weekend, with the film set to follow on June 7. The single goes on sale May 21, coupled with a song tentatively titled "Aru Hi, Dokokade."

Sports Nippon has announced the winners of its 16th Sponichi Art & Culture Awards. This year, the grand prize went to "Shinosuke Rakugo in Parco," an annual solo show put on by rakugo master Shinosuke Tatekawa since 1996.

Other award winners include 85-year-old chanson singer Yoshiko Ishii, singer Masato Sugimoto, and lyricist Tetsuya Chiaki. A special prize is being given to writer and lyricist Yu Aku, who passed away last August.

A presentation ceremony for the awards will be held on April 14.

As of next month, Taichi Kokubun will have a regular show on all six of Tokyo's major television networks. His newest show, "Taichi x Kentaro: Danshi Gohan," was announced by TV Tokyo on Tuesday.

"Danshi Gohan" is a cooking and talk show, co-hosted by celebrity culinarian Kentaro. It will air on Sunday mornings (11:25am), starting on April 20.

Kokubun already hosts programs on the other major networks: NHK ("Kaitai Shin Show," "Shonen Club Premium"), NTV ("Tetsuwan Dash," "Guruguru Ninety-Nine"), TBS ("R30"), Fuji TV ("Mentore G"), and TV Asahi ("Aura no Izumi").

Yukio Ninagawa's "Hebi ni Piasu" (also known as "Snakes and Earrings") finished filming in December, but certain cast details quietly slipped under the radar until recently.

While it was widely announced that Yuriko Yoshitaka was starring alongside Kengo Kora and ARATA, the movie's guest cast was not publicized. Media outlets are now reporting that Kamejiro Ichikawa, Shun Oguri, Toshiaki Karasawa, and Tatsuya Fujiwara are among the faces that appear in the film.

"Hebi ni Piasu" is based on Hitomi Kanehara's Akutagawa Prize-winning novel that was published in 2003. The story follows a teenager named Lui (Yoshitaka) who starts experimenting with piercings and other body modifications, but it leads her life into a downward spiral. The novel encompasses several mature themes, including alcoholism, sadomasochism, and violence.

Several big names are appearing in minor roles. Kamejiro Ichikawa plays a detective, while Rakkyo Ide plays the manager at Lui's part-time job. Shun Oguri and Tatsuya Fujiwara, who have both previously starred in Ninagawa's stage plays, appear as members of a gang. Other cast members include Toshiaki Karasawa (as a cop), Yu Abiru (as Lui's friend), and Sonim (as Lui's co-worker).

The movie is scheduled to open later this year.

26-year-old singer-songwriter JAY'ED will release his first single on a major label this May.

Born to a Japanese father and a New Zealander mother, he has frequently traveled between the two countries ever since he was young. When he was 17, he decided to pursue a music career after seeing K-Ci & JoJo perform in Osaka. In 2005, he released his first indie-label single, "WHY?," and then put out an album the following year. He has also collaborated with artists such as DOBERMAN INC and I-DeA.

His new single, the female-targeted "Superwoman," is being released on May 21 through TOY'S FACTORY.

Noriko Aota has her first starring role in a drama series with TBS's daytime program "Mama no Kamisama."

The plot is adapted from a short novel by author Yuzuki Muroi. Aota plays a single mother raising three children, each from one of her three failed marriages.

Talento Michiko Shimizu is also part of the cast. Filming has already started, though the show doesn't air until May 5. The 40-episode series will run in the weekday 1:30pm time slot.