Actress and singer Wakako Shimazaki is celebrating the 20th year of her showbiz career with a best album on May 7. The tracklist of the two-disc "Wakako Shimazaki 20th anniversary BOX" will include her debut single "Yowacchaunda" and her "My life is ..." (released under the name Risky). The additional DVD includes footage from her pre-debut days and from her time as a young idol. The box set also contains several other bonuses.

Hisayo Inamori, a teenage model for Cawaii! magazine, will release her debut single "GIRLS STYLE" on May 7. Inamori won the "Dreamgirls Audition" in March 2007, which earned her the opportunity to make her singing debut.

The music video for "GIRLS STYLE" comes in two flavors: a regular "front" version and a special "back" version, which features Inamori in outfits from popular brands in Shibuya. Both versions can be seen at her official website.

Katsunori Takahashi will star in an NTV drama special this June. The show is "Kacho Shima Kosaku," based on a popular manga series by Kenshi Hirokane that has gone through various incarnations in its 25-year history, including four live-action specials on Fuji TV starring Shin Takuma and a 1992 movie starring Toshihiko Tahara.

"Kacho Shima Kosaku" revolves around the life of a salaryman. Takahashi is no stranger to the genre, having previously starred as an ordinary employee in the 1999 film adaptation of "Salaryman Kintaro" and as a chief clerk in the "Tokumei Kakarichou Tadano Hitoshi" dramas. This time, he will move up in rank, playing the section chief Kosaku Shima.

While the original manga was set in the pre-bubble era, this special will take place in the present day. Ryoichi Kimizuka ("Odoru Daisousasen") is writing the script.

NTV will broadcast "Kacho Shima Kosaku" at 9:00pm on June 25.

Actress Norika Fujiwara has been given the starring role in her first appearance in a production of a Broadway musical. The work is Bob Martin and Don McKellar's "The Drowsy Chaperone," which is currently in the middle of a tour across North America.

The Japanese production will be put on by noted director Amon Miyamoto. Fujiwara and Miyamoto both visited the U.S. last December to watch the musical in person. After that, Fujiwara began training herself for the part of the protagonist Janet, taking singing lessons twice a week and dance lessons once a week.

The musical will begin its run in Japan next January at the Nissay Theatre in Tokyo.

Technopop unit Perfume has been given a video game tie-in with the popular "Super Robot Wars" series. "Butterfly," from the group's newest album "GAME," will be used to promote "Mugen no Frontier: Super Robot Wars OG Saga" for the Nintendo DS starting next week.

The game goes on sale on May 29. "Butterfly" will play in the television commercials, as well as the in-store promotional videos.

This is the fourth song from "GAME" to get a tie-in. Released this week, the album entered Oricon's daily charts at the #1 spot.

The 2008 Anime North convention has announced that seiyu/singer Halko Momoi will be performing as a guest of honor.

Anime North is being held on May 23-25 in Toronto, Ontario.

Chitose Hajime's next single "Hotaruboshi" will be the image song for Masato Harada's movie "Climber's High," which is based on Hideo Yokoyama's novel about the crash of Japan Airlines Flight 123.

"Hotaruboshi" was written, composed, and arranged by Sukima Switch's Shintaro Tokita. The single will be released on July 2, three days before "Climber's High" opens in theaters.

Actor Shun Oguri is releasing his first "personal" DVD this year through Geneon Entertainment. Labeled "Jounetsu Tairiku x Oguri Shun," it will be the first time that TBS's documentary program "Jounetsu Tairiku" is released on DVD.

The television show takes an in-depth look at the lives of celebrities by following them for many days. Oguri's 200-day documentary was featured on November 11 and 18 of last year, which was the first time that two episodes were spent on one person.

Oguri's DVD will contain a re-edited version of the documentary, along with unaired footage. The limited premium edition will also have a bonus disc with an approximately half-hour interview. The DVD goes on sale July 25.

"Prom Queen," an internet drama series that became popular through MySpace last year, is getting a Japanese adaptation. Like the original, "Tokyo Prom Queen" will be presented in 80 daily installments, each lasting only 90 seconds.

The story follows a group of college students (high school students in the original drama) who experience love, friendship, and betrayal in the events surrounding a pre-graduation "prom." Director Futoshi Sato ("Indian Summer") said that it was difficult to adjust the story, particularly because Japanese people are not very familiar with proms.

Viewers will be able to watch the series for free on the internet and on mobile phones. Several video sites such as YouTube will carry the show, but its center of operations will be the community site Mixi, which will release each episode at midnight. The cast members will also keep journals on Mixi, giving fans the potential to interact with them. The show will also be tied in commercially to fashion magazine JJ and to Coca-Cola.

Leah Dizon is doing the show's theme song, titled "Under the Same Sky." Dizon will also make a guest appearance in the show as the character Naomi, the previous year's prom queen who makes her singing debut.

The main cast includes Shinobu Otsuka ("The Longest Night in Shanghai"), Kiki Sugino, Hidenori Tokuyama, Yurei Yanagi, Kyoko Tsujisawa, and Haruna Yabuki. Episodes will start being released on May 7.