On Monday, NHK formally announced the main cast of its 2009 taiga drama, "Tenchijin." The series is based on Masashi Hisaka's novel about Naoe Kanetsugu, a military leader who served under Uesugi Kagekatsu. It was revealed at the end of last year that Satoshi Tsumabuki is starring in the role of Kanetsugu.

Tsumabuki is being joined by Kazuki Kitamura, who is playing Kagekatsu. Other major characters are being played by Takako Tokiwa (as Kanetsugu's wife Osen-no-Kata), Hiroshi Abe, Masami Nagasawa, and Saki Aibu. Manami Higa, Reiko Takashima, Masanobu Takashima, Misako Tanaka, and Kotaro Koizumi have also been named as cast members.

Filming starts in August, with the series scheduled to begin its broadcast in January.

Popular actress Yukie Nakama had a minor accident while driving in Shibuya on Sunday evening. According to police, she was traveling on a one-way road in a residential area near the JR Shibuya Station. The left side of her car hit a metal pole on the side of the street, which had been installed by a homeowner to separate a private parking space from the public road.

Because no one was hurt, police dealt with it as a case of property damage. Nakama also apologized through her agency, saying that it was the result of her inexperience at driving.

Singer Mika Nakashima is collaborating with female comedy trio Morisanchu, putting together a rock band called "MICA 3 CHU" (Mikasanchu). They will release a single titled "I DON'T KNOW" on July 23, though 5 different ringtone versions were made available already on Tuesday.

Nakashima proposed the project herself after having appeared with the three comediennes on the television program "Utaban." She is in charge of the main vocals, backed by Miyuki Oshima on guitar, Tomoko Murakami on bass, and Kazuko Kurosawa on drums. Nakashima herself wrote the all-English lyrics, which are said to be partly inspired by her recent breakup with actor Masatoshi Nagase.

The band Mr.Children is providing the theme song to the Fuji TV medical drama "Code Blue," which was publicly announced last month.

The new song is titled "HANABI." The release date has not been decided.

"Code Blue," which stars Tomohisa Yamashita, Yui Aragaki, and Erika Toda, starts its run on July 3.

Kyoko Fukada has been given another starring role in a drama series. Like last season's "Mirai Koushi Meguru," she will play an English teacher, but this time the setting will be an esteemed private all-girls high school. No title has been announced yet for the series.

The drama will use an original script written by Kazuhiko Yukawa, whose credits include other school dramas such as "GTO," "Majo no Jouken," and "Joou no Kyoushitsu." Fukada plays Mai Aida, a woman in her third year as a teacher. Due to declining enrollment, the school decides to admit its first male students.

Those five freshmen initially feel they're in paradise, but the concerned Mai tries to help them adjust by creating a social dance club and inviting five girls. Those ten students become the focus of the drama, which is described as a story of love and adolescence.

Shosuke Tanihara co-stars as the school's principal. NTV will start broadcasting the series on July 15 in its Tuesday 10:00pm time slot.

The management agency of actor Toshiro Yanagiba announced on Monday that he now has a second child. The baby boy, named Ichiro, was born on April 26.

Yanagiba, 47, got married in Hawaii in April 1997. In February 2000, he and his wife gave birth to a daughter.

American rock band Weezer is releasing the Japanese version of "The Red Album" this Wednesday. Like the other international versions planned for release, one of the bonus tracks will be a cover of a local artist. It has now been revealed that the Japanese version will feature a cover of BoA's ballad "Merikuri."

The song was recommended to Weezer by Kyoko Ito, the wife of the band's frontman Rivers Cuomo. Cuomo commented that he normally ends up disliking songs that other people suggest to him, but he was instantly taken with "Merikuri."

American movie studio Vertigo Entertainment is apparently working on a remake of the popular franchise "Death Note," which has been turned into three live-action films in Japan. The news was quietly revealed in production notes for the horror films "Shutter" and "The Strangers."

According to the notes, Vlas and Charles Parlapanides have been tapped to pen the screenplay. They are currently writing for the upcoming TV series "Undercover" on The CW.

No other details have been revealed at this point.