Rising young actress Meisa Kuroki has just made her singing debut in connection with the au Sportio/W62T mobile phones. Her first song is an R&B/dance number called "Like This." Kuroki will appear in commercials for both phones, and different arrangements of the song will be used for each.

"Like This" will see only limited distribution. It became available as a chaku-uta on the 18th, while the full version, the chaku-movie, and the video clip will start selling on the 21st.

Actor Yosuke Kubozuka will be making his CD debut next week. Since 2005, he has been active as a reggae artist under the name Manji LINE, and on June 25 he will release his first, self-titled album.

Kubozuka's acting career has slowed down in the past few years, ever since he survived a fall from his apartment building in 2004. His attention has turned towards his own life with his wife (whom he married in 2003) and his son, as well as his budding music career.

The "Manji LINE" album is being published on an independent label called V.I.P INTERNATIONAL RECORDS, but marketing will apparently be handled by major player BMG Japan. The CD has 16 tracks, with lyrics all written by Kubozuka himself.

Kubozuka has also announced that he will be embarking on a 17-stop nationwide tour in the coming months.

Veteran actor Koji Yakusho is directing and starring in a new film titled "Gama no Abura." The movie, which has been shooting for the past month, marks Yakusho's first time in the director's chair. He was also the one who came up with the original plan for the film roughly two years ago.

The story is a human drama revolving around a day trader (Yakusho), his wife, his son who was injured in an accident, and his son's lover. Yakusho himself was in charge of appointing the cast and crew, and he chose Eita to take on the role of the son, while Satomi Kobayashi plays the wife. Also appearing are K-1 fighter Junichi Sawayashiki and child model Fumi Nikaido, who will be making her big screen debut with this picture.

Yakusho plans to wrap up filming by the end of this month. The movie already attracted some interest from buyers at the Cannes film market this year. Producers are aiming to have the completed work make its premiere at next year's Cannes.

Ami Suzuki's new collaboration with producer Yasutaka Nakata is getting a tie-in. "ONE" will be used as the support song for NTV's 28th annual All Japan High School Quiz Championship. It was also announced that she will perform live at some of the competition's regional events.

The song goes on sale July 2, a couple months before NTV broadcasts the contest on September 5.

The TBS drama series "Ando Natsu" is having its theme song done by Monkey Majik. The tune is called "Tada, Arigatou" and is scheduled for release on August 27. This is the band's second drama theme song, with the first being the hit "Around the World" that was used in Fuji TV's "Saiyuki."

"Ando Natsu" stars Shihori Kanjiya as a young woman aiming to be a pastry chef. The show premieres on July 7.

28-year-old announcer Nachiko Shudo got hitched this spring, marrying an employee of a major movie company. The two had known each other since their university days.

Shudo joined NHK in 2003 after graduating from Japan Women's University. She is currently a caster on the news show "Ohayo Nippon."

Actress Misato Hirata, 29, has declared that she is taking an indefinite break from show business. According to her official blog, her hiatus will start at the end of this month. She said that she wants some time to think things over, and that she has no idea how long she will be away from work.

Hirata's television appearances include the 2006 series "Ultraman Mebius."

FLIP-FLAP, a singing/acting/modeling duo composed of twins YUKO and AIKO, publicly revealed on Wednesday that the older sister, YUKO, is married. The 28-year-old tied the knot back in November, though no details about her husband were mentioned.