Rock band B'z now has another reason to celebrate their 20th anniversary. Their latest collection, "B'z The Best ULTRA Pleasure," went on sale last week and sold 560,000 copies to become their 14th consecutive #1 (counting original and non-original albums). It is their 22nd overall, which now places them ahead of Yumi Matsutoya for the all-time record.

B'z already holds the records for total album sales, total single sales, most #1 singles, most million-selling albums, and most million-selling singles.

BUMP OF CHICKEN's B-side collection "present from you" earned the #2 spot with 148,000 in sales. Meanwhile, the bottom of the top 10 this past week featured new releases from MEG (#8), Jun Shibata (#9), and AAA (#10).

Johnny's Jimusho racked up another #1 on the singles chart with Tegomass' "Ai Ai Gasa," which sold 90,000 copies. They had little competition for the week, facing only a handful of new songs by DOES (#3), Korean group SS501 (#4), Dragon Ash (#7), and the combination of Revo and Yuki Kajiura (#10).

Singer misono, also known for being the younger sister of Kumi Koda, will be appearing in the U.S.-Japan movie "The Harimaya Bridge." The film was first publicized in May as being Saki Takaoka's entry into international cinema, with Aaron Woolfolk directing and Danny Glover producing and acting in it.

For misono, the movie may give her career a new breath of life. After debuting with the group day after tomorrow in 2002, she was unable to establish herself as a successful solo artist, to the point that she was almost fired from her label. However, she has managed to rebuild herself as a TV personality over the past year.

Fortunately, misono was able to pass the audition for "The Harimaya Bridge" even though her only major acting experience before this was the 2006 movie "Obachan Chips," which starred Eiichiro Funakoshi. In "The Harimaya Bridge," she is said to be cast as a key character that helps open the heart of the protagonist, played by Bennet Guillory.

The movie is scheduled for release in 2009, and is expected to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.

misono is releasing her second solo album, titled "Say," on July 16.

Singer MISIA, who celebrated the 10th anniversary of her debut in February, has announced that she will embark on her first concert tour throughout Asia. The tour will start in Taipei on August 30 and end in Hong Kong in early October, stopping along the way in Singapore, Shanghai, and Seoul. It is estimated that a total of 70,000 fans will attend the five shows.

MISIA performed for the first time overseas when she held a concert in Taipei last September. She had become popular there due to the success of Fuji TV's drama series "Yamato Nadeshiko," which used her "Everything" as its theme song.

The singer's new CD+DVD package "DECIMO X ANIVERSARIO DE MISIA" has just gone on sale in Japan.

33-year-old actress Yuka Itaya became a mother on Sunday morning. Her agency informed the media on Tuesday that she gave birth to a son, though the child's name was not divulged.

Itaya has been married to stylist Hirohiko Furuta since February 2007. She is expected to return later this year to her post as a newscaster on NTV's "NEWS ZERO."

Gravure idol Kotomi Ban (25) is getting married to volleyball player Shinya Chiba (30), who is currently the captain of the Osaka-based Sakai Blazers.

Ban's management agency issued a fax to the media on Wednesday to announce the news. The couple will hold a press conference in Sakai to give more details about their engagement.

Fans of Hisaya Nakajo's manga "Hanazakari no Kimitachi e" are getting a special treat next month. Publisher Hakusensha has revealed that a special one-shot comic will appear in the July 5 issue of Hana to Yume. It will apparently focus on the meeting of Izumi Sano and Shuichi Nakatsu.

The manga series was originally serialized from 1996 to 2004, lasting for a total of 23 volumes. It was adapted as a popular drama series last summer, and Fuji TV will air a special episode later this year.