Among the surprises at this year's a-nation concerts was the appearance of DJ OZMA. He took the stage on Saturday and revealed that he has officially transferred to Avex, explaining that he had just signed the contract backstage. According to the Avex website, DJ OZMA's first release as an Avex artist is scheduled for this fall.

It was also announced earlier in the week that he and the comedy duo Tunnels will be forming a temporary unit and releasing a CD through Avex.

Singer-songwriter Mariya Takeuchi will be providing the theme song to the NHK morning drama "Dandan," premiering on September 29. The song, titled "Enishi no Ito," is scheduled to be released as a single in November.

Takeuchi will also be doing narration for the drama, which stars the twins ManaKana as sisters separated at birth who eventually reunite and decide to become a singing duo.

The awards of the Montreal World Film Festival, which ended on Monday, have been publicly announced. This year, the top prize - the Grand prix des Americas - was won by Yojiro Takita's "Okuribito." Based on a story by author Shinmon Aoki, the film stars Masahiro Motoki and Ryoko Hirosue in a tale about a man adjusting to his new job of preparing bodies for coffins.

The last Japanese movie to win the same award was Eiji Okuda's "A Long Walk" in 2006.

Japan was also represented in the Best Screenplay category, where director Ryoichi Kimizuka and Satoshi Suzuki won for co-writing "Daremo Mamotte Kurenai," though they shared the prize with the Spanish film "Bienvenido a Farewell-Gutmann." "Daremo Mamotte Kurenai," a socially-conscious police drama starring Koichi Sato and Mirai Shida, will be released in Japanese theaters this coming January.

The four-girl pop-rock band SCANDAL finished off their first nationwide tour with a show in Shibuya on Friday. During the performance, they announced that they will be making their major label debut this fall through Epic Records.

The Osaka-based SCANDAL was formed two years ago when the girls were in middle school. This year, they released three singles through Tower Records that topped the indies charts, including the theme song to the movie "Corazon de Melon." They also held successful concerts in the U.S., France, and Hong Kong before releasing the mini-album "YAH!YAH!YAH! HELLO SCANDAL" and going on tour last month.

Their debut single, titled "DOLL," goes on sale October 22.

The 25th Best Jeanist awards were presented in Tokyo on Monday. For the third year in a row, Kumi Koda and Kazuya Kamenashi received the most votes in the public selection category.

According to the official website, Kamenashi beat Kiyoshi Hikawa by about 4,000 votes, while Koda edged out aiko by less than 100 votes.

In the committee selection, awards were given to model Anne, fashion designer Hiroko Koshino, and fencer Yuki Ota, who won the silver medal in the foil during this year's Olympic Games.

This year also saw the introduction of an international category award, which was given to Korean actor So Ji Sub.

TV Asahi has announced that talento Waka Inoue will be playing the female lead in the new "Salaryman Kintaro" drama series, which was announced last month. The role was initially given to actress Hiroko Hatano, but she withdrew in late August after announcing her pregnancy and marriage to soccer player Keita Suzuki.

The show's star, Masaru Nagai, previously worked with Inoue in the 2006 series "Kuroi Taiyou."

It was also announced on Monday that the series' theme song will be sung by folk duo Yuzu. Coincidentally, the CD jacket of their 2000 single "Aa, Seishun no Hibi" was illustrated by Hiroshi Motomiya, the mangaka who wrote the original "Salaryman Kintaro" comics.

"Salaryman Kintaro" premieres in October.