Comedian Akihiro Kimura (38), one half of the duo Buffalo Goro, revealed on his blog on Thursday that he has just divorced. According to his agency, he and his wife filed their divorce papers on the 17th.

Kimura married his wife, who is two years younger than him, in 2002 after having known her for ten years. He said that they had somehow grown apart, and after discussing it, they mutually decided to separate.

Video Research Ltd. has published its TV commercial data for the entire year of 2008. For the past three years, Yukie Nakama has been #1 in the Kanto region, but this time her streak was ended by actor Hiroshi Tamaki. He accounted for nearly 70 hours of airtime in almost 12,000 commercials, putting him close to 18 hours ahead of Nakama.

Aya Ueto, Yu Aoi, and Takuya Kimura made up the rest of the top five. The biggest gain was by Nana Eikura, who jumped from 147th last year to 9th this year.

In the Kansai area, Tamaki was only #3, trailing behind Maki Ota and Kosuke Toyohara, who tied for #1 at 64 hours thanks to an Alico Japan campaign. Meanwhile in Nagoya, Aya Ueto retained her #1 seat from last year, edging out Tamaki by just over an hour.

Kumi Koda and her sister misono are finally putting out their first collaborative single. Under the name "Koda Kumi x misono," they will release the song "It's all Love!" on CD next month. The fast-tempo tune tells of an older sister cheering up a brokenhearted younger sister, with lyrics written by Kumi and misono over a period of about six months.

Koda appeared on the music scene in 2000, while misono made her debut two years later as part of the band day after tomorrow. But after the group broke up in 2005, misono launched an unimpressive solo career, though she found a little more success as a TV personality.

Ringtone downloads for "It's all Love!" are scheduled to start on the 25th.

Actress Maki Horikita will take on a very different role for her next TV drama. She is starring in an untitled Fuji TV series which partly has her playing a homeless person.

In the drama, Horikita's character is burdened with 100 million yen worth of debt after her gambling father disappears. Chased out of her home by collectors, she is forced to sleep in places like internet cafes. However, she meets the president of a major company who offers to pay off the debt if she marries him, and she soon finds herself moving in with a rather eccentric family.

Fuji TV will air the show on Tuesdays at 9:00pm, starting in April.