Otakon 2009 has announced that musician Kanon Wakeshima will be making her U.S. debut at this year's convention.

The cellist/vocalist made her major label debut in May 2008, produced by visual-kei star Mana (of Malice Mizer). In February 2009, she successfully released her first full album, "Shinshoku Dolce."

Otakon is being held on July 17-19 in Baltimore, Maryland. Wakeshima is scheduled to perform a concert on the afternoon of Saturday, July 18.

Kyoko Sasaki (36), an announcer for Fuji TV, became a mother on Tuesday. It was announced on the morning show "Tokudane!" that she had given birth to a son shortly after midnight.

Sasaki was about three months pregnant when she got married this past November to a salaryman. She has been on maternity leave since March.

Having just finished a live tour on April 26th, the folk duo Yakozen has revealed on their official website that they have broken up.

The group formed in September 1999, and since 2001 they had based their activity in Tokyo. In December of last year, they released the self-titled "Yakozen," their first full album after breaking off from the Office Augusta production company and going independent. They also held a nationwide tour of 41 concerts that ended last month.

Members Pistol Takehara and Hirochika Hamano both published a message on their website expressing gratitude to their fans. They acknowledged that the sudden breakup of the band was unfortunate, but they appear to be continuing with separate projects.

In addition, there are plans to put out a release based on their final concert at Sapporo's KRAPS HALL. Details will be revealed on their website at a later date.

Actor Hiroshi Abe (44) will have to prove his endurance in a new stage production from Yukio Ninagawa. He has the starring role in Ninagawa's version of Tom Stoppard's "The Coast of Utopia," which runs a total of about 9 hours long. This is the first time that the play is being performed in Japan.

"The Coast of Utopia" is actually a trilogy of plays, set in pre-revolution Russia and spanning a period of more than thirty years. Because of its scale, the trilogy is generally performed over three days. However, on weekends, Ninagawa apparently plans to run the plays back to back, with ample time for intermission.

In 2000, Ninagawa directed a version of "The Greeks," another trilogy that ran for close to 9 hours. In that production, the plays focused on different main characters, spreading out the acting load, but "The Coast of Utopia" has a more consistent cast and Abe will star in all three parts.

"The Coast of Utopia" will run at the Bunkamura Theatre Cocoon in Tokyo from September 12 to October 4.

Talento Aki Higashihara (26) and judo fighter Kosei Inoue (30) announced some happy news via their blogs on Tuesday. On May 8, Higashihara gave birth to their first child while in England. The baby girl weighed in at 3,350 grams.

Higashihara and Inoue have been married since January 2008. They first announced that Higashihara was pregnant in October. Higashihara has been on sabbatical since December, when Inoue moved to England to do language studies abroad.

Utada.com announced on Monday that singer Hikaru Utada is postponing the in-store visits planned this week. Utada, who releases her new album "This Is The One" in the U.S. on Tuesday, had scheduled promotional visits in New York, Universal City, San Francisco, Seattle, and Honolulu from Tuesday to Saturday.

According to the message on the website, Utada has "been diagnosed with an acute case of left relapsing peritonsillitis." She had intended to fly into the U.S. on Monday, but doctors advised her not to travel and not to use her voice for the next couple weeks.

A representative said that Utada plans to reschedule her promotional activities.