Britney Spears is to appear in a TV commercial for Kirin G.G. Tea.
• The Yomiuri Giants opening game of the season drew an all-time low TV rating of 16.2%.
• Producer Tsunku (photo, 34), the man behind Morning Musume, is to join Yuuka (22) as a presenter of NHK’s late Saturday night music show “Pop Jam.”
• “Spirited Away”, the Oscar-winning animation by Miyazaki Hayao, has opened at over 700 cinemas in North America. It grossed more than $1.6 milion last weekend.
• According to today’s “Josei Jishin” magazine, Yamaguchi Tatsuya (31) of the pop group Tokio has a steady girlfriend, who is said to be in her late 20s and from Tohoku.