Things are gearing up for Christmas already. Pin-up girl turned TV personality Megumi (photo, 23) has been chosen as the celeb for a 24-hour Nippon Housou charity radio show on Christmas Eve. She did a promo event for the show dressed in a suitably revealing Santa suit.
• The emcees have been named for this year’s NHK “Kohaku Uta Gassen” (Red-White Song Contest) spectacle on New Year’s Eve. The show will be hosted by “Saturday Sports” presenter Horio Masaaki (49); the White team will be presented by Abe Wataru (37) and the Red team by Ono Fumie (36). It’s the fourth year in a row that the jobs have both gone to NHK presenters. The show which in the past was the main event in the nation on New Year’s Eve has seen rapidly falling audience ratings. Organizers will be hoping for some prize names to add to this year’s lineup to try and salvage the show from the record low figures of recent years.