Popular TBS announcer Ando Hiroki (37) is engaged to marry talento Kawahata Yuka (29). “Andy” has something of a reputation as a ladies’ man and has been connected with a host of female celebrities. But he is said to have seen Kawahata as a marriage partner almost straight after they started dating a year or so ago. The pair first met in 1998, when Kawahata was a guest reporter on the TBS “Sekai Fushigi Hakken” travel documentary show. They plan to get married in the autumn.
• The Tokyo apartment of singer Hirai Ken (33) was broken into on May 13 and his personal computer was stolen, according to police. He returned home about 2:30am to find a window broken and called the police. The break-in happened the night of a live show that Hirai held in Harajuku to mark the tenth anniversary of his live debut. He started a national tour yesterday in his hometown of Iga in Mie Prefecture.
• Actress Sakai Wakana (24) admitted yesterday that she and comedian Kajiwara Yuuta (24) are an item. The couple were spotted together recently at a baseball game at Tokyo Dome by a weekly gossip magazine. Kajiwara is one half of the manzai duo King Kong.
• Mariah Carey (35) has been announced as a last-minute addition to the lineup for the upcoming MTV Video Music Awards Japan 2005. The event will be held at the Tokyo Bay NK Hall on May 29. Carey was in Japan just two months ago to promote her latest album. Also planned for the MTV event is a new dance number by Gorie, the outlandish cross-dressing character created by comedian Gori (32).