Actor Murata Takehiro (46) is to tie the knot with an actress 20 years his junior. He announced at a press conference held at the TBS studio in Kanagawa that he is engaged to marry his “Wataru Sekken wa Oni Bakari” co-star Nakae Rika (26). They haven’t set any date for a wedding, but plan to register their marriage when they have a break from work in October. The two actually met when working on a different drama four years ago and started dating seriously two years later. Murata didn’t say how he had proposed but talked about how Nakae had cared for him while he was sick last summer. “Marriage then seemed a natural extension of our relationship,” he said.
• SInger Nokko gave birth to a baby recently at the age of 42. The former Rebecca vocalist made the announcement on her official website. She married New York-based music producer Goh Hotoda in 2002, having previously been married to musician Kogure Takehiko (46) from 1990 to 1993. Goh has worked with such big names as Duran Duran, Janet Jackson, Madonna, and Sakamoto Ryuichi.