CELEBRITIES Avex officially confirmed Thursday that the company has signed former Morning Musume member Maki Goto. The singer has been inactive for the past several months since she left the Hello! Project amid the scandal caused by her brother’s arrest in October for multiple counts of theft. [TOKYOGRAPH]

CELEBRITIES Nachiko Shudo, an announcer with Japanese public broadcaster NHK, got married to a movie company employee in spring this year, officials said on Wednesday. (1) [MAINICHI]

CELEBRITIES Actress Ryoko Hirosue was awarded 1.2 million yen in damages after the Tokyo District Court ruled a story in Josei Seven women’s weekly magazine defamed her by implying she was involved in an extramarital affair. [MAINICHI]

CELEBRITIES Comedian Nahomi Matsushima, part of the popular duo Othello, married Martha’s Sound Machine frontman Toshihiro Hisada on Sunday. [MAINICHI]

CELEBRITIES The overturning of actress Serena Kozakura’s conviction for willful destruction of property after the defense had proved the size of Kozakura’s breasts made it unlikely she had committed the crime will not be appealed, the prosecutor said Monday.

CELEBRITIES 27-year-old actress and pop singer Ryoko Hirosue announced Thursday on her agency’s website that she has divorced husband, designer Takahiro Okazawa, after nearly four years of marriage. (13)

CELEBRITIES Actress Serena Kozakura’s conviction for willful destruction of property has been overturned by the Tokyo High Court because her large breasts revealed flaws in the testimony against her. [MAINICHI]

CELEBRITIES Director Koichiro Yamashita was arrested Saturday for attacking a convenience store worker late Friday night while drunk, police said. [MAINICHI]

CELEBRITIES Miss Japan 2008 Eri Suzuki is donating part of her prize money to physically disabled athletes participating in the Paralympic Games in Beijing this summer. [MAINICHI]

CELEBRITIES Popular singer Kumi Koda apologized Thursday on national TV over joke she cracked during a radio program in which she said, “a mother’s amnion fluid goes rotten after she passes 35.” (3)

CELEBRITIES First, Crown Princess Masako feasted on classy Mexican fare from a 13-dish special menu in her honor. Then it was roast duck and shark fin soup at a top Chinese eatery. A month later, she enjoyed a sumptuous repast at a French restaurant where the US$300 course featured exquisite black truffles. (3) [MAINICHI]

CELEBRITIES Top judo athlete Kosei Inoue and celebrity Aki Higashihara held a news conference on Tuesday saying they had registered their marriage. [MAINICHI]

CELEBRITIES Japanese pop icon Ayumi Hamasaki wrote on her fan club website on Friday that she would continue singing despite losing her hearing in her left ear. (1) [XINHUA]

CELEBRITIES Takeshi Kobayashi, the music producer behind the popular band Mr. Children, has divorced his wife Akko, his talent agency said on its Web site. [MAINICHI]

CELEBRITIES The Tokyo District Court on Friday sentenced Kye Eun Sook, a singer known for her “enka” Japanese ballads, to 18 months in prison, suspended for three years, for possessing amphetamine at her home in Tokyo. [MAINICHI]

CELEBRITIES TV-personality and lawyer Toru Hashimoto announced Saturday on his personal blog he had filed a criminal complaint against an unidentified individual who had announced on Japanese internet bulletin board 2channel he intended to kill him and his family.

CELEBRITIES Actress Chiaki “Gogo Yubari” Kuriyama of Kill Bill fame and Babel actor Koji Yakusho were among seven celebrities selected late last month as the best dressers of the year. [MAINICHI]

CELEBRITIES Kye Eun-sook, a Japan-based Korean singer known for such hits as “Besame Mucho,” has been arrested for possessing stimulants, authorities said. [MAINICHI]

CELEBRITIES Veteran singer Kenji Sawada was involved in a minor accident as he was parking his car in Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward on Friday night, slightly injuring a woman on a minibike, police said Sunday. [KYODO]

CELEBRITIES An arrest warrant has reportedly been issued in Japan for “Heroes” star Hayden Panettiere over her dolphin-saving attempt last month in the country, but the actress appears to have no fear. [MSNBC]