CELEBRITIES Singer Yuya Takahashi has been arrested for the third time on suspicion of violating the Stimulants Control Law, police said. [MAINICHI]

MUSIC Japanese pop artist Hikaru Utada and U.S. best-selling R&B artist Ne-Yo have recorded a song together as a part in a series of Ne-Yo collaborations with female singers worldwide, it was announced on Tuesday. (1)

CELEBRITIES Rakugo-ka Shunputei Koasa and his wife, former singer and celebrity Yasuha, have divorced following a 19-year marriage, representatives for the estranged couple said. [MAINICHI]

BOOKS/MANGA Comedian Hiroshi Tamura’s autobiographical novel “The Homeless Junior High School Student” (Wani Books) has in the only two months that have passed since its Sept. 3 release sold more than 1 million copies, the Sports Daily reported Monday.

MOVIES/TV Afro Samurai, the star of an animation series of the same name featuring Samuel L. Jackson, is headed for a second run on U.S. network Spike TV — and finally winning a following in its native Japan, where it recently debuted on the big screen. [USA TODAY]

CELEBRITIES A former pop star has been indicted for stealing electric cabling from a construction site in Tokyo in July, police said. [MAINICHI]

BOOKS/MANGA “Soon there will be no hibakusha left alive,” says Masahito Hirose, 77, to a group of about 20 senior high school students visiting Nagasaki from Tokyo. “You and I are linked by a very slender thread of fate.“ [MAINICHI]

MUSIC Pop stars Sonim and Akane Osawa are forming a new unit called “tomboy,” it was announced on Wednesday. They will release their first single on November 14, a cover of the pop hit “Super Star” by Korean group Jewelry. [TOKYOGRAPH]

GAMES Sony Computers Entertainment Inc. will be releasing a limited edition of their popular portable gaming system the PSP (Playstation Portable) in a deep red color on Dec. 13. (4)

MOVIES/TV The local government of Tokyo’s Nerima-ku, the birthplace of Japanese animation, started broadcasting its own anime-themed cable TV program this month, with a first run lasting until next spring. [MAINICHI]

CELEBRITIES It is rumored that popular singer hitomi will divorce within the next few days, breaking up her 5 year long marriage to a former member of hip-hop group GAS BOYS. The cause for the split is said to be differences in their lifestyles. [TOKYOGRAPH]

BOOKS/MANGA Japan’s largest publisher, Kodansha Limited, will release exclusive manga content viewable on the internet for free starting Wednesday. (6)

CELEBRITIES A former member of the disbanded all-male group “Hikaru Genji” has been arrested for possessing stimulants, police said. [MAINICHI]

MOVIES/TV The Broadcasting Ethics & Program Improvement Organization criticized Japanese broadcasting companies for the amount of violence and “sexual expressions” in variety shows, when the organization’s committee on “youth and broadcasting” held a press conference on Thursday. (2)

BOOKS/MANGA Fifty-two percent of people have not read a single book in the past month, an increase of three percentage points from last year and ticking over 50 percent for the first time in two years, according to a Yomiuri Shimbun survey. [YOMIURI]

CELEBRITIES Former Morning Musume member Maki Goto ended her tour on Sunday with a show at Saitama’s Sonic City. During the concert, she revealed that she is graduating from Hello! Project. The news comes barely a week after her younger brother Yuki was arrested for theft. [TOKYOGRAPH]

MUSIC Popular J-pop duo Yuzu held a 10-year anniversary concert at the Yokohama Arena on Thursday.

GAMES Nintendo is now Japan’s second largest company by market capitalization behind Toyota, driven by the raging success of the Wii games console. [TIMES ONLINE]

MUSIC Tokyo’s controversial Yasukuni Shrine has found itself with an unexpected hit on its hands — a rap song dedicated at kamikaze pilots. [MAINICHI]

CELEBRITIES Celebrity Sayaka Aoki has announced her intention to marry soon, her talent agency said Monday. [MAINICHI]