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On October 4th, legendary singer and songwriter Yumi Matsutoya released a 3-disc 50th anniversary album “Yuming Banzai ! ~Yumi Matsutoya 50th Anniversary Best Album~.” In total, the album features 50 songs that were requested by the fans themselves, as well as one new song. The selection process of the songs occurred during the 2 week long radio campaign called “WE LOVE RADIO, Matsutoya Yumi’s 50th Anniversary.” Fans from all over the country would tune in and submit their stories about their favorite songs by Matsutoya. After about 20,000 requests the songs were then carefully selected for th ..read more

On September 21, sumika will release their 4th full-length album “For.” A teaser for the album has been released on their official youtube channel.  The album will have a total of 14 songs and will be released in three editions: limited edition A, limited edition B, and regular edition. Limited edition A’s blu-ray disc will contain footage from special live concert LittleCrown 2022 and a booklet with interviews. Limited edition B’s blu-ray disc will contain footage from the tour FANCLUB LIVE TOUR 2022.  The jackets have different designs for all three versions. Limited edition A’s ja ..read more

Last month, Harry Styles released his third solo album, “Harry’s House.” Harry, a known Japanophile, was particularly inspired by another Harry, Haruomi Hosono, for this album. When speaking to Apple Music about his city pop-inspired album’s title, Harry said, “The album is named after Haruomi Hosono, he had an album in the ’70s called ‘Hosono House’, and I spent that chunk in Japan; I heard that record and I was like ‘I love that. It’d be really fun to make a record called Harry’s House’.” Harry even gave Hosono a shoutout on the American morning show “Today” when he was promoting the album ..read more

Legendary singer Ami Suzuki has announced that she is pregnant with her 3rd child! She made the announcement on her official Instagram account. Thanking fans for their continued support, Ami confirmed that she is currently six months pregnant with baby number 3. She is currently feeling great and will continue her standard activities as she sees fit. In 2016 Ami married a non-celebrity and the two welcomed their first son in 2017, another son was born in 2020. Ami just recently held a concert in celebration of her 40th birthday. From April 9th to 17th she will be collaborating with the tokyo ..read more

As everyone knows by now, it takes more than high CD sales to get a hit. In the mid 2010s, it was hard to figure what exactly was popular, a time some have dubbed “The Lost Decade of JPop.” But as things have progressed to the current streaming era, it is now more clear what is a hit. It is now possible to have a huge hit song without ever releasing it on CD. This transition in terms of how music is consumed has even rendered Oricon less and less relevant in the face of the more digital-friendly Billboard. Now not only is music listened to online, but the new stars come from the internet as we ..read more

SixTONES kicked off 2022 by becoming the first Johnny & Associates act to appear on the popular YouTube channel “THE FIRST TAKE.” The video created quite a buzz across various media. They are now back for the channel’s 182nd performance video, this time singing “Everlasting”, one of the songs from their new album “CITY.” Check out the video below! Video Source Source ..read more

The YouTube channel “THE FIRST TAKE” released its 180th performance video today, and the performer was SixTONES. This marks the first time that a Johnny & Associates act has appeared on the popular channel. SixTONES sang their 2020 debut song, “Imitation Rain”, with a special arrangement for “THE FIRST TAKE.” Of the performance, the group said it had a different feel than recording in the studio or performing on stage. Check out the video below! Video Source Source Source ..read more