This week’s guests were Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra, TAKUMA, Ishihara Shinya, Mrs. GREEN APPLE, Kis-My-Ft2, and Kuwata Keisuke.
Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra x TAKUMA(10-FEET) – Oretachi no Ashita (Elephant Kashimashi cover)
Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra – Monshironchou feat.Ishihara Shinya (Saucy Dog)
Mrs. GREEN APPLE – Soranji
Kis-My-Ft2 – Omoibana
Kuwata Keisuke – Nagasaki Hotel / Heiwa no Machi
On November 24, FinT released the results of its “Generation Z Trend Ranking” for 2022. Gen Z is described as being between the ages of 15 and 26. So what do they like this year?
Gen Z’s top entertainer is Snow Man‘s Meguro Ren. Ado is the top artist and top influencer.
Ren’s drama “silent” is the topped Gen Z’s drama / movie ranking for 2022, while Ado’s “Shin Jidai” was the top song.
The TV Tokyo anime series “SPY x FAMILY” was the top trending thing this year, while the phrase “Anya Peanuts ga Suki” from the series was the top buzzword.
Yakult 1000 was the top trending food item.
The TIRTIR Cushion Foundation was Gen Z’s top cosmetic / skincare item, smartphone shoulder bags were the top fashion item.
Check out the rest of the rankings below!
On December 7 and 14, “2022 FNS Kayousai” will air. As previously announced, performers include Snow Man, Ayumi Hamasaki, JO1, LiSA, Official HIGE DANdism, Koda Kumi, Kudo Shizuka, and DISH//.
A second set of performers has been announced. This set includes the likes of King Gnu, Naniwa Danshi, Travis Japan, Nakayama Miho, Kou Shibasaki, Yuzu, Liella!, and AK-69. See who else was added below!
Cool Japan! It’s been a while since you’ve heard that phrase, no?
Over the years, the Japanese government’s soft power push overseas has been met with criticism from all corners, from pop culture icons like Takashi Murakami and Ryuichi Sakamoto, to the intended audience itself, this writer included.
But did you know that the Cool Japan Fund was still going, five years after reporting came out that it was a money-losing flop?
This past June, The Asian Shimbun reported that nine years after its founding, the Cool Japan Fund “may be merged with other investment funds or eliminated if it cannot turn around its losses soon.”
This came from a proposal a subcommittee of the Fiscal System Council, an advisory panel to Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki, made that month.
As of the end of March 2022, the government had contributed a total of ¥106.6 billion to the fund. At the end of fiscal 2020, however, the fund had accumulated losses of ¥23.1 billion. This loss is in part due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In May 2021, the Cool Japan Fund released a plan for improving its business operations and set a goal of keeping accumulated losses at ¥25.7 billion at the end of fiscal 2021. However, losses increased to ¥30.9 billion.
At the June subcommittee meeting, Cool Japan Fund officials said they expected a turnaround alongside general improvement in the economy as the pandemic is brought under control.
While Cool Japan Fund officials planned to create another business improvement plan by autumn, the subcommittee consensus was to consider merging the fund or eliminating it if there was no improvement in its financial situation.
That brings us to this week.
Earlier today, “TV Tokyo Music Festival 2022 Winter” aired. The show featured performances by the likes of Travis Japan, Maki Goto, Ami Suzuki, BE:FIRST, Tani Yuuki, yama, Daichi Miura, and =LOVE. Check out the full show below!
On November 23 at 5:30 PM JST, “TV Tokyo Music Festival 2022 Winter” will air. The show will feature performances by the likes of Travis Japan, Hey! Say! JUMP, BE:FIRST, Maki Goto, Ami Suzuki, and Nakayama Miho.
There is a live stream of the show and Arama! Japan will be hosting a chat on Discord so that readers can chat with each other during the show! See more below!
This week, King & Prince topped the Hot 100 single chart with their single “Tsukiyomi”, with 17,442 points in its third week.
SEVENTEEN topped the Hot Albums chart with their first Japanese EP “DREAM.”
SEVENTEEN also topped the Artist 100 chart.
On November 18, Ayumi Hamasaki released a new digital single, “MASK.” This song sees her once again collaborating with Tetsuya Komuro.
The two most recently worked together on the 2020 song “Dreamed a Dream.” TK composed and arranged “MASK”, his first for an Ayu song since 2010’s “crossroad.”
Ayu has now released the music video for “MASK.” Check it out below!
The song will be included on Ayu’s upcoming 18th album, which is currently set for release on January 25. This is her first album since June 2016’s “M(A)DE IN JAPAN.” The album will also feature the previously released songs “Ohia no Ki”, “Dreamed a Dream”, “23rd Monster”, “Nonfiction”, and “Summer Again.”