This week, Hoshino Gen topped both Recochoku and iTunes for the sixth week in a row with “Koi.”

YUKI will celebrate her 15th anniversary since becoming a solo artist in February 2017.  In commemoration for all of her hard work and success, it has been announced that she will release a new album early spring and go on a national tour from April through July.  Moreover, a special site has been opened which will be updated with the latest information regarding the release of the new album and the live concerts.

The original album will include a total of 8 new songs to commemorate YUKI’s anniversary year.  The tour, YUKI concert tour “Blink Blink” 2017, will begin on April 29 at Hiroshima Green Arena.  Other stops on the tour will also include Fukuoka, Miyagi, Aichi, Niigata, Kanagawa, Osaka, and Hokkaido.

More tour information after the jump!

This week’s guest was Toshinobu Kubota.

Toshinobu Kubota x Kanjani8 – Bring me up!

Toshinobu Kubota x Kanjani8 x TAKATSU-KING – Osama Clinic by TAKATSU-KING

Following a relatively quiet year, techno-rock band FOLKS have revealed that they will be issuing a brand new single on December 23rd.  This Double A-side release will include a rearranged and remixed version of “Chroma Key Donut”, which was used to celebrate the opening of their record label earlier this year, and “FIN.”, a popular live song which is said to be representative of FOLKS’ current sound.

The single’s physical edition will be available for preorder on the band’s official website starting on December 1st and will include a wreath packaged with both a Christmas card and a live ticket.  For those who prefer to purchase their music digitally, the two songs will also be available on sites such as Recochoku & iTunes starting on Christmas Day.

Below you’ll find the cover for this new release, as well as the PV for the original version of “Chroma Key Donut”.

Up-and-coming retro rock band Awesome City Club have announced that they will be releasing a new studio album titled “Awesome City Tracks 4” next year on January 25th.  This record is confirmed to be the last in their “Awesome City Tracks” series, which was started early last year following their major label debut.

The album’s seven tracks will feature songwriting from all of the band’s members and production from notable individuals like Tokyo Recordings’ Yaffle and OBKR (Nariaki Obukuro) and former Supercar member Junji Ishiwatari.  The mastering of the release will be handled by Joe LaPorta, who is famous for his work with Western artists such as the Foo Fighters (“Wasting Light”) and David Bowie (“Blackstar”).

Read on below for a look at all of the track-related information that has been revealed about “Awesome City Tracks 4”.

SCANDAL will celebrate their 10th anniversary with the release of their first self titled best of album, “SCANDAL” on 15 February 2017. The 2 CD album features 34 of SCANDAL’s most popular songs as voted by the fans and 2 new currently untitled songs. The No.1 most popular song, as voted by fans is “Scandal Baby” from their debut album “Best Scandal”.

The band also announced that they will embark on a nationwide 47 prefecture LIVE house tour titled,『SCANDAL TOUR 2017「SCANDAL’S 47 Prefecture Tour」』starting March 2017. The tour will showcase 53 performances across all 47 prefectures in Japan.

Check out the song listing for SCANDAL’s self titled album after the cut.

On November 25, former Cuban leader Fidel Castro died in the capital of Havana. To some, he was a revolutionary hero who fought for the poor while combating imperialism around the world. To others, he was a ruthless dictator who denied his people basic freedoms and ruined Cuba, forcing over a million Cubans into exile overseas. His death has caused some to mourn, while others are literally dancing in the streets.

One of the people who is in mourning is KOM_I, the only visible member of Suiyoubi no Campanella. She took to social media the following day to remember Castro.

The girls of LDH have been keeping quite busy this year and from the looks of things they show no signs of stopping. From performing in their original groups (Happiness, Flower and Dream) to the super group of E-Girls, what more can they possibly do? Split into more groups! First the Fujii sisters gave us ShuuKaRen; now we have SudannaYuzuYuri.

SudannaYuzuYuri is a hip-hop concept made up of Happiness members Anna Suda, YURINO and E-Girls vocalist/performer Yuzuna Takebe. Avex has uploaded the teaser to their first single “OH BOY” to their youtube page. Come and hear the clip.