Today, comeback queen Utada Hikaru took to the stage of NHK SONGS to perform “Michi,” “Hanataba Wo Kimi Ni” and new song “Tomodachi“.

“Tomodachi,” a collaboration with Nariaki Obukuro, CEO of indie record label Tokyo Recordings, is a song of unrequited love.

According to UBlog, who has been providing amazing extensive updates on Utada’s recent promotions, “Tomodachi” is written from the perspective of a gay person falling in love with a straight friend. Although the lyrics remain neutral, Hikki isn’t shy about what the song is really about. It’s definitely a statement to drop it so casually on NHK, Japan’s national public broadcasting organization.

Check out “Tomodachi” and more below.

As everyone knows, legendary pop group SMAP will be disbanding on December 31. Prior to that,  the group will be releasing a best album “SMAP 25 YEARS” on December 21 and a music video compilation “Clip! Smap! Complete Singles” on December 28.

The best-of album will come as a 3 CD set and approximately 50 songs are scheduled to be included with the tracks being chosen from the most requested songs. You can start voting from a list of over 400 single/album songs at Victor’s special site  until October 4.

The video compilation will be available in DVD and Bluray versions. This will include 63 songs, including the double A-side songs for 55 singles.

Since the disbandment issue, fans have been purchasing their hit single “Sekai Ni Hitotsu Dake No Hana” which is effectively pushing it up the Oricon charts. With a new total of 2,855,427 copies, it has now surpassed CHAGE & ASKA’s “Say Yes” (2,822,450  copies) to land at the 6th place of best selling single of all time! Fans are hoping to reach the 3 million mark before the year ends.

Hello, Arama! Japan readers and welcome to this week’s installment of #1 Song Review! Last week was a first: it was a tie between AKB48 and RADWIMPS. RADWIMPS is back again this week, facing off against a newcomer. Find out what various staff members thought of the songs that topped the physical and digital charts this week and share your thoughts on them too!

By now, everyone knows that Scarlett Johansson will star as Motoko Kusanagi in the Hollywood film production of “Ghost in the Shell”, out next year. Everyone also knows about the “whitewashing” controversy surrounding the film. We now get to see a glimpse of the finished movie via 5 short trailers that were released a few hours ago. Along with Scarlett, Beat Takeshi can also be seen, playing Daisuke Aramaki, chief of Public Security Section 9. Check out the trailers below!

THE NOVEMBERS are currently celebrating their 11th anniversary. This might seem like an odd anniversary to celebrate, but seeing as how the month the band is named after is the 11th one of the year, it makes sense. As part of this celebration, the band is releasing their sixth album, “Hallelujah”, on September 21. “Hallelujah” will include the band’s digital single “Kuroi Niji”, which was released this past July. Check out more information on the album below!

Haruma Miura is no longer single! He is now in an alleged relationship with world famous dancer and choreographer, Koharu Sugawara. According to sources, the two reportedly started dating recently. Earlier this month, the new couple were seen near a luxury residential area in Tokyo. Haruma is currently 26 and Koharu is 24.

September is being the month of DAOKO! She has just released her Triple A-Side Single “Moshimo Bokura ga GAME no Shuyaku de / DAISUKI with TeddyLoid / BANG!” and a music video for “Moshimo Bokura ga GAME no Shuyaku de”, but there was a still a track on the CD that didn’t have a coupling MV. That’s no more! DAOKO has just uploaded to her YouTube channel the music video for “DAISUKI with TeddyLoid”. The MV features DAOKO as two different characters: as an ordinary human and as some sort of human-like robot with eleven mechanical arms. The MV draws inspiration from the CM in which this song debuted, five months ago. Check it just after the jump!

Rock band Frederic is getting ready for the release of their first full-length album after several already major mini-albums. “FREDERHYTHM” is a fifteen-track album available in the usual two different editions releasing on October 19th, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t get to hear them until then! Today they have released the music video for its Track 2, “Rererepeat”, a danceable rock track with, as you could expect, loads of repetitions in some verses. The MV starts with a woman slapping her boyfriend in the face and getting away from him, though some scenes repeat again with different results. Check the MV, a trailer for its Limited Edition’s DVD and all info about this album such as album covers and tracklists just after the jump!