Five songs from 2016 was certified Gold this month for selling 100,000 copies: Nishino Kana’s “Have a nice day”, Ken Hirai’s “Mahoutte Itte Ii Kana?”, Fujiwara Sakura’s “Soup” and “Suki yo Suki yo Suki yo”, and Porno Graffitti’s “THE DAY.”

In a rare occurrence, an album has been certified digitally this month. Ariana Grande’s “My Everything” was certified Gold for selling 100,000 copies.

The legacy of Osamu Tezuka lives on! Tezuka Productions, with publisher Active Gaming Media, announced a new video game project titled Astro Boy: Edge of Time yesterday. Not only that, the project also takes off to crowdfunding platform Kickstarter in a campaign to raise $50.000. Astro Boy: Edge of Time is a digital collectible card game (think Blizzard’s Hearthstone) featuring reimagined characters from Osamu Tezuka’s vast library of story crossing over in one alternate universe. Despite the title, it will also include character outside of Astro Boy’s mythology like Black Jack, Phoenix, Hyakkimaru, and Ambassador Magma.

This week’s guests were Chage, Kanna Chise, and LUNKHEAD.

Chage – Mou Hitotsu no LOVESONG

Kanna Chise – Blue Star

LUNKHEAD – Yasashiku Shitai Hito ga Iru

In recent years, the Japanese concert industry has seen incredible growth. In 2006, there were 47,632 concerts attended by 24.54 million people. Last year, there were 56,042 concerts attended by 44.86 million people. Along with this growth, a problem has reared its head: ticket scalping.

Concert ticket scalping is a big problem in Japan. Scalpers buy multiple tickets at the original price, leaving less for the public to buy at face value. They then sell these tickets online at an increased price, with some fetching as much as 10 times their face value online. The public is cheated by paying these high prices, but some do pay them. Between less tickets being available at the original price and the high price of scalped tickets, much of the public can’t go to concerts as frequently. They also can’t buy the tour merchandise at the concerts.

To stop this problem, the group Tenbai No (translation: Resale No) has been formed. Today, the group took out full page ads in 2 of Japan’s biggest newspapers, Asahi and Yomiuri (the Yomiuri ad can be seen above). The ads read “Hantai shimasu” (“to be opposed to”) in large type followed by a statement in Japanese which reads: “We are against the high-priced reselling of tickets, which is depriving music of its future.” The ad then lists the 116 music acts, 24 events, and 4 music organizations that agree with Tenbai No. It’s a veritable who’s who of the Japanese music industry.

These ads are accompanied by the launch of the Tenbai No website. On the site, Kadoike Mitsunori, president of the Federation of Music Producers Japan, wrote: “Artists and concert staff work hard every day to present great performances to as many music fans as possible. High-priced reselling of tickets is a problem that can destroy the positive relationship that exists between artists and music fans.”

This is the first time such a large scale industry-wide effort has been made regarding ticket scalping. However, acts already have anti-scalping measures in place. Facial scanning systems were used by Arashi earlier this year to prevent single buyers from purchasing multiple tickets. Momoiro Clover Z, B’z, and Mr. Children have used such technology since 2014.

This may sound like a good solution, but what does this mean for international fans? Many fans have to go to Japan to see their faves live, and scalpers are one of the biggest ways to obtain concert tickets, since so many concerts require a Japanese address, credit card, and / or ID.

See which acts, events, and organizations agree with Tenbai No below!

We’re back with this week’s edition of Oricon Flashback. This is where we look back on what topped Oricon this week 5, 10, 15, and 20 years ago. Think of it as a way to reminisce and learn about the past of Japanese music.

This week’s show featured talk segments: Kis-My-Ft2, DJ Koo x Tokyo Idol Festival, Rekishi x Anthony, and BOYS AND MEN.

Ahead of her first album, REOL has given us a glimpse of what we can expect with ‘Give me a break Stop now‘. This is one of the first times we’ve been able to see the former utaite singer’s face, being that she usually keeps it hidden from public view. Even though the color scheme of the PV is black and white, REOL‘s personal color is so bright and clear. Continue on to see the PV.

Earlier tonight, one of Shiina Ringo’s recent side projects, the handover ceremony at the Closing Ceremony of the Rio Olympics, took place. Her songs “Chichinpuipui” and “Bouenkyou no Soto no Keshiki” were used during the ceremony. On the heels of this, she released some news. On August 22, she’ll release 2 new digital singles.

The first, “13 jours au Japon ~2020 Nippon no Natsu~”, is her contribution to the tribute album “Les 50 Ans de Saravah”, out September 28. The song is a Japanese remake of the Pierre Barouh song “13 jours en France”, which was used as the theme song of the documentary of the same name about the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, France. “13 jours au Japon ~2020 Nippon no Natsu~” will also be available on Japanese streaming services until September 27.

The second is “Jiyudamu”, the theme song for the NHK show “Gatten!” Also included with this digital release is Hyadain’s remix of the song.

In related news, the discography of Ringo’s former band, Tokyo Jihen, will now be available on Japanese streaming services as well.

Check out the covers and tracklists for Ringo’s new digital releases below!