As any international fan of Japanese media can attest to, there isn’t really much of a focus on exporting content to the rest of the world. The Japan Times recently took a look at this issue in regards to the film industry. A total of 615 Japanese films were released last year, but these films don’t often find their way to the West. They do have a better chance in the Asian market, but when these films are released, they’re not a big deal and the profits are small.

At this past October’s Tokyo International Film Festival, a panel discussion was held about how to fix this issue. The speakers on this panel were British distributor/producer Adam Torel, sales agent/publicist Miyuki Takamatsu, and Cool Japan Fund executive Nobuhiro Nagai. Japan Times writer Mark Schilling sat in on this talk. He found that there was a distance between the first two speakers and the last.

KAT-TUN performed a rock medley during the latest NHK Shounen Club Premium episode which aired on December 16 . The “KAT-TUN Premium Show” segment features a “Let’s have a Band” Collaboration with Miya from MUCC, Yoshimitsu Taki from 9mm Parabellum Bullet, KenKen from RIZE, LIFE IS GROOVE and Pierre Nakano from Ling Tosite Sigure.

Recording for the show was done last December 1. Prior and after the show, the band members have posted several backstage pictures and shared tweets on social media. Some of the pictures can be seen below.

For the session, KAT-TUN sang DON’T U EVER STOP, BABY B MINE and FIRE and ICE. Catch the group’s latest collaboration below.

Earlier this week, the preliminary data released by Oricon revealed that AKB48’s single “Kuchibiru ni Be My Baby” failed to sell 1 million copies in its first week. This is the first time one of their singles failed to do so in over 4 years, thus ending their long-lasting record of consecutive million sellers.

back number tops the album ranking with their latest album “Chandelier”, selling 173,014 copies. Not only is this their highest position on the chart, but also their highest sales for any release.

SKE48 and SNH48 member Miyazawa Sae has announced her graduation from the 48 Group during “FNS Kayousai 2015” last December 16. Before the music special, it was teased that there will be an important announcement from a group.

Miyazawa has considered graduation from about a year ago, and has consulted with producer Akimoto Yasushi. It was decided that her announcement will be made during the live broadcast of FNS Kayousai. Two days prior, she consulted her generation members Oshima Yuko and Akimoto Sayaka who expressed support for her decision.

Miyazawa smiles “It feels refreshing. I got a message from Yuko “You’ve done well”. She thought more of graduation when she was cast as the heroine for the musical “Crest of the Royal Family” which will run starting August next year and had the idea to graduate before rehearsals begin. With regards to this new step, “I could not sleep for some time due to the pressure. I want to surprise everyone in the musical industry”. When asked if there is anything else she has to do for the group, Miyazawa says she wants to remain as a legendary presence in the memory of fans and members.

Ikuta Toma will be starring in the movie “Himitsu – The Top Secret” to be directed by Otomo Keishi. The movie is based from Shimizu Reiko’s manga serialized in the comic magazine “Melody”. “Himitsu – The Top Secret” is a psychological thriller about National Research Institute of Police Science’s 9th Forensics Laboratory aka “ninth” where elite investigators uses a special type of MRI to view the memories of the deceased person, which can help the the investigators in solving the mystery behind their bizarre death.

Ikuta plays the role of Maki Tsuyoshi, the ninth‘s Chief with a genius brain who suffered from a trauma. He will be joined by Okada Masaki who will play the role of Aoki Ikkuo, the rookie investigator at ninth. This will be the first time for both actors to work together again after “Hanazakari no Kimitachi e” Special in 2008.

Visuals and teaser trailer for the movie were already released. The movie is set to hit theaters on August 2016.

Today, Fuji TV aired the second part of its year end music show, 2015 FNS Kayousai THE LIVE. The show was about 3 hours long and was hosted by Chisato Moritaka and Watabe Ken. The show featured several popular acts, including KAT-TUN, Perfume, AKB48, Sandaime J Soul Brothers, and Hoshino Gen. Check out 2015 FNS Kayousai THE LIVE after the jump!

After a week off the top spot, back number’s “Christmas Song” returns to #1 on Recochoku this week, making it the songs’s third non-consecutive week at #1.

back number topped iTunes for the fourth week in a row with “Christmas Song.”

On January 13th, SAWA will release Odore Balcony, her eighth EP since beginning her career almost eight years ago. The music video for the title track has been released, featuring SAWA dancing in the evening darkness with ample digital effects. The song is a light pop number hiding an intense, danceable break. Check it out below!