These past few years, well-known rock band RADWIMPS has honored the lives of those lost in the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake by choosing to publish a song to their Youtube channel each year on that anniversary.  The songs released for this project are never put up for sale or included on any of RADWIMPS own releases; they’re songs that are meant to both encourage people to keep those lost in their hearts, yet at the same time continue to move forward in reconstructing that which was damaged.

This year’s song is “Ai to wa”, which is a soaring ballad set to scenes of the band’s singer Noda Yojiro playing a 4-octave piano, culminating with him visiting one of the earthquake memorials himself.

You’ll find the music video for “Ai to wa” below, so if you have a moment, please don’t hesitate to watch it and reflect.

As we reported previously, popular rock band ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION are going to be releasing “Easter”, their first single in over two years on March 18th.  Now, ahead of the single’s release, the band have chosen to publish the full PV for the lead track “Easter / Fukkatsusai” to their official Youtube channel.

The music video finds the members of the band and several other colorful characters interacting with a monochrome environment.  Of note, there also appears to be a kind of “chicken-and-egg” motif that pervades the entirety of the production, which only adds to just how surreal an experience the music video is.

You’ll find the PV for “Easter / Fukkatsusai” right after the jump, and please look forward to the single’s release next week.

Today, Perfume added a new feature to their international website. This new feature is called the “Perfume Translyrics Project.” It allows international fans to upload subtitles for Perfume music videos so that other international fans can enjoy them. There are currently 30 music videos on the site. Fans can subtitle these music videos in 46 different languages, including English, Spanish, French, Arabic, Mandarin, Hebrew, and Hindi to name but a few. Also of note, there is a song titled “STORY (SXSW-MIX)” on the site. There are a few lines of lyrics but the rest are not posted. There is no audio or video for the song either. This song will be part of Perfume’s show next week at the South By Southwest festival (SXSW) in Austin, Texas, United States. Both of these endeavors are a means for Perfume to connect better to their growing international fanbase.

On the single side, AKB48 topped the chart with “Green Flash”, with its CD+DVD Limited Edition Type A selling 45,484 copies. Four editions of this single took the top 4 spots on the chart this week. Between its 8 editions, “Green Flash” sold 179,798 copies, making it the best selling single this week.

On the album side, B’z took the top spot with “EPIC DAY”, with its CD+DVD edition selling 128,967. Two editions of this album took the top 2 spots on the chart this week. The 3 editions of this album sold 204,353 copies, making it the best selling album this week.

The Oricon physical music charts for the week of 3/2 to 3/8 have been released!

For the albums chart, B’z come out on top with their 19th album “EPIC DAY” selling 209,576 copies in its first week. AKB48 have released their 39th single “Green Flash“, their 20th consecutive million seller single and the 21st overall. This single is also the 26th consecutive one that topped Oricon’s charts, breaking Ayumi Hamasaki’s record of 25 consecutive singles.

Check out the top 10s of each chart below!

Recochoku:
1. EXILE – Jounetsu no Hana
2. Kyary Pamyu Pamyu – Mondai Girl
3. 8.6 Byou Bazooka – Rassungorerai
4. Kumamushi – Attakaindakara
5. chay – Anata ni Koi wo Shite Mimashita
6. GReeeeN – Believe
7. Sandaime J Soul Brothers – R.Y.U.S.E.I
8. SEKAI NO OWARI – Dragon Night
9. Yasuda Rei – Koi Uta
10. Remioromen – 3gatsu 9ka

iTunes:
1. GReeeeN – Believe 35,447
2. Kyary Pamyu Pamyu – Mondai Girl 31,943
3. chay – Anata ni Koi wo Shite Mimashita 23,416
4. EXILE – Jounetsu no Hana 21,181
5. SEKAI NO OWARI – Dragon Night 20,118
6. Kumamushi – Attakaindakara 16,030
7. Sandaime J Soul Brothers – R.Y.U.S.E.I 13,340
8. AKINO from bless4 – Miiro 12,633
9. GReeeeN – Tanpopo 12,326
10. Nishizawa Shiena – Fubuki 9,025

On March 11, 2011, a 9.0 earthquake occurred off the coast of the Tohoku region in northeastern Japan. This is the strongest recorded earthquake in Japanese history and the 4th strongest recorded earthquake in world history. The earthquake caused a tsunami which reached heights of 133 feet / 40.5 meters and traveled as far inland as 6 miles / 10 kilometers. This tsunami also caused the Level 7 meltdown of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, the second worst nuclear accident in world history. As of 2014, this disaster has left 15,889 people dead, 6,152 injured, and 2,601 missing. Then-Prime Minister Naoto Kan said of the disaster, “In the 65 years after the end of World War II, this is the toughest and the most difficult crisis for Japan.” The World Bank estimated the cost of the disaster to be US$235 billion, making it the most costly natural disaster ever.

To commemorate the 4th anniversary of this event, NHK held the “Shinsai kara 4nen “Ashita e” Concert.” Performers included Kitajima Saburo, Kiroro, SMAP, AKB48, Kis-My-Ft2, SEKAI NO OWARI, Nishida Toshiyuki, Perfume, Yuzu, and Kuroneko Chelsea.

AAA’s SKY-HI (Hidaka Mitsuhiro) is back with his third solo single “Kamitsure Velvet” featuring an upper tune. The single will be released on March 18.

SKY-HI gets inside frames for the music video and waves his conductor baton over the band and brass sounds.

Check out the video, single covers, tracklist and info below.