Comedy duo Bakusho Mondai’s jokes about politicians were cut from an NHK New Year’s show, Bakusho Mondai said on Wednesday during their TBS radio program “JUNK Bakusho Mondai Cowboy”.

The New Year’s show was “Hatsu Warai Touzai Yose 2015,” and aired on NHK, Japan’s publicly owned broadcasting organization, on  Jan. 3. Bakusho Mondai were the announcers and hosts of the show.

The show staff checked over their routine before the show and decided that all jokes about politicians would be cut, Bakusho Mondai said during the radio program.

The 7th CD Shop Awards 2015 recently revealed its nominee list for the second half of 2014. Ten albums were picked that were released between July 1 and December 31. The albums were chosen by CD shop staff across Japan to highlight releases that caught their discerning ears. These albums join the previous 10 albums there were selected from the first half of 2014. The 20 albums nominated for 2014 will then be narrowed down to a list of 10 final nominees before the winner is chosen in early March. Check out the albums nominated for the second half of 2014 after the jump!

As previously reported, Sandaime J Soul Brothers will be releasing their fifth album “PLANET SEVEN” on January 28. Ahead of the album’s release, the group has released the music video for the album’s opening track, “Eeny, meeny, miny, moe!” The video finds them in a series of rooms, sharply dressed in suits. Sandaime J Soul Brothers have said that this song is their attempt at a new sound. Check out the video after the jump!

On January 21, Shota Shimizu will release his new single, titled “I miss you -refrain-.” This single is a rearranged version of last year’s original “I miss you” by SPICY CHOCOLATE, which featured Shota on vocals. The single will also feature a remixed version of Shota’s last single “SNOW SMILE”, done by Jazzin’park. Check out the cover, tracklist, and video for this new single after the jump!

On February 25, Shiina Ringo will release her 15th single, titled “Shijou no Jinsei.” “Shijou no Jinsei” will serve as the theme song for the upcoming Nippon TV drama “Marumaru Tsuma”, which premieres on January 14. The drama stars Kou Shibasaki as the diligent housewife of a newscaster played by Noriyuki Higashiyama. He owes his wife for the support she has given him during his career, but she has a secret. Yu Shirota plays a supporting role in “Marumaru Tsuma.” “Shijou no Jinsei” is a newly written song that Ringo made for “Marumaru Tsuma” after being asked to do the theme song by the drama’s staff. Prior to the single’s February release, “Shijou no Jinsei” will be available on Recochoku’s Chaku Uta service. Check out the single’s cover and tracklist as well as a clip of the drama featuring the song after the jump!

The Oricon Weekly physical music charts for the week of 12/29/14 – 1/4/15 has been released!

Masked idol group Kamen Joshi come in first on the single chart with their song “Genkidane☆” selling 131,513 copies while E-girls’ third album “E.G.TIME” pushes 75,950 units in it’s 1.5th week (it was released on an irregular date and total sales come to 140,346).

Check out the top 10 of the album and single charts below.

As we reported previously, up-and-coming rock band KANA-BOON will be releasing a new studio album titled “TIME” on January 21st of this year.  Now the band have published a digest video for the release to their official Youtube channel, giving us a good look at what we can expect from it.

The digest provides previews for all twelve of the album’s tracks, eight of which have never been previously released, set to a series of connected yet different visual concepts for each song.  To coincide with the release of this lengthy music video, a special promotional website for the album has also been opened to the public; the site provides information about the release itself, upcoming live dates, and biographical tidbits about the band, so please don’t hesitate to check it out if you’re interested.

You’ll find the digest video for “TIME” right after the jump, so if you just can’t wait a couple of weeks to hear more KANA-BOON we’ve got you covered.

Recochoku:
1. Nishino Kana – Darling
2. SEKAI NO OWARI – Dragon Night
3. Sandaime J Soul Brothers – R.Y.U.S.E.I.
4. ayaka – Nijiiro
5. Akina Nakamori – Rojo -Tierra-
6. Yuzu – Pocket
7. Hata Motohiro – Himawari no Yakusoku
8. AAA – Sayonara no Mae ni
9. Miyuki Nakajima – Mugi no Uta
10. Che’Nelle – Happiness

iTunes:
1. SEKAI NO OWARI – Dragon Night
2. Sandaime J Soul Brothers – R.Y.U.S.E.I.
3. Nishino Kana – Darling
4. ayaka – Nijiiro
5. Southern All Stars – Tokyo VICTORY
6. Hata Motohiro – Himawari no Yakusoku
7. Miyuki Nakajima – Mugi no Uta
8. Che’Nelle – Happiness
9. Yuzu – Pocket
10. Shiina Ringo – NIPPON