As previously reported, this year’s Music Station Super Live will be taking place on December 26 at 7PM until 11:10 PM JST. Thirty-three acts were named to perform when the show was first reported on. Today, an addition 7 acts have been added to that list. Those 7 acts are: EXILE, Sayaka Kanda, Ayumi Hamasaki, B’z, Mr.Children, May J., and L’Arc-en-Ciel.

The Japan Patent Office has launched a brand new campaign in an attempt to battle the on-going issue of piracy. Hoping to appeal to the younger crowd the patent office hired Harajuku-kei models Rina Tanaka, Shiko Takechi, and Fumiko Aoyagi to be PR ambassadors for the campaign.

Three short videos are available to view on youtube and the campaign’s official website. It features the models throwing away  various fake items, proclaiming that they aren’t “kawaii”. Through this campaign the models hope to bring awareness to the piracy problem inflicting not only the fashion industry, but entertainment industry as well.

Japan has been getting much more serious with their anti-piracy policies as of late. Back in October we previously reported  on a man who was arrested for uploading various television shows onto video streaming websites.

Each model’s video for the campaign can be seen below.

(via asbs)

Up-and-coming alternative band FOLKS have announced that they will be releasing a new mini-album on February 25th of next year.  “SNOWTOWN” will be the band’s first release since “HOMETOWN STORY” back in September and is based around the theme of “Winter”, its 7 tracks set to incorporate natural environmental sounds from the group’s hometown of Eniwa in Hokkaido.

The mini-album’s lead track “Fuyu no Himawari” has been produced by famed DJ Sunahara Yoshinori, known primarily for his work with legendary techno group Denki Groove.  The song depicts the band’s feelings about Christmas night and has been described as possessing the most fully realized pop sound in FOLKS’ repertoire.

“Fuyu no Himawari” is set to release digitally on Christmas Eve, so if you just can’t wait to hear what it’ll sound like, the wait won’t be long.  In the meanwhile, we’ll continue to post updates on this release as more information is revealed.

(via natalie)

On January 14, Kato Miliyah will release her 30th single. It is titled “Shounen Shouju.” The single will come in a limited CD+DVD edition and a regular CD only edition. Before this release though, Miliyah will be releasing a digital EP on December 17. This digital EP is titled “M’s X’Mas EP.” Both releases will feature the song “Higher”, which as previously reported was used in a Seiko watch CM. Check out the covers and tracklists for both of these releases after the jump!

This past week’s episode of NHK SONGS was dedicated to the work of veteran rock band Mr.Children.  Subtitled  “Kokoro wo Utsu Uta, Soshite Kotoba” (“Songs that Hit the Heart, and Words”), unlike usual episodes of SONGS there was no extended talk session, with the band instead choosing to play music for nearly the entire episode.  Over the course of the show Mr.Children performed 5 songs from across their career, though the majority came from their latest single “Ashioto ~Be Strong”.

In addition, this week Mr.Children also took the stage on Fuji TV’s annual year end show FNS Kayousai.  They performed “Ashioto” and, in an unusual gesture, revealed a new song to the public live on air.  Titled “Shayou” (“Sunset”), the new track harkens back to the band’s early days while at the same time breaking new ground for them musically.

You’ll find the full SONGS episode and the live performance of “Shayou” right after the jump, so be sure to read on!

Koda Kumi has released new goods in preparation for her 15th anniversary and upcoming “First Class 2nd LIMITED LIVE” concert. The new goods include a double sided bomber jacket, belt, and snapback all with a sleek “KXVK” logo. The “XV” between her initials is 15 in roman numerals.

“First Class 2nd LIMITED LIVE” will take place on December 6th at STUDIO COAST. Only members of her fanclub “KODA GUMI” had access to tickets. Members sent an application and then a special drawing was held for the winners, only 10,000 members were selected. Kumi chose STUDIO COAST as the venue since it holds some very special memories for her, that was where she held her very first solo concert.

Koda Kumi debuted on December 6th, 2000 with her single “TAKE BACK”. She scored her first major hit in 2003 when her songs “Real Emotion” and “1000 no Kotoba“ were used in Square Enix’s game Final Fantasy X-2. Her commercial breakthrough came a year later with the release of “Love & Honey”, the title track is a cover of the famous 70’s song “Cutie Honey” and to this day remains one of Kumi’s signature hits.

Check out the goods below!

Today, Creephyp released their 3rd album “Hitotsu ni Narenai nara, Semete Futatsu Dakede Iyou.” In support of the album, the band also released the video for the album’s 7th track today. The song is called “Hontou” and showcases a softer, more mellow side of the band. The video shows frontman Ozaki Sekaikan on what appears to be a date. Check it out after the jump!

Collaborating with Miss ID as a guest vocal and appearance, Seiko Oomori delivers Imitation Girl, one of the tracks of her new major debut album Sennou which already released on 12/3. This time, it’s an upbeat song with Seiko being in the street of New York while the idol group Miss ID painting each other’s t-shirt in Seiko’s apartment.

Miss ID are winners of Kodansha sponsored contest to find the “It girl” of tomorrow, they can be a model, actress, musician or cosplay nerd, one of them is ViVi model Tina Tamashiro. Check out the music video and more detail about Sennou after the jump.