SKE48 – Bukiyou Taiyou

Hata Motohiro – Himawari no Yakusoku

Nishino Kana – Darling

Leo Ieiri – Junjou

Kis-My-Ft2 – Another Future

Shonan no Kaze – Puzzle

Jake Shimabukuro – Hula Girl

The main cast (Takeru Satoh, Emi Takei, Munetaka Aoki), and director (Keishi Otomo) of ‘Rurouni Kenshin’ arrived in Manila, Philippines last August 6 for the film’s premiere, the only one held outside Japan. They were warmly welcomed by a huge crowd of shrieking fans during the premiere (Wednesday) and public press conference (Thursday), with some of the fans even coming from far flung provinces and as early as the malls’ opening time. The long wait paid off as during the premiere the cast took more than 30 minutes to walk the red carpet, obliging to fans’ requests for autographs and doing selfie with members of the press. Takeru would wave his hand to the crowd whenever he heard them scream “Ta-ke-ru” or “Ken-shin.”

Locally known by the title ‘Samurai X’, the anime version gained popularity when it was shown on local TV. Takeru Satoh and Munetaka Aoki were shocked with the reception they received from Filipino fans. “It’s really beyond my imagination. It’s really very suprising, shocking,” Takeru said of the Philippines. In a ceremony a day after the premiere, they were also designated as “Cultural Friendship Ambassador” to the Philippines.

Today, singer-songwriter Kato Miliyah released the music video for her new single “YOU…” featuring Izumi Nakasone of the band HY. As previously reported, this single is set for release on September 3. The video finds Miliyah and Izumi singing a duet in an airy, light-filled room. The duo are surrounded by candles, with Izumi playing the piano. The color palette of this video focuses on red and white, with black coming in towards the end as the video shifts from day to night. Check the out video as well as some behind the scenes photos after the jump!

Model and actress Mizuhara Kiko recently uploaded a photo of herself on Instagram committing the ultimate taboo of wearing shoes while indoors. Netizens were not very pleased.

At a live at Tokyo Nakano Sun Plaza Hall this past June, ambitious Idol group Up Up Girls challenged themselves to climb to the top of Mount Fuji for a special performance. To be upfront about it, that’s 12,388 feet high!

They covertly climbed from August 6th until today on the 7th, just days before they are set to appear at ‘ROCK IN JAPAN FESTIVAL 2014‘ on August 9th. Fans were not allowed for safety of the girls.

Natalie reports a detailed look into their journey.

Bassist Seiji, who is also manager, assembled Yamato (Vo) of Orange Range, Takashi (G) of Mongol800, and Tetsushi (DJ) of RYUKYUDISKO to form a new band NEENEE.

They just released their first album ‘N1‘ described as as electronic-dance rock on August 6th. It features 11 songs with lyrics written by Yamato, while Tetsushi was in charge of compositions.

Check out their songs ‘GOD HAND‘ and ‘NOW IS THE TIME‘ below.

To celebrate the upcoming release of AKB48‘s 37th major single ‘Kokoro no Placard‘, the top 16 members according to the 6th general election are commemorated in a new Line sticker set!

For the price of $1.99, you’ll be able to express your using hybrid emoticons of your favorite AKB48 members. To refresh your memory, in order those members include Mayu Watanabe, Rino Sashihara, Yuki Kashiwagi, Jurina Matsui, Rena Matsui, Sayaka Yamamoto, Haruka Shimazaki, Haruna Kojima, Minami Takahashi, Akari Suda, Miyawaki Sakura, Sae Miyazawa, Yui Yokoyama, Rina Ikoma, Aya Shibata, and Rina Kawaei.

Check them out below.

Earlier this year, open applications to join a Country Musume revival unit were announced through Up-Front’s official YouTube channel by sole member Satoda Mai, afraid the group with disappear when she moved to the United States.

The group debuted in 1999 with the original concept of being a group of “country girls from Hokkaido”. The audition was open to girls ages 10 to 17 nationwide, but after two rounds, it was revealed today that there were no winners chosen to continue the group’s legacy.

Up-Front Works posted a notification of the results on their website.