Harajuku-based pop duo AMIAYA have just revealed a teaser video for their upcoming digital single ‘XXsupafreaks’!

「LOVE TO YOU -by CUPS-」 is a new hit sensation by fairly new artist Suzu on sale August 20th. This killer tune’s summer melody employs the use of the sanshin, a traditional Okinawan instrumental similar to the banjo, as well as the cup game for its infectious percussion beat.

The cup game has been around for what feels like forever, but only recently it came back to relevance with the American movie ‘Pitch Perfect’. After seeing this film, Suzu was inspired and traveled to Sweden to collaborate with producer Erik Lidbom (EXILE, Arashi, PASSPO, MiChi) to create a series of covers using cups. Before she began working on original songs, she mastered the technique and performed it live.

The music video is very similar to Anna Kendrick’s ‘Cups’. Suzu has draped a royal blue blanket over her body and wanders around a bizarre diner where she goes from table to table having fun with empty cups. Check it out the short version below.

In the west, big artists like Beyonce and Rihanna are known for having dedicated fans known as the Beyhive and Navy.  While K-pop fans are known for declaring themselves Blackjacks (2NE1) and Shawols (SHINee) for example. But do you know what J-pop fans call themselves?

Last year, through the use of Twitter and other SNS, fan names like ‘Mononofu’ and ‘Pana-san’ made waves. Likewise, baseball player Tanaka Masahiro (New York Yankees) who is a well-known Momoiro Clover Z fan also refers to himself as a ‘Mononofu’. As such, a ranking was made “I didn’t know that! Artists’ fan names ranking”. The poll was conducted from March 26th, 2014 to March 28th. A total of 1,088 responses were received.

Check out the list below!

According to a report from gossip magazine FRIDAY, sticky caps singer aYUMI HAMASaKI was spotted in sunglasses leaving a Nishi-Azabu Bar with her husband. Yes, this is not an unusual occurrence, but what struck this reporter as bizarre is that absolutely no one recognized her or they simply did not care.

The singer’s 15-year career has allowed her to be dubbed the “Empress of J-Pop” due to her popularity and widespread influence throughout Asia. However, her reign appears to have ended around the time of the release of her 2012 album ‘Party Queen’ in which many fans dub as “trashy” or “Did Ayumi Hamasaki even release an album in 2012?”. Her latest single ‘Feel the love / Merry-go-round’ sold a measly 30,000, her worst ever.

On June 29th, Robocop himself attended an event to celebrate the release of the new Robocop movie on DVD and Blu-ray in Japan.

Robocop introduced himself with a brief hello in Japanese and even danced to the song ‘Let It Go’ from the hit movie Frozen in front of an amused audience.

Years ago, Yamapi struggled with the few English words he knows during an interview with Seth Rogen. Moving forward to 2014, a much more English proficient Yamapi gets another shot to interview Hollywood stars.

In the latest episode of his English focused ‘Otona no Kiss Eigo’ variety show, Yamapi meets Angelina Jolie and Elle Fanning for the movie promotion of ‘Maleficent’ in Japan. The movie opens this weekend and is set to break Frozen’s 16-week reign at the box office.

Watch the video as Yamapi asks Angelina to play riddles with him and Elle remarks they both have the same birthdays.

How did Yamapi’s English fare this time?

After the success of 2010’s The Borrower Arrietty, director Hiromasa Yonebayashi will return to Studio Ghibli with the film ‘When Marnie Was There’ based on Joan G. Robinson’s novel of the same name.

Yonebashi is the youngest director to ever to take on the reigns at Studio Ghibli, and the first to do so without the help of the now retired(?) Hayao Miyazaki. Miyazaki and Isao Takahata have long been the figureheads of the studio and it was considered risky to allow a newbie to take on this responsibility. However, Yonebashi has been with the studio since 1997 as a clean up animator and worked up through the ranks to get where he is today.

Over the weekend, Bayonetta character designer Mari Shimazaki posted some new artwork on the Platinum Games blog, along with commentary, giving us some insight on perfecting the very stylish Bayonetta’s look.