We’re back with this week’s edition of Oricon Flashback! This is where we look back on what topped the charts this week 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 years ago. Think of it as a way to reminisce and learn about the past of Japanese music.

You Yokoyama of Kanjani8 has tested positive for the novel coronavirus COVID-19.

On the morning of January 3, You had a fever of 38℃ and a sore throat. After being administered an PCR test, he was confirmed to have COVID-19. He will be under the watch of medical staff going forward.

On January 4, the other members of Kanjani8 and their managers were tested as well. The other members of Kanjani tested negative; however, two of the group’s managers tested positive. The two managers are currently asymptomatic.

This week, King & Prince topped the Hot 100 single chart with their new single “I promise”, with 44,923 points.

Hey! Say! JUMP topped the Hot Albums chart with their new album “Fab! -Music speaks.-”

King & Prince also topped the Artist 100 chart.

KOMU and Kusakawa Shun topped the Hot 100 Lyricists chart.

GRP and Kusakawa Shun topped the Hot 100 Composers chart.

BTS topped the Streaming Songs chart with their digital single “Dynamite” for the eighth non-consecutive week.

LiSA topped the Download Songs chart for the tenth consecutive week with her single “Homura.”

Arashi topped the Download Albums chart for the second consecutive week with their album “This is Arashi.”

A new cosplay singer is on the scene with the stage name Singing Cosplayer Hikari! A self described lover of anime, gaming, and vocaloids her concept is to cover many beloved songs from the anime/gaming realm while doing a perfect cosplay of one of the characters from the series she’s singing from.

Hikari’s very first upload is a cover of the hit “A Cruel Angel’s Thesis” by Yoko Takahashi. The original version was released in 1995 and served as the theme song for “Neon Genesis Evangelion”. For Hikari’s take she dressed up as one of the main characters from the series, Rei Ayanami.

Every six weeks Hikari plans to change the theme of her of content. Check out her cover of “A Cruel Angel Thesis” below!

The ratings for NHK’s annual year end show Kohaku Uta Gassen have been released. Last year the show made history, but not for the best of reasons. The 70th edition of the show received an average audience rating of 37.3%, this was the first time that Kohaku’s ratings dipped below 40% becoming the lowest rated Kohaku ever.

For the 71st edition of the show many were curious to see how it would fare in the ratings, as many people would be staying home this year to practice social distancing. Furthermore, the show had many big moments on their lineup, namely the last nationally televised performance for Johnny’s group Arashi.

Hey, Arama Japan! It’s Friday, so it’s Open Post time! Feel free to chat with your fellow readers about whatever you like! Enjoy!

Rino Sashihara is one of the numerous Japanese celebrities who has joined the trend of creating their own personal YouTube channel. This came as a shock to many as previously she didn’t have the most positive things to say about the dozens of celebrities hopping on the trend.

In December 2019 while appearing on the variety show “Wide Na Show” the topic of YouTube came up Sashihara said that she couldn’t see herself doing YouTube at the moment since too many celebrities seem to be just doing it for money, rather than a form of expression. She also commented that when an entertainer joins YouTube she thinks it’s a case of them not really doing well.

Former SMAP member Tsuyoshi Kusanagi had a very surprising announcement for his fans this new year, he’s married! Kusanagi officially made the announcement via his agency on December 30th, right before the new year. In the statement it was confirmed that Kusanagi’s wife is not involved with the entertainment industry, she also isn’t pregnant.

All 4 of Kusanagi’s former SMAP members congratulated his marriage, which was quite a treat for fans as both Takuya Kimura and Masahiro Nakai chose to stay with Johnny’s after the group dissolved, with Nakai eventually leaving Johnny’s later.