On August 6, the first part of Louis Vuitton Men’s Spring / Summer 2021 collection was presented in Shanghai. On September 2, the second part of the collection was presented in Tokyo. Even though artistic director Virgil Abloh and the international fashion crowd were not present at these shows due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, a number of domestic celebrities were in attendance for the shows. For the Tokyo one, the likes of JO1, Hirose Suzu, Sandaime J Soul Brothers‘ Iwata Takanori, RADWIMP‘s Noda Yojiro, AKB48‘s Haruna Kojima, and Takashi Murakami were in attendance. Check them out below!

Johnny’s group Snow Man has released the YouTube ver of their MV for their highly anticipated 2nd single “KISSIN’ MY LIPS“, the single is a double a-side paired with the song “Stories“.

The high energy MV showcases the boys dancing in sleek suits, paired with scenes of them having fun with cute dogs, what’s not to love! Check out the YouTube version of the MV below!

Johnny & Associates made an announcement on their website that Mary Kitagawa is no longer the agency’s Executive Director. Mary, otherwise known as “Mary Yasuko Fujishima” is the elder sister of the recently deceased Johnny Kitagawa. She is 93-years-old.

Mary had a long history with the company, as she was working with her brother since day 1. She played a huge role behind the scenes with her role as Vice President and Executive Director. The announcement on Johnny’s website was very simple, basically just one sentence long stating that Mary had officially retired from her role.

Mary will now be the “Honorary President” of Johnny & Associates, which is essentially just a nice title, she will not deal with day-to-day activities nor have much authority overall.

Koda Kumi is back with her third digital single of 2020! “XXKK” has officially been described as a powerful dance number fully showing off Kumi’s “strength” and “confidence”. The song’s title is in reference to the roman numeral for 20, as this year marks her 20th anniversary in the industry! Kumi’s debut single “TAKE BACK” was released in December, 2000.

“XXKK” is currently scheduled to be included on Kumi’s upcoming album “MY NAME IS…” due out on September 11th, 2020. For now the album will only be available for purchase through her official fan club. For everyone else, the song can be streamed worldwide on all of your favorite platforms including Apple Music and Spotify.

Former Morning Musume member Riho Sayashi will be making her official long awaited comeback! It has been announced that she has signed to the agency Japan Music Entertainment. The specific details of Sayashi’s new solo activities have not been determined yet, but it will cover a variety of fields.

In the press release it was stated that Sayashi plans to do singing, dancing, and acting. Sayashi thanked fans for continuing to support her and is excited to go on this new journey with them.

This week, Kanjani8 topped the Hot 100 ingle chart with their new single “Re:LIVE”, with 28,859 points.

Yonezu Kenshi topped the Hot Album chart for the third consecutive week with his album “STRAY SHEEP.”

YOASOBI topped the Streaming Songs chart for the 13th non-consecutive week with their digital single “Yoru ni Kakeru.”

Keyakizaka46 topped the Download Songs chart with their new digital single “Dare ga Sono Kane wo Narasu no ka?”

Kenshi also topped the Download Albums chart for the third consecutive week with “STRAY SHEEP.”

On August 28, Shinzo Abe resigned as Prime Minister of Japan, due to a relapse of ulcerative colitis. There were mixed reactions about the news. One person who was upset about Abe’s resignation was Yumi Matsutoya.

The night of Abe’s resignation, Yuming hosted her monthly radio show, “Yumi Matsutoya’s All Night Nippon GOLD.” Commenting on the resignation, she said, “I cried a bit watching the television announcement. [The resignation] was really sad… I feel like we share the same values. We’re the same age, and we have the same romantic view of seeing how things are. Even though I’m talking about this due to the resignation, the couple has a strong relationship too.” Yuming further revealed her close ties with the Abe family.

There were mixed reactions to Yuming’s statement, but one in particular has garrned attention. Politicial scientist and Kyoto Seika University professor Shirai Satoshi faced intense criticism over his remarks on his public Facebook account.

Professor Shirai reacted harshly, commenting publicly on his Facebook, “She should have just ended her career early as Yumi Arai (her maiden name)… Rather than doing these sorts of disgusting acts, I honestly think it would be better if she just died than stain her legacy like this. She’s deteriorating just like post-war Japan… Aging is definitely a cruel thing”.

This week’s guests were Aimyon, Kamishiraishi Mone,

Aimyon – Sora no Aosa o Shiru Hito yo / Hadaka no Kokoro

Kamishiraishi Mone – Shiroi Doro

King & Prince – & LOVE / Bounce

miwa – DAITAN!

Ikimonogakari – Kira Kira ni Hikaru

miwa – Hello, my friend (Yumi Matsutoya cover)