LDH announced that it will be canceling the remaining planned live performances for their “LDH PERFECT YEAR 2020” series due to the on-going effects of COVID-19. The series began on February 26th, and was scheduled to conclude on December 26th, 2020.

The first set of cancellations happened with EXILE’s one man live, the 4th day performance which was supposed to happen at Osaka Dome. Despite the state of emergency being lifted from Japan, it’s still been difficult to organize events with the virus still around. Due to this, LDH finally made the decision to cancel the remainder of the performances, bringing the total to 168. Fans will have the opportunity to get a refund beginning on June 19th.

Arashi member Kazunari Ninomiya has been selected to star in a brand new CM for food corporation Nisshin, specifically promoting their OilliO range of products.

OilliO products include various cooking oils, salad dressings, soy products, and seasonings. In the CM Ninomiya is seen frying chicken using their “Healthy Off” oil. Showing off the versatility of the product, other actors in the CM can be seen applying it to a fruit desert, using it as a salad dressing, and even adding it to fresh juice (oil can help your body digest carrot juice!).

Ninomiya has been promoting OilliO products for a decade now, which is perfect for him as he declared the oil an “essential” product due to his love of fried foods. Chicken and spring rolls are among his favorite fried foods. Check out the CM below:

When it was announced that comedian Ken Watabe would be getting married to Nozomi Sasaki, the public was delighted. The “unlikely” couple, who have a 15-year-age gap, won the approval of many. Their marriage gave the two a huge PR boost to their careers. The couple seemed to be doing well, welcoming their first child in September 2018.

That all changed this morning, as tabloid Bunshun dropped the bombshell that Ken had been cheating on Nozomi with multiple women. This took place during their entire relationship. He was cheating on her while they were dating, after they got married, and even while she was pregnant with their child. As a result, Ken has currently cancelled all of his scheduled television appearances.

This week’s guests were SHE’S and Inoue Sonoko, who performed at home.

SHE’S – Letter

Inoue Sonoko – Zenbu.

This week, YOASOBI topped the Hot 100 single chart for the second consecutive week with their digital single “Yoru ni Kakeru”, with 12,900 points.

BanG Dream! Girls Band Party! topped the Hot Albums chart with their new cover album “BanG Dream! Girls Band Party! Cover Collection Vol.4.”

YOASOBI also topped the Streaming Songs chart for the second consecutive week with “Yoru ni Kakeru.”

LiSA retook the top spot on the Download Songs chart with her single “Gurenge”, topping it for the fifth non-consecutive week.

Lady Gaga topped the Download Albums chart with her new album “Chromatica.”

Imani Jess is an American artist who signed her debut album DAY BY DAY in 2014 at is from the japanese indie label GOON TRAX (a subdivision of KADOKAWA)
I discovered that album on a random Japanese music website, and witnessing a Black artist signed in Japanese label came off as such an intriguing instance that I felt compelled to listen to it……and..WHAT A BLAST!! I needed to learn more about her and desperately searched for more information. Unfortunately, back then I only managed to find a tumblr page -that didn’t seem updated anymore-, and eventually concluded that IMANI was another victim of the ‘Japanese debuting artist curse’ (you know, those artists debuting with groundbreaking debut album that end up vanishing in thin air *hi SNoW!*) and pretty much lost hope on finding any more info about her…

Flash forward 6 years later in 2020. After a series of circumstances, Ronald discloses to me that he’s actually friend with IMANI(!!), and she would be totally open for an actual interview! I didn’t think twice..!
I thought it would be an interesting occasion to provide to Arama readers a small peep into the lifestyle of a Western artist striving into the Japanese music industry. Check out for the interview with IMANI down below the jump!

This week’s guests were ACIDMAN, THE ORAL CIGARETTES, and go!go!vanillas.

ACIDMAN – Ginga no Machi

THE ORAL CIGARETTES – Slowly but surely I go on

go!go!vanillas – Amazing Race

This week, Walkure topped the Combined Single chart with their new single “Mirai wa Onna no Tame ni Aru”, with 32,043 points in its first week.

BanG Dream! Girls Band Party! topped the Combined Album chart with their new cover album “BanG Dream! Girls Band Party! Cover Collection Vol.4”, with 23,142 points in its first week.

Walkure also topped the Single chart with “Mirai wa Onna no Tame ni Aru”, selling 23,807 copies in its first week.

BanG Dream! Girls Band Party! also topped the Album chart with “BanG Dream! Girls Band Party! Cover Collection Vol.4”, selling 23,142 copies in its first week.

YOASOBI topped the Digital Single chart with their digital single “Yoru ni Kakeru”, selling 19,815 copies in its third week in the chart’s top 10.

Lady Gaga topped the Digital Album chart with her new album “Chromatica”, selling 2,250 copies in its first week.

YOASOBI also topped the Streaming chart for the second consecutive week with “Yoru ni Kakeru”, with 6,462,340 points in its seventh week in the chart’s top 10.