On May 2, the third episode of “M Ai Subeki Hito ga Ite”, the drama based on the rise to fame of Ayumi Hamasaki, starring Kalen Anzai as Ayu, aired.

After winning the marathon in episode 2, it was certain that Ayu would be making her debut. However, President Ohama never guaranteed it would be as a soloist. Instead, he says that she will be debuting in Sho’s girl group. This infuriates Masa, leading him to re-enact the Arthur meme.

Something that President Ohama said in the beginning of the episode may explain why we have so few female soloists now, but so many female groups: most people fail, so it’s easier to debut a group due to there being less risk. Think of all the effort that has to be put into five different soloists, compared to the amount that has to be put into one group of five.

We are then flashed back to 1985, where Ayu asks her grandmother why her father has abandoned her. In this flashback, there is a flashback to Ayu’s father letting go of her hand to basically let her drown. Whether this is literal or metaphorical, I can’t be sure.

A few days ago, Hoshino Gen released a playlist on Apple Music as part of its “STAY HOME” project, “At Home with Apple Music ~Uchi de Sugosou~.” As part of this project, a new interview with Gen has been released.

The interview was conducted via FaceTime with Apple Music Beats 1 host Zane Lowe. Gen is the first Japanese artist to be part of this series. Internationally, artists such as Dua Lipa, Jennifer Lopez, Charli XCX, and FKA twigs have taken part in this interview series.

In the interview, Gen and Zane discuss Gen’s stay at home anthem “Uchi de Odorou” and his playlist. Check out clips from the interview below!

As previously reported, Ken Hirai is current celebrating his 25th anniversary! Today actually marks the day he released his debut single, “Precious Junk”, in 1995.

To celebrate this anniversary, Ken has released 34 music videos on his YouTube channel, spanning from “Precious Junk” to his May 2011 single “Itoshiki Hibi yo.” He’s also released his 20th anniversary concert on the channel.

In addition, Ken’s also opened a special site in honor of his 25th anniversary, which documents his career. The site includes Spotify and Apple Music playlists, which are accessible outside of Japan. He had previously released his music for streaming, but it was not available outside of Japan.

However, these are not forever. The music videos will only be up til the end of June, while the concert will only be up til the end of December.

Check out the videos below!

This week, Official HIGE DANdism topped the Hot 100 single chart with their single “I LOVE…”, with 9,576 points, topping it for the sixth non-consecutive week.

THE ORAL CIGARETTES topped the Hot Albums chart with their new album “SUCK MY WORLD.”

Official HIGE DANdism also topped the Streaming Songs chart for the 12th consecutive week with “I LOVE…”

√AtoZ topped the Download Songs chart with their digital single Date Plan A to Z.

Gesu no Kiwami Otome. topped the Download Albums chart with their new digital album “Streaming, CD, Record.”

This week’s episode mainly consisted of archive performances by the likes of ayaka, AKB48, Hikawa Kiyoshi, and Ikimonogakari. However, it did feature new at home performances by Sayaka Yamamoto and Juice=Juice.

Sayaka Yamamoto – 365 Nichi no Kamihikouki

Juice=Juice – Pop Music

a-nation, Avex’s annual summer festival, will be postponed this year due to the novel coronavirus COVID-19. The news was announced on the official site for a-nation. This decision to postpone came after several discussions about how to go about holding the festival with the current pandemic.

In continuation of the charity activities of its “Smile Up! Project”, Johnnys Jimusho announced that they will be releasing a charity song “smile”. A limited time unit “Twenty★Twenty” will be formed consisting of 76 people from 15 groups. Mr. Children’s Sakurai Kazutoshi, who himself is active in a lot of charity works, is in charge of writing and composing the song. Details of the music release will be announced later on.

Sakurai, who wrote and composed the song “smile”, said “I am very honored to be able to participate in this project in the form of providing music. I could write the lyrics because it was based on the assumption that Johnny’s would sing this song.

One of the lines of the song goes “But don’t forget [I can see your smile] That’s the only thing I need to live.” Sakurai added “I think there’s no one better than Johnnys singing this phrase.”

We’re back with a new edition of Arama! Japan Playlist! This playlist is a mixture of staff selections and new releases, all from this past April. There’s something here for everyone, including Kalen Anzai, JP THE WAVY, HKT48, MIYAVI, Official HIGE DANdism, Tokyo Jihen, KOHH, GENERATIONS, BiSH, EGOIST, JUJU, and Hoshino Gen. Check it out below!