On December 27 at 12 PM JST, MUSIC STATION ULTRA SUPER LIVE 2019 will air. The show will feature performances by the likes of Arashi, Shiina Ringo, Perfume, Koda Kumi, MISIA, m-flo, Daichi Miura, and Kyary Pamyu Pamyu.
There is a live stream of the show and Arama! Japan will be hosting a chat on Discord so that readers can chat with each other during the show! See more below!
Over the past few days, we’ve been releasing our first set of podcasts, focusing the the music of the 2010s. The first part focused on artists, while the second part focused on idols. The third part focuses on the overall music industry, including Japan’s mess of a chart system, JPop v. KPop, international expansion, and the flop that is Cool Japan.
Featured on the podcast alongside myself are Selective Hearing’s Hannah and Patrick St. Michel of The Japan Times. Check it out below!
On December 25, SIMI LAB‘s MARIA will release a new digital single, “Set Me Free.” The song is produced by Gradis Nice and shows MARIA showing a more emotional side of herself. She’s released a music video to accompany the song, which documents the close friendship between two young women. Check it out below!
On March 13, SPACE SHOWER will hold this year’s edition of its annual awards show, SPACE SHOWER TV 30TH ANNIVERSARY SPACE SHOWER MUSIC AWARDS 2020. The awards honor artists who have made a contribution to music in 2019 in the eyes of SPACE SHOWER TV. The show will be hosted by Yusuke Santamaria, Ito Seiko, and Kyary Pamyu Pamyu. It will be held at Tokyo International Forum Hall A.
There are 9 catergories, plus PEOPLE’S CHOICE, that are now open to public voting. Voting for these awards ends on February 16.
In addition, the awards for ARTIST OF THE YEAR, ALBUM OF THE YEAR, SONG OF THE YEAR, and VIDEO OF THE YEAR, which are not open for public voting, will be given away at the show.
Check out the nominees for the SPACE SHOWER TV 30TH ANNIVERSARY SPACE SHOWER MUSIC AWARDS 2020 after the jump!
On December 31, CDTV will air this year’s edition of its annual New Year’s Eve special, CDTV Special! Toshikoshi Premier Live 2019→2020. The show, which will be in its 21st edition, will start at 11:55 PM JST and continue for 5 hours. The show will be hosted by TBS announcers Kuniyama Hasen and Ito Kaede. The first set of performers was recently announced and the roster includes names such as Perfume, Daichi Miura, E-girls, King & Prince, EXILE, King Gnu, Foorin, and Little Glee Monster. See who else is performing below!
Today, TBS aired this year’s edition of Oda Kazumasa’s annual Christmas concert, Christmas no Yakusoku. This year’s guests were KAN, Kumaki Anri, Shota Shimizu, JUJU, Sukima Switch, Nemoto Kaname, Matsuzaki Nao, Mizuno Yoshiki, Yaida Hitomi, and Wada Sho. Check out the full show below!
This month, one song from 2019 was certified Triple Platinum for selling 750,000 copies: Yonezu Kenshi‘s “Uma to Shika.”
Four songs from 2019 were certified Gold for selling 100,000 copies: Official HIGE DANdism‘s “Yesterday”, King Gnu‘s “Hikoutei”, B’z‘s “Hei, Hashiru”, and RADWIMPS‘ “Daijoubu.”
This week, Official HIGE DANdism retook the top spot on the Combined Single chart with their single “Pretender”, with 8,381 points, topping the chart for the third non-consecutive week.
Rinu topped the Hot Albums chart with his debut album “Time Capsule.”
Official HIGE DANdism also topped the Streaming Songs chart for the 30th consecutive week with “Pretender.”
LiSA retook the top spot on the Download Songs chart with her single “Gurenge”, topping the chart for the third non-consecutive week.
Kinashi Noritake topped the Download Albums chart with his new best album “Kinashi Funk The Best.”