This week, NMB48 topped the Combined Single chart with their new single “Hatsukoi Shijou Shugi”, with 167,815 points in its first week.

Kurusu Syo topped the Combined Album chart with his new best album “Uta no☆Prince-sama♪ Solo Best Album Kurusu Syo ‘Sweet Kiss’”, with 30,499 points in its first week.

NMB48 also topped the Single chart with “Hatsukoi Shijou Shugi”, selling 166,684 copies in its first week.

Syo also topped the Album chart with “Uta no☆Prince-sama♪ Solo Best Album Kurusu Syo ‘Sweet Kiss’”, selling 30,499 copies in its first week.

Arashi topped the Digital Single chart for the second consecutive week with their digital single “Turning Up”, selling 67,921 copies in its second week.

Official HIGE DANdism retook the top spot on the Digital Album chart with their album “Traveler”, selling 2,945 copies in its fifth week and topping the chart for the second non-consecutive week.

Official HIGE DANdism topped the Streaming chart for the 25th consecutive week with their song “Pretender”, with 3,704,786 streams in its 28th week.

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.

This week’s performers were Kis-My-Ft2, Yamazaki Masayoshi, Ryokuousyoku Syakai, and High School Chidren. Ozawa Kenji was the talk guest.

Kis-My-Ft2 – Edge of Days

Yamazaki Masayoshi – Kagefumi

Ryokuousyoku Syakai – sabotage

High School Children – Ai no Kusari

Actress Sawajiri Erika was arrested on the 16th on alleged possession of the synthetic drug MDMA, in Tokyo. No further information on the amount of drugs or details of the arrest available. The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department will release more details later on today.

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!

Today TBS (the Tokyo Broadcasting System) has published both this year’s set of winners for the Japan Record Awards as well as the nominees for the Song of the Year and Best New Artist categories.  The Japan Record Awards are a Japanese music awards show akin to what the Grammy’s are in the United States and it can be considered a great honor to be selected for any award on the list below.

Of particular note among this year’s Song of the Year Nominations are Foorin’s “Paprika”, Nogizaka46’s “Sing Out!”, Kiyoshi Hikawa’s “Daijoubu”, Daichi Miura’s “Katasumi”, and Little Glee Monster’s “ECHO”.  Also worth mentioning is the recipient of this year’s Album of the Year award:  THE YELLOW MONKEY’s “9999”, the band’s first studio album in nearly 20 years and the first since their 2016 reformation.

The 61st Japan Record Awards will air on December 30th, which is when we’ll find out who this year’s Best New Artist will be, as well as which of the song nominations will receive the coveted Grand Prix award.  Please read on below for a look at the full list of winners and nominees and a healthy congratulations to each and every one of them.

SXSW will return to Austin, Texas next year, from March 13 – 22. A number of Japanese acts have been announced as performers at the festival. These acts are Kyuso Nekokami, Otoboke Beaver, Dos Monos, TRI4TH, and Haru Nemuri.

On December 4 and 11, Fuji TV will hold this year’s edition of its annual year end music special, FNS Kayousai. Both nights will be hosted by Arashi‘s Aiba Masaki and Fuji TV announcer Nagashima Yumi. The first night will air from 6:30 PM JST – 11:28 PM JST, while the second night will air from 7 PM JST – 11:28 PM JST.

This year, FNS Kayousai celebrates its 45th anniversary. As part of this celebration, some changes are being made to the show. One such change is the making the show more family-friendly. Another is the greater emphasis on the talk segments between the hosts and the performers.

Speaking of performers, the list for the first night, which will be at Hiten hall in Tokyo’s Grand Prince Hotel New Takanawa, was announced today! Performers this night will include the likes of Arashi, Shiina Ringo, Aqours, Nana Mizuki, AI, Daichi Miura, JUJU, and NEWS. See who else is performing below!