On the September 28 episode of “Shukan Newsreader”, TOKIO member Joshima Shigeru announced that he is engaged to Kikuchi Risa. He also announced that Risa is pregnant.

On the show he said, “I am sorry for the personal matter, but I, Joshima Shigeru, will be getting married. My partner is with child. I will be 50 years old next year, but I would like to do my best in the future.”

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.

Japan’s Mama Nozomi Tsuji has reached a new milestone in her career, she has surpassed 1 million followers on Instagram!

The former Morning Musume, Minimoni, W, and Gyaruru member naturally made a celebratory post posing with a set of gold numbered balloons, and a stitched cartoon plushie of herself. The last photo sees Nono bowing in gratitude. She has the highest amount of followers for any former, or current members of Hello!Project.

In the caption she simply thanked her fans for helping her reach 1 million, and made liberal use of a variety of hashtags. 20 to be exact!

In its opening week, Yonezu Kenshi‘s single “Uma to Shika” sold 431,270 copies according to the Billboard Japan Top Singles Sales chart, placing it in the #2 spot that week. This is a large increase from the first week of his last single, last October’s “Flamingo / TEENAGE RIOT”, which opened with 240,077 copies sold. The first week sales of “Uma to Shika” gives it the title of the highest first week sales for a soloist single this decade. In fact, Kenshi occupies the top three spots on this ranking, of which the top five are all male.

Today on their official site, PAELLAS announced that they will disband. The band’s final concert, aptly titled “the last show”, will take place on December 13 at Tokyo’s WWW X.

As previously reported, CHEMISTRY will release their new self-titled album on September 25. This is the duo’s first album since January 2012’s “Trinity.” “CHEMISTRY” will come in four editions: CD+DVD limited edition A, CD+Blu-ray limited edition B, a CD-only regular edition, and a vinyl version.

One of the producers on the album is tofubeats. CHEMISTRY and tofubeats met in 2017 when they were both recording new material in studios next to each other. A collaboration came about in the form of the uptempo song “Get Together Again”, which opens “CHEMISTRY.”

Check out more information on CHEMISTRY’s new album after the jump!

On September 25, Kvi Baba will release his debut album, “KVI BABA.” All nine songs on the album were produced by BACHLOGIC.

Two videos have been released in support of the album. The first is for “Crystal Cry”, which is a rap / rock hybrid with heavy guitars. The second is for “Life is Short”, which features Kvi singing as opposed to rapping. Check out both videos below, along with more information on his debut album!

On September 25, Ame no Parade will release a new digital single, “Story.” The digital single will include the title track as well as the song “Trust”, which was used as the CM song for a group of medical schools in Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya earlier this year.

“Story” has a wedding theme and came about after frontman Fukunaga Kohei attended his best friend’s wedding. He found himself unable to express his emotions in words, so he made a song.

Ame no Parade have also announced that they will release a new album this coming winter. The title has not yet been announced.

Find out more about Ame no Parade’s new digital single below!