Earlier this month, Arama! Japan ventured to Los Angeles to attend the music events “OTAQUEST LIVE” and “OTAQUEST KICKOFF.” The day before the events, a series of interviews took place at EXPG STUDIO LA BY LDH. The first of these interviews was with Yasutaka Nakata. He is the mastermind behind Perfume, Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, and CAPSULE. He performed with Toshiko Koshijima at “OTAQUEST LIVE” as CAPSULE and DJ’ed under his own name at “OTAQUEST KICKOFF.” Check out Arama! Japan’s interview with him below!

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!

This week’s guests were IZ*ONE, Fairies, EMPiRE, and Murakami Chisato.

IZ*ONE – La Vie en Rose / Buenos Aires

Fairies – Metropolis

EMPiRE – SUCCESS STORY

Murakami Chisato – Boogie BEAT

This week’s episode was a 90 minute special due to the death of Johnny Kitagawa. This week’s guests were Diamond☆Yukai, Yamadera Koichi, Hinatazaka46, Porno Graffitti, Kis-My-Ft2, Kamenashi Kazuya, HiHi Jets, and Bishonen.

Diamond☆Yukai – Kimi wa Tomodachi

Yamadera Koichi – Friend Like Me

Hinatazaka46 – Do Re Mi Sol La Si Do

Porno Graffitti – VS

Kis-My-Ft2 – Inori / Everybody Go

Kamenashi Kazuya – Kizuna / Seishun Amigo

HiHi Jets & Bishonen – Oide, Sunshine!

Kamenashi Kazuya / Kis-My-Ft2 / HiHi Jets & Bishonen – Ashita ni Mukatte / Can do! Can go!

This week, Kis-My-Ft2 topped the Combined Single chart with their new single “HANDS UP”, with 196,438 points in its first week.

BUMP OF CHICKEN topped the Combined Album chart with their new album “aurora arc”, with 218,991 points in its first week.

Kis-My-Ft2 also topped the Single chart with “HANDS UP”, selling 196,438 copies in its first week.

BUMP OF CHICKEN also topped the Album chart with “aurora arc”, selling 202,157 copies in its first week.

Official HIGE DANdism topped the Digital Single chart with their new digital single “Shukumei”, selling 16,829 copies in its first week.

BUMP OF CHICKEN also topped the Digital Album chart with “aurora arc”, selling 14,147 copies in its first week.

Official HIGE DANdism topped the Streaming chart for the eighth consecutive week with their single “Pretender”, with 3,354,687 streams in its 11th 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.

Yesterday, the Fair Trade Commission issued a warning to Johnny & Associates over suspicions that the company may have pressured TV stations to stop inviting the three former members of SMAP who left the company onto their shows. The commission said that Johnny & Associates may be violating the anti-monopoly law. This is the first time a talent agency has received a warning from the Fair Trade Commission based on the law that deals with artists who change management companies.

Johnny & Associates denied it had put any TV station under pressure, but the company did admit it was investigated by the commission. A statement on the Johnny & Associates website read, “It is untrue that our company applied any pressure on a TV station and that we received administrative measures or warnings from the Fair Trade Commission for violating the anti-monopoly law. However, we take seriously that we have been investigated by the commission and we would like to pay attention (to our conduct) in order to prevent any misunderstandings.”

British department store Selfridges recently launched a new campaign called “The New Order.” About the campaign, Selfridges states, “As the digital revolution continues to transform everything from politics to pop music, we have invited some of the world’s most boundary-breaking digital creatives to reimagine what shopping, style and the department store might look like in the not-so-distant future.”

Jon Emmony is one of these digital creatives. He has tapped KOHH and American model Amanda Murphy to star in his segment of the campaign, Swimwear Summer 2019. The campaign can be seen in many different places, including the windows of Selfridges’ flagship store in London, as KOHH’s recent Instagram posts display. Check them out, along with the campaign, below!