“Ongaku no Hi 2019” Live Stream and Chat

At 2 PM JST on July 13, “Ongaku no Hi 2019” will air. The previously announced performers include Arashi, Shiina Ringo, Perfume, Daichi Miura, E-girls, V6, AI, and Sandaime J Soul Brothers. In recent days, more performers have been announced, including Koda Kumi, KREVA, miwa, Nana Mizuki, CHEMISTRY, Aqours, Leo Ieiri, and Morning Musume. ’19. Other new perfomers can be found below.

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! Links to the show and the chat are after the jump!

IZ*ONE, Arashi, Official HIGE DANdism, Spitz, and Namie Amuro Top the Billboard Japan Chrts for the Week of 6/24 – 6/30

This week, IZ*ONE topped the Hot 100 single chart with their single “Buenos Aires”, with 26,670 points in its fifth week on the chart.

Arashi topped the Hot Albums chart with their new best album, “5×20 All the BEST!! 1999-2019.”

Official HIGE DANdism topped the Streaming Songs chart for the sixth consecutive week with their single “Pretender.”

Spitz topped the Download Songs chart for the second consecutive week with their single “Yasashii Anoko.”

Namie Amuro topped the Download Albums chart with her best album “Finally.”

Sakanaction to Release Recut Single

Sakanaction released “834.194”, their first studio album in six years, last month. Two of the album’s songs, “Wasurerarenai no” and “Moth”, will be released together as a recut single on August 21. Both songs were inspired by the 1980s, and in keeping with that theme, “Wasurerarenai no / Moth” will be released in the then-popular 8cm CD format. The single will be available in a limited edition of 10,000 copies due to manufacturing capabilities.

“Moth” serves as the theme song for the Fuji TV drama “Lupin no Musume”, which premieres July 11. It marks the first time that the band has made a Fuji TV drama theme since 2013, when “Music” was the theme song for “dinner.” Sakanaction frontman Yamaguchi Ichiro said he was honored to be in charge of the theme song for “Lupin no Musume”, saying with a laugh that he did a “guts pose (fist pump)” when he found out it was a drama starring Fukada Kyoko.

Sakanaction has now released the music video for “Moth.” The video’s main star is a cocoon, out of which something develops. See what that something is below!

avengers in sci-fi Combine Yamashita Tatsuro and French House on “Summertime”

On July 10, avengers in sci-fi will release a new digital single, “Summertime.” A CD edition of “Summertime” with a bonus track will be available at avengers in sci-fi’s upcoming live shows.

“Summertime” is a summery, club-oriented song that the band describes as “AI combining French House and Yamashita Tatsuro, and misinterpreting it.” Decide for yourself below!

AKLO and NORIKIYO Team Up for Joint Album

On July 10, AKLO and NORIKIYO will release the collaboration album “New Drug.” The album is completely produced by BACHLOGIC. He also appears on two of album’s nine tracks under his “Haganeda Teflon” moniker.

“New Drug” came about due to NORIKIYO’s desire to have a song to perform live with AKLO while on tour. When they met with BACHLOGIC to create the song, they ended up with multiple songs, resulting in their joint album. More information on the album can be found below, along with the music video for one of its songs, “Hyakusenman.”

FNCY to Release Debut Album

On July 10, FNCY will release their self-titled debut album. The album will have 11 songs, including the group’s four previously released digital singles: “AOI Yoru”, “silky”, “Konya wa medicine”, and “DRVN’.” “FNCY” will also feature a remix of group member ZEN-LA-ROCK‘s 2017 collaboration with group members G.RINA and Chinza DOPENESS, “SEVENTH HEAVEN.” This song led to the creation of FNCY, so it will be revisited on their debut album.

Along with the album’s release, FNCY has released a music video for one of their new songs, “FNCY CLOTHES.” Check it out below, along with more information on FNCY’s debut album!

Ame no Parade Venture to Guam for “Summer Time Magic”

On July 10, Ame no Parade will release a new digital single, “Summer Time Magic.” The summer weather has inspired the band to change their sound a bit, resulting in a more lighthearted, breezy pop tune. To match the music, Ame no Parade journeyed to Guam to shoot the music music video.

This release comes days after the digital release of Shinichi Osawa‘s remix of Ame no Parade’s April single “Ahead Ahead.” His signature sound adds an electronic spark to one of the normally electronic band’s less electronic songs, breathing new life into it.

Check out more information on both of these releases below!

Former Morning Musume member Haruka Kudo apologizes for dragging male milk tea enthusiasts

Former Morning Musume member Haruka Kudo seems to have landed herself in some hot water. Since graduating from Morning Musume in 2017, Haruka left the group to focus on becoming an actress.

She recently landed a deal to appear in CMs for the Kirin milk tea drink, apart of their popular “afternoon tea” drink series. However, some netizens pointed out that a few years ago Haruka made comments about men drinking milk tea on one of her past blogs.