It has been announced that Sandaime J Soul Brothers vocalist Ryuji Imaichi will be making his acting debut!

His agency LDH is collaborating with the “Short Short Films Festival” for the third time to bring “CINEMA FIGHTERS project“. The announcement was made in L.A at the TCL Chinese Theater. Ryuji will work with director Daishi Matsunaga for his debut, who most recently released “Hanalei Bay” starring Yo Yoshida and GENERATIONS member Reo Sano.

Girl group AKB48 has teamed up with Kyoraku, one of Japan’s top manufactures for Pachinko machines.

Pachinko is a mechanical game technically categorized as an arcade system, but it is most frequently used as a gambling device. Numerous franchises including Neon Genesis Evangelion, Devil May Cry, Sakura Wars, and Fist of the North Star all have their own successful Pachinko machines.

Back in December we reported that alt rockers THE YELLOW MONKEY would be releasing a new studio album titled “9999” – the group’s first in nearly 20 years – on April 17th.  Though this date is still rather far off, the band have already chosen to publish all of the details regarding the record online.  As reported previously, “9999” will include all of the songs which the group have released since their reformation in 2016, plus lead track “I don’t know” – which will be made available digitally on January 25th – and six additional songs for a total of 13.

The album will be issued in three different versions:  a Regular CD-Only Edition, a Limited Edition which will come packaged with a DVD containing both recent live footage and the full version of their YouTube documentary, and a Download Edition which will include “Kegawa no Coat no Blues”- an unreleased song from the band’s indie days – as a bonus track.  Furthermore, if you purchase the Regular or Limited Edition from select retailers, you will receive an additional DVD which contains a live performance’s of the group’s hit song “Primal.” from their comeback concert at Yoyogi National Gymnasium.

Read on below to find both the cover and complete track list, as well as a trailer for “9999”.

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!

The Recording Industry Association of Japan – better known as RIAJ – have published their digital certifications for the month of December, closing out the organization’s coverage of 2018.  One song from the year was certified 2x Million:  Kenshi Yonezu’s “Lemon”; three were certified Platinum:  back number’s “Daifuseikai”, Kenshi Yonezu’s “Flamingo”, and Uru’s “Prologue”; and four were certified Gold:  Aimyon’s “Marigold” and “Konya Kono Mama”, back number’s “Old Fashion”, and sumika’s “Fiction”.

You’ll find the full listing of certifications right after the cut.

Good news for fans of singer Utada Hikaru, her latest releases are now available worldwide on your favorite streaming services!

Unlike her other Japanese discography releases, both the album and single are tagged with her first name “Hikaru Utada”. “Hatsukoi” was originally released on June 27th, 2018.

Her 7th Japanese studio album overall, it’s her very first album release since signing a new contract with Epic Records Japan. It featured the singles “Chikai”, “Hatsukoi”, and “Too Proud”. This album also began the start of Hikki’s 20th anniversary celebrations.

Towards the end of 2018, we reported that pop-rock band SEKAI NO OWARI would be releasing three full-length albums in the new year.  The group have now unveiled all of the details surrounding the pair of Japanese-language releases – “Eye” and “Lip” – which are due out next month on February 27th.

“Eye” will include the band’s previously released tracks “ANTI-HERO”, “SOS”, and “Stargazer”, as well as ten new songs – such as their “Catherine: Full Body” image song “Re:set” – for a total of 13.  “Lip”, meanwhile, will be comprised of other released tracks like “Hey Ho”, “Error”, “Mr.Heartache”, “RAIN”, “Sazanka”, and “Illumination”, plus an additional seven songs to likewise total 13.

Additionally, as of January 18th, SEKAI NO OWARI will be making all of their prior singles and albums available on Japanese streaming services.

Read on below to find the covers and complete track lists for both “Eye” and “Lip”.

Actor Haruma Miura is the star of a brand new CM for the skincare product ORBIS DEFENCERA.

It’s a brand new item from “Orbis”, a health and beauty brand. The item takes a somewhat unique approach to skincare, unlike the typical topical products this product you actually ingest.