Today on January 10th NGT48 held a live show. Fans were optimistic that they would get some kind of official response or statement regarding the assault of Maho Yamaguchi.

Fans feared for the worst as the concert started, but Maho was nowhere to be seen.

Natalie recently asked various music writers, editors, and programmers to look back on the music of 2018. Each music industry insider then created a playlist to represent the year. This six-part series will be condensed here on Arama! Japan to give readers an insight into what music industry officials thought of 2018 musically. The first two parts can be found below. This portion features Billboard Japan editor Ueda Takuto, Mikiki editor Sakai Yusuke, Rolling Stone chief director Ueno Takuro, OTOTOY’s Iida Niichiro, CINRA editor-in-chief / corporate director Kashii Mansaku, and Space Shower TV staff member Kaneko Mayu.

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, and 20 years ago. Think of it as a way to reminisce and learn about the past of Japanese music. This is the first post of 2019, and this year we will be covering 1999, 2004, 2009, and 2014. As an addition, we will be adding more years. We’ll be going back 25 years (1994) and 30 years (1989).

Note: Oricon took a holiday break this week for several of the years, so the numbers for this week will be reflected in next week’s numbers combined with the numbers for that week.

Sandaime J Soul Brothers member Takanori Iwata was one of the many special guests in attendance for a new pop-up store.

Located in the heart of Tokyo, the store is being opened to celebrate the release of Louis Vuitton’s S/S 2019 mens collection. The collection was created by the American fashion designer Virgil Abloh.

This week, Yonezu Kenshi retook the top spot on the Hot 100 single chart with his single “Lemon”, topping it for the third non-consecutive week.

Hoshino Gen topped the Hot Albums chart for the second consecutive week with his album “POP VIRUS.”

Aimyon topped the Streaming Songs chart for the ninth consecutive week with her single “Konya Kono Mama.”

Kenshi also retook the top spot on the Download Songs chart with “Lemon”, topping it for the 16th non-consecutive week,

Gen also topped the Download Albums chart for the second consecutive week with “POP VIRUS.”

Spangle call Lilli line is currently celebrating their 20th anniversary. As part of this celebration, they will release a new album, “Dreams Never End”, on January 9. This is Spangle call Lilli line’s first album since November 2015’s “ghost is dead.” Co-produced by Kanda Tomoki, the album features various sound of the 80s, including a New Order influence. Spangle call Lilli line believes that this album is a true culmination of 20 years of work. Check out more information on the album below!

Since 2015, Yuya Matsushita has been part of the boyband X4. On March 27, he will resume his solo career by releasing a new album, “BLACK NEVERLAND.” This is his first solo album since 2013’s “#musicoverdose.” This album is part of Yuya’s celebration of his 10th anniversary. Ahead of the release of “BLACK NEVERLAND”, Yuya’s released a brief clip of the music video for one of the album’s tracks, “Midnight Party.” Check it out below!

Actress Sakura Ando has been recruited to promote the retail company Sogo & Seibu. They are known as the company that operates four very popular retail franchises in Japan. Loft, Robinson Department Store, Sogo, and Seibu Department Store.

The CM starring Ando made it’s debut in Japan on December 31st, 2018. Starting with a close-up of her mouth, she tells the camera “We don’t need an age of women, do we?“