2018 is over, and it was another great year for Arama! Japan! We had many popular posts in 2018, but which ones received the most comments?

The post with the most comments from 2018 was “Yuya Tegoshi parties with underage talents & shades Arashi” with 250 comments. Second place went to “Arashi’s Kazunari Ninomiya goes on a date with Ayako Ito, fans not happy” with 182 comments. And rounding out the top 3 is “BALLISTIK BOYZ falsely accused of copying BTS” with 152 comments. Check out the rest of the top 10 below!

We’re back with this week’s edition of Oricon Flashback. This is where we look back on what topped Oricon 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 week’s guests were Sayuri Ishikawa, Akiko Yano, Agatsuma Hiromitsu, and Kameda Seiji.

Sayuri Ishikawa – Amagigoe

Sayuri Ishikawa x Akiko Yano x Agatsuma Hiromitsu – Tsugaru Jyongara Setsu

Aiko Yano x Agatsuma Hiromitsu – Rose Garden

Sayuri Ishikawa x Kameda Seiji – Hana ga Saiteiru

This week’s performers were King Gnu, THE BAWDIES, and GANG PARADE. There was also a talk segment between the show’s hosts, IMALU, and Matsui Rena. They went over a list of the acts that a group of 244 music industry professionals chose as the ones to look out for in 2019. MUSICA Editor-in-Chief Ariizumi Tomoko also provide commentary. The full top 30 list can be seen after the jump!

King Gnu – Flash!!!

THE BAWDIES – HAPPY RAYS

GANG PARADE – LAST

Some good news for NHK: the ratings for last year’s Kohaku Uta Gassen rose over the previous year’s! The rating for the first half of the show was 37.7% (last year 35.8%), while the rating for the second half of the show was 41.5% (last year 39.4%). The second half rating was above 40% for the first time in two years.

Since Kohaku Uta Gassen created its two-part format in 1989, the first part has the 12th highest rank, while the second part has the 23rd.

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!

Rock star GACKT took to his official social media accounts to remind fans of a very special item he’s offering. Fans have the wonderful opportunity to own a credit card decorated with the singers face.

On his Facebook and Instagram accounts he shared links to Orico, a Japanese financial company that issues Mastercard credit cards.

They have collaborations with other famous figures besides GACKT, including Mai Kuraki, boy band Da-iCE, and anime character Konata Izumi.

This week, KinKi Kids topped the Hot 100 single chart with their  single “Aitai, Aitai, Aenai.”

Hoshino Gen topped the Hot Albums chart with his new album “POP VIRUS.”

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

Uru topped the Download Songs chart with her single “Prologue.”

Hoshino Gen also topped the Download Albums chart with “POP VIRUS.”