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This week, NMB48 topped the Oricon single chart with their new single “Yokubomono”, selling 193,740 copies in its first week.

Bodan Shonen Dan topped the Oricon album chart with their new album “FACE YOURSELF”, selling 282,032 copies in its first week.

Yonezu Kenshi topped the Oricon digital single chart for the eighth consecutive week with his single “Lemon”, selling 39,284 copies in its eighth week.

The “Greatest Showman” soundtrack retook the top spot the Oricon digital album chart, topping it for the seventh non-consecutive week, selling 4,578 copies in its 18th week.

Hello, Arama! Japan readers and welcome to this week’s installment of #1 Song Review! Last week saw Suda Masaki defeat Matsuri nine. and Yonezu Kenshi. Masaki and Kenshi are back again this week, facing off against a newcomer. Find out what various staff members thought of the songs that topped the singles charts this week and share your thoughts on them too!

It has been announced that music producer Tetsuya Komuro has been appointed the brand new music director for the MMORPG mobile game Guardians.

The game is scheduled to be released shortly, and is being created by some of the masterminds behind the popular game Brave Frontier. Like most mobile games Guardians will have simple “tap & swipe” gameplay. A “world mode” and “quest mode” have been announced currently, the game promises fun multi-player options as you’ll be able to slay vicious demons together.

Komuro has created 29 songs to be used as BGM for the game, and he began work on this project dating back to Spring 2017. However, in January 2018 he retired from the music industry after news broke that he was cheating on his wife KEIKO.

A tabloid has officially apologized for printing a completely false story about Namie Amuro.

The story in question dates back to 2014, when Amuro was in the process of leaving her longtime agency Vision Factory. It was printed in the gossip magazine “Female Seven”, and the story contained many allegations.

Firstly, they claimed that she could potentially be having an affair with an affluent music promoter called “Mr. Nishihara”. They claimed Amuro moved into the apartment that Nishihara shared with his wife and two children back in 2011. Not only is a situation like that bizarre, but the intimacy between the two was described to be more than just “colleagues”.

Rumors are spreading that Kanjani8 member Subara Shibutani will be withdrawing from the group.

The main reason is said to be internal conflict behind the scenes among Shibutani and staff members of Johnny & Associates. Shibutani is more interested in being a full-fledged musician rather than staying in the idol route. Ever since SMAP disbanded, it has been “chaos” for the agency.

Shibutani is the main vocalist for Kanjani8, and his renowned for his powerful and distinct voice compared to his Johnny’s peers. The group will be releasing a best album in May titled GR8EST, and then embark on a dome tour during the summer. 

Avex trax’s annual festival a-nation is getting ready for their 2018 set of lives.

The first concert will take place at the Mie prefecture on July 28th at the Nagashima Spa Land venue. Artists that will appear at that date include:

• Koda Kumi
• WINNER
• Urata Naota (AAA)
• SKE48
• Da-iCE
• MAGIC PRINCE
• Lee Hi

Shiina Ringo is celebrating her 20th anniversary this year, and as part of this celebration, she is releasing the tribute album “Adam to Eve to Ringo”, out May 23. The album will see acts such as Utada Hikaru, Daichi Miura, AI, and Kaela Kimura covering songs from Ringo’s discography. Ringo has now released audio previews of some of those covers. Check them out below, along with the album’s tracklist!