Arashi to Graduate from The Arama! Japan Awards

On January 21, Arashi won Act Of The Year at The 2017 Arama! Japan Awards. This marked the third year in a row that the group won the top prize at the show. After their win, the group released a statement via fax saying that they’ve graduated from the show. In the grand tradition of Japanese award shows, Arashi has decided to no longer submit their their work for consideration for The Arama! Japan Awards, due to the fact that they’ve won Act Of The Year three times.

The Recording Industry Association of Japan Releases Its Digital Certifications for December

Three songs from 2017 were certified Platinum this month for selling 250,000 copies: Ken Hirai’s “Nonfiction”, Yonezu Kenshi’s “Peace Sign”, and Ed Sheeran’s “Shape of You.”

Three songs from 2017 were certified Gold this month for selling 100,000 copies: Utada Hikaru’s “Anata”, Keyakizaka46’s “Kaze ni Fukarete mo”, and Ken Hirai’s “Boku no Kokoro wo Tsukutte yo.”

SKE48, Nogizaka, RYUJI IMAICHI, and Nana Mizuki Top the Oricon Charts for the Week of 1/8 – 1/14

This week, SKE48 topped the Oricon single chart with their new single “Muishiki no Iro”, selling 278,892 copies in its first week.

Nogizaka46 topped the Oricon album chart with their new best album “Boku Dake no Kimi ~Under Super Best~”, selling 101,396 copies in its first week.

RYUJI IMAICHI topped the Oricon digital single chart with his debut solo single “ONE DAY”, selling 24,440 copies in its first week.

Nana Mizuki took the top spot on the Oricon digital album chart with her new best album “THE MUSEUM III”, selling 2,301 copies in its first week.

NEWS, WANIMA, and KEYTALK Perform on Love music for January 21

This week’s guests were NEWS, WANIMA, and KEYTALK.

NEWS – LPS

WANIMA – Signal

KEYTALK – Lotka Volterra

Kanjani8 Performs on KanJam Kanzennen SHOW for January 21

This week’s guests were Tsutaya Koichi, Ishiwatari Junji, Takahashi Shigeo, and Adachi Rika. Kanjani8 also performed.

Kanjani8 – NOROSHI

Winners of The 2017 Arama! Japan Awards

Here is what you’ve all been waiting for, the winners of The 2017 Arama! Japan Awards, selected by you, the readers of Arama! Japan! We had a great turnout for our third awards show, and the winners can be seen after the jump!

SOROR to Release Special Guest Riddled Debut Album in March

After releasing a scattering of digital singles, producer Yamamoto Sho (ex phenotas) announced his debut album (under the name SOROR) featuring a wide plethora of special guests from the current J-pop scene. Among those include Seiko Oomori, Kayoko Yoshizawa, Shiho Nanba, Minami Fujioka, Koresawa and more. The 10 track EDM and traditional J-pop inspired album has been entitled “new life wave”.

The album is set to be released on the 14th of March through COCONOE RECORDS and retails at 2500 yen. Read on to see the full tracklist, sample some tracks and check out the album cover!

Akiko Wada, JUJU, Nana Mizuki, and More Perform on Music Fair for January 20

This week’s episode was a celebration of Akiko Wada’s 50th anniversary. This week’s guests were Akiko Wada, Kayama Yuzo, JUJU, and Nana Mizuki.

Akiko Wada x Kayama Yuzo – Furui Nikki

Akiko Wada x JUJU – Datte Shou ga Nai Janai

Akiko Wada x Nana Mizuki – Doshaburi no Ame no Naka de

Akiko Wada x Nana Mizuki x JUJU – Waratte Yurushite

Akiko Wada – Ano Kane wo Narasu no wa Anata