Raul, Koji Mukai, and Ryota Miyadate of Snow Man have tested positive for the novel coronavirus COVID-19, according to Johnny & Associates.

On January 19, Raul had a sore throat and Koji felt fatigued, so a PCR test was conducted, with a positive diagnosis being given for both.

The rest of Snow Man was tested on the 19th and again on the 20th, with Ryota testing positive as well. He had previously tested positive in December 2020.

Raul, Koji, and Ryota are currently under the watch of medical staff.

On January 19, Takuya Kimura will release his second solo album, “Next Destination.” The title stems from Takuya’s desire to go to the “next destination” with hope, in this case, a world after the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Takuya is joined on “Next Destination” by an array of collaborators, including Yamashita Tatsuro, MAN WITH A MISSION, Hirai Dai, Creepy Nuts, Akashiya Sanma, and BEGIN.

Takuya’s new album album will come in three editions: CD+Photobook limited edition A, CD+DVD limited edition B, and CD only regular edition. The photobook that comes with limited edition A is A4 size. The DVD that comes with limited edition B includes two music videos and the making films.

The videos, “MOJO DRIVE” and “I’ll be there”, can be seen below, along with more information on Takuya’s new album!

On January 19, Utada Hikaru released their new album, “BAD Mode”, digitally. To commemorate the album’s release, they held a special online concert, “Hikaru Utada Live Sessions from Air Studios.” About 50,000 fans enjoyed the event.

At the end of the stream, the full music video for “BAD Mode” was revealed. In addition, two videos from “Hikaru Utada Live Sessions from Air Studios” were released, along with a behind the scenes video. Check them out below!

This week, King Gnu topped the Hot 100 single chart for the second consecutive week with their single “Ichizu”, with 10,400 points.

SixTONES topped the Hot Albums chart with their new album “CITY.”

SixTONES also topped the Artist 100 chart.

Ayase topped the Hot 100 Lyricists chart for the 21st consecutive week.

Ayase also topped the Hot 100 Composers chart for 21st consecutive week.

King Gnu also topped the Streaming Songs chart for the second consecutive week with “Ichizu.”

King Gnu also topped the Download Songs chart for the third consecutive week with “Sakayume.”

YOASOBI also topped the Download Albums chart for the fifth non-consecutive week with their mini album “THE BOOK 2.”

This week, King Gnu topped the Combined Single chart for the second consecutive week with their single “Ichizu / Sakayume”, with 81,655 points in its second week of physical release.

SixTONES topped the Combined Album chart with their new album “CITY”, with 469,613 points in its first week.

Naniwa Danshi retook the top spot on the Single chart with “Ubu LOVE”, selling 10,239 copies in its ninth week, topping the chart for the second non-consecutive week.

SixTONES also topped the Album chart with “CITY”, selling 469,613 copies in its first week.

King Gnu also topped the Digital Single chart for the third consecutive week with “Sakayume”, selling 23,601 copies its third week.

YOASOBI topped the Digital Album chart for the sixth consecutive week with their mini album “THE BOOK 2”, selling 2,204 copies in its sixth week.

King Gnu also topped the Streaming chart for the second consecutive week with “Ichizu”, with 8,680,542 streams in its fifth week.

Last year, “PRODUCE 101 JAPAN SEASON2” aired, with the winners of the show debuting as the group INI. For those who didn’t make it into INI, this was not the end, but a new beginning.

In November, it was revealed that eight of the trainees from the show would debut as OCTPATH, under YOSHIMOTO UNIVERSAL TUNES, a new company created by YOSHIMOTO MUSIC and UNIVERSAL MUSIC. OCTPATH will make their debut on February 9 with the single “IT’S A BOP.” The song serves as the theme song for the NTV drama “Kei x Yaku -Abunai Aibou-“, as does one of the single’s B-sides, “Be with you.”

“IT’S A BOP” comes in three editions: limited CD+DVD edition, CD only regular edition, and UNIVERAL MUSIC STORE CD+DVD+Photobook edition. The UNIVERAL MUSIC STORE edition’s photobook is 80 pages, with the edition coming in special three-sided packaging.

The music video for “IT’S A BOP” was released today, the same day the song is released digitally. Check it out below, along with more information on OCTPATH’s debut release!

This coming April, Naniwa Danshi‘s Shunsuke Michieda will star in a new version of “Kindaichi Shonen no Jikenbo” on NTV. He will star as the fifth generation Kindaichi Hajime on the Sunday night drama series.

This role sees him following in the footsteps of many noted idols from Johnny & Associates. KinKi Kids‘ Tsuyoshi Domoto played the first generation Hajime from 1995 – 1997, followed by Arashi‘s Jun Matsumoto (2001), KAT-TUN‘s Kazuya Kamenashi (2005), and Hey! Say! JUMP‘s Ryosuke Yamada (2013 – 2014).

This week’s guests were WurtS, Nakigoto, and Macaroni Enpitsu.

WurtS – Wakattenai yo

Nakigoto – Hitori Gurashi

Macaroni Enpitsu – Nandemo nai yo,