Mega-idol group AKB48 has released the brand new MV for their 49th single #SukiNanda, perhaps learning a thing or two about hashtags from their senpai Tomomi Itano. #SukiNanda will be released on August 30th, 2017.

Members for the main a-side were selected by the 49th Senbatsu Election, with the top 16 girls having the privilege of participating in the main a-side. The #SukiNanda MV was filmed on the Japanese island Okinawa. The members are seen fully taking in Okinawa’s beautiful nature, dancing in a giant grass field and frolicking around on the beach. There’s also scenes showing off Okinawa’s unique city experience and the girls learning how to play the “Sanshin”, a 3 string musical instrument that is native to the prefecture.  

Following reports from weekly magazines that detailed her living in a luxury apartment, talent Akemi Darenogare fires back letting y’all know she pays for it on her own.

The latest issue from weekly magazine Shukan Josei reports that Darenogare has moved into a luxury condominium in a very popular area of Tokyo. Her apartment is said to be over 200 square meters with rent allegedly costing 1.3 million yen (~$11,750 USD) a month at a minimum.

As a result, many jumped to conclusions that someone was paying for this space for her. A sugar daddy, perhaps? Darenogare wants to let you know you’ve got the wrong queen if you think so.

EDM unit REOL have released an official announcement on their website revealing that they will disband in October. Their Osaka show is set for October 20 at Zepp Namba, while the Tokyo show—their final show as a unit—is set for October 22 at TOYOSU PIT.

The trio consists of vocalist and lyricist front-woman Reol, composer Giga P and filmmaker Okiku—with each commenting on their disbandment:

Former AKB48 member Minami Takahashi is said to be considering a political career in the future.

Takamina just recently embarked on her first solo nationwide tour, and is set to release her 2nd single Kodoku wa Kizutsukanai on September 26th, 2017. Unfortunately, ticket sales for her tour have been quite sluggish. A lot of the venues are small, with most of them fitting a capacity of 300-500 people and at some dates the price of tickets cost just 1,000 yen. While nearly all of the smaller venues have sold out the finale of the tour will take place at Akasaka BLITZ, and has a much larger capacity of 1000 people. Tickets prices are also higher at 4,500 yen.

There’s still a large amount of tickets left which is causing a bit of worry, however ticket sales are hopefully expected to rapidly increase since the final date of the concert takes place one day before the release of Kodoku wa Kizutsukanai.

Electronic trio Suiyoubi no Campanella—Wednesday Campanella—digitally released their new song “Picasso” earlier this week. Currently on their nationwide tour “Suiyoubi no Campanella One Man Live Tour 2017 ~IN THE BOX~,” the song has already featured in the set lists.

The song comes as the final installment to their three-track monthly release project that started with “Melos” in May and followed by “Eisei” in June.

The song and its lyrics are written by group member Hidefumi Kenmochi, inspired by Spanish artist Pablo Picasso with the theme in mind of “What line would you to ask somebody that you like out?”

A trailer for the music video and DVD content for upcoming release from Gen Hoshino entitled “Family Song” has been released.

In the flat pink-stylized “Family Song” music video, Hoshino dons a dress and wig to play the mother of a family. Overall, gender rolls are (mostly) reversed: female actress and singer Mitsuki Takahata plays the role of the husband, male comedian Takashi Fujii and Petrolz singer and guitarist Ryosuke Nagaoka act as their daughters, and Noriyasu “Kasuke” Kawamura is on the drums as grandma. Hajime Kobayashi takes on piano, retaining his identity as their son.

The song will be used as the theme song to the upcoming NTV drama “Kahogo no Kahoko” which premiered on July 12, of which Hoshino said he began writing this new song after reading the drama’s script.

ARAMA! JAPAN has some staff volunteer openings! If you’re looking for a place to gain experience, want your voice to be heard in the Japanese fandom, hone your writing/translating skills, or simply just have a passion for everything Japanese entertainment & culture then look no further.

Arama isn’t just one person, it takes a whole team to run a site! We’re currently looking to expand and find great people interested in joining our crew.

According to various entertainment officials, actress Aya Ueto is well on her way to becoming the most popular female Japanese celebrity in China. The sharp rise in popularity is all due to her comeback film Hirugao: Love Affairs in the Afternoon.  The film made it’s official debut at the 2017 Shanghai International Film Festival last month to rave reviews.

Hirugao: Love Affairs in the Afternoon originally got it’s start as a 2014 Fuji TV drama series. The plot of the series surrounds infidelity, as the main character Sawa Sasamoto (Aya Ueto) begins to have an affair behind her husbands back. The drama was a huge success with the finale earning an impressive 16.5% viewership rating. In response the expression “Heijitsu Hirugao Tsuma” became universally recognized all across Japan, which refers to housewives having afternoon affairs while their husbands are at work. The film version was released on June 10th, 2017.