Pop-rock band Mr.Children are currently in the midst of celebrating their 25th year in the music industry and have recently announced the latest part of these festivities.  The group have partnered with phone carrier NTT Docomo to produce a special commercial fitting for the occasion, one which not only looks back on the past, but also faces resolutely towards the future.

The CM stars actor Issei Takahashi and actress Haru Kuroki, telling a story that first began in a summer 25 years ago.  It of course also makes use of Mr.Children’s music, containing snippets of their debut single “Kimi ga Ita Natsu”, popular ballad “365 Nichi”, and the demo of a new, as yet untitled song which doesn’t even have any official lyrics yet.

You can find the preview for this anniversary commercial below, with the full version set to start airing next week on July 18th.  In addition, you can also look forward to the release of Mr.Children’s upcoming single “himawari“, which will be available the following week starting on July 26th.

On July 12, ZEN-LA-ROCK will release his new album, “HEAVEN.” This is his first new album in five years. “HEAVEN” is heavy on the guests, with each track featuring at least one guest. These collaborators include the likes of Chinza DOPENESS, G.RINA, MAGiC BOYZ, and TOKYO HEALTH CLUB. In total, 40 guests collaborated on this album with ZEN-LA-ROCK. “HEAVEN” is mastered by Sunahara Yoshinori.

Today, ZEN-LA-ROCK released the music video for the opening track on his new album, “SEVENTH HEAVEN.” This song is a collaboration with Chinza DOPENESS and G.RINA. Most of the music video was shot in Seoul, South Korea, where ZEN-LA-ROCK and Chinza DOPENESS are joined by Korean actress Son Yuri. G.RINA does appear in the video as well. Check it out below, along with more information on ZEN-LA-ROCK’s new album!

Veteran singer/songwriter Tatsuro Yamashita has revealed that he will be releasing his latest single, and his first in right around a year, on September 13th.  The title song, “REBORN”, has already been selected as the theme song for upcoming film “Namiya Zakkaten no Kiseki”, which stars Hey! Say! JUMP‘s Ryosuke Yamada, and has been described as a track based around the theme of “life and death”.  Of note, “REBORN” has also been said to possess a sound which is different from Tatsuro’s usual material, born from his desire to perfectly match the content of the movie.

This isn’t all, since before this new single hits the shelves Tatsuro will also be releasing a special new album next month on August 2nd.  “COME ALONG 3” is the third in Tatsuro’s series of “Come Along” albums and the first new entry in 33 years; it will collect a number of his most popular summer songs and intermix them with the English DJ-ing and monologues of actor Katsuya Kobayashi, who worked with Tatsuro on the first two “Come Along” records.

Read on below to find the most recent trailer for “Namiya Zakkaten no Kiseki”, as well as the cover and track listing for “COME ALONG 3”.

The cast and director of the upcoming Fullmetal Alchemist live action film went on a speedy world tour. Hey! Say! JUMP’s Yamada Ryosuke and Director Fumihiko Sori first attended Anime Expo 2017 in Los Angeles last July 3 before jetting to Japan Expo exhibit held in Paris last July 7. Honda Tsubasa, who plays Winry in the film, joined them in Paris.

One of the highlights of the events is an exclusive 5 minute footage, which debuted to viewer acclaim as fan-favorite characters and scenes were previewed, including an emotional fight scene between the brothers. No new images or trailers released yet but the next fan event with the cast and anime voice actors to be held in Tokyo on July 12 might change that. A fan asked if the other characters not shown in the footage will be shown in the movie, to which the director answered “Look forward to seeing them in the movie, but also look forward to Part 2” hinting at a possible sequel.

During introduction, the crew introduced themselves in English and French. Except during the exclusive footage preview, the fans and press were allowed to take pictures and videos. So take a look at some of it below!

This week’s performers were GENERATIONS and Anly. DEAN FUJIOKA was the talk guest.

GENERATIONS – Sora

Anly – Hokutoshichisei

This week’s guests were Ishiwatari Junji, Sukima Switch, Sugiyama Katsuhiko, Nobu (Chidori), and Koharu (Charan Po Rantan). This episode focused on Mr.Children, who are celebrating their 25th anniversary.

This week on Recochoku, SEKAI NO OWARI topped the chart with their new single “RAIN.”

Yonezu Kenshi topped the iTunes chart for the second week in a row with “Peace Sign.”

Today marks the release of Utada Hikaru’s brand new single “Oozora de Dakishimete”. The song is currently serving as the promotional song for Suntory Tennensui, a brand of clear mineral water. In March 2017, Utada Hikaru signed with EPIC Records Japan, a subsidiary of the Sony Music label. Oozora de Dakishimete is her very first single from EPIC Records Japan.

Oozora de Dakishimete has already hit #1 in 7 countries/regions (Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, and Japan). In celebration of the new single and positive global response, a special webpage extension has been created on Utada’s official website.

The website’s design was created to visualize the lyrics of Oozora de Dakishimete. The page design fluctuates according to what lyric has been tweeted the most on Twitter! So if you’re unhappy with the current design, start tweeting your favorite lyrics from the song to change things up a bit! Click here to view the special website