This week, Arashi topped the Oricon single chart with their new single “Tsunagu”, selling 389,311 copies in its first week.

Kanjani8 topped the Oricon album chart their new album “Jam”, selling 327,493 copies in its first week.

TWICE topped the Oricon digital album chart with their Japanese debut best album “#TWICE”, selling 6,295 copies in its first week.

Popular digital download platform Recochoku recently published their rankings for the first half of the year to their website.  These charts cover the period starting from January 1st through June 30th of 2017 and represent data collected from across Recochoku’s many services.

Atop the Overall Artists chart is Gen Hoshino, whose smash hit “Koi” is also #1 on the year’s Digital Single chart.  Pop-rock veterans Mr.Children make a splash with the recent release of their two digital-only Best Albums, which occupy the #1 and #2 spots on the Digital Album chart.  Finally, the Top New Artist thus far this year is pop songstress Beverly, her success powered by that of her hit drama theme “I need your love”.

Read on below for the Top 25 of the Artist, Digital Single, and Digital Album charts,  as well as the complete New Artist chart.

NTV variety show “Konya Kurabete Mimashita” recently provided a look into the luxury lifestyle of singer Ayumi Hamasaki. Hosted by Yoshimi Tokui, Terumoto Goto, SHELLY and HKT48 Rino Sashihara, the 2-hour special also guested comedian Tomochika and Nora Hirano.

In the opening segment called “Ayu Block“, the host peeled pieces off a board to reveal personal pictures from Hamasaki’s personal life from her lifestyle book released in 2014 (all of which was filmed ahead of her house photo drama earlier this week).

Weekly magazine FLASH reported earlier this week that Hamasaki recently sold her 5-floor Aoyama mansion to move to the high-class Tokyo residential area Denenchofu, a district in Ota Ward in southern Tokyo famously home to other celebrities such as avex CEO Max Matsuura, Hiroshi Itsuki and former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama. The district includes many detached suburban homes built in a variety of styles, including Japanese neo-classical, Swiss cottages, Edwardian villas and modern architectural designs.

The mansion that sources say Hamasaki paid 1 billion yen in cash for was built on land that exceeds 900 square meters, and is reportedly adjacent to Matsuura’s former residence.

Hamasaki’s newly moved-in three-story home boasts a 60-tatami mat “party room” and 50-tatami mat guest room (In Japan, the size of a room is often measured by the number of tatami mats which roughly equate to 1.65 square meters each).  As the mansion was built towards the end of the economic bubble in 1992, marble is abundantly used inside (which is something Hamasaki’s mother loves, as they live together).

It has been announced that the upcoming live-action film adaptation of “Bleach” will finally open in Japan next summer.

The first look offers 24-year-old Sota Fukushi (Gentaro Kisaragi in Kamen Rider Fourze) as Ichigo Kurosaki, with additional information regarding the movie to be revealed on Friday.

Filming began in the suburbs of the Kanto region (including Tokyo, Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Saitama, Chiba, and Kanagawa) from mid-September to mid-November of last year, with many concerned by the quality of props as seen in photos that leaked online.

Idol group Keyakizaka46 has released a music video for their previously released song “Eccentric”.

The song “Eccentric” acts as the ending theme of their NTV mini-series mystery drama “Zankoku na Kankyakutachi” that began its run May 17.

An original concept from producer Yasushi Akimoto, “Zankoku na Kankyakutachi” is set in the near future where 21 female senior high school students find themselves confined to their classroom, and the only way out is to earn the approval from the audience tuning in to the real-time feed of their classroom.

The video itself is an extension of the series, with the group members wearing the same costumes they wear in the drama. Scenes take on the school setting amidst a storm in a variety of situations—having the members in the school gymnasium surrounded by stacked desks, dancing in sequences similar to “sankai juku”, in the classroom spinning their shoe around their finger, and dancing freely as the rain falls down on them.

Members of idol group Momoiro Clover Z appeared at an event in Machida City on Wednesday to promote a new smart phone application to help eradicate violence against women in Japan.

The event seeks to raise awareness about the ongoing problem of molestation within Japan by introducing “Digi Police“, an application that allows users to notify law enforcement about suspicious persons in case of an emergency. It also has the feature to trigger an alarm should a woman become a victim of a molestation.

Momoiro Clover Z leader Kanako Momota with group members Ayaka Sasaki and Reni Takagi, police, and railway personnel were among the 260 participants at the event.

On August 9, Mika Nakashima will release a new cover album titled “ROOTS ~Piano & Voice~”, her second one after 2014’s “Zutto Suki Datta -ALL MY COVERS-“. As the title suggests, the focus will be on piano arrangements of the songs and Nakashima’s distinguished voice.

Unlike “ALL MY COVERS” that features some songs that were released by the singer previously, the covers on “ROOTS” are all new and the roster of the covered artists includes Miyuki Nakajima, Spitz and amazarashi. Incidentially, amazarashi covered Nakashima’s “Boku ga Shinou to Omotta no wa” for her tribute album last year.

Check out the freshly released album visuals and more artists below.

On September 13, BENI will release her fourth cover album, “COVERS THE CITY.” On this album, BENI will be taking songs by male artists and reinterpreting them in the style of city pop. As with her other cover albums, the covers on this new album will be in English.

There will be 12 songs on “COVERS THE CITY.” Seven of the 12 songs have been revealed, and they include hits by the likes of Sakanaction, AAA, Sandaime J Soul Brothers, and Kiritani Kenta. Along with the announcement of “COVERS THE CITY”, BENI released the lyric video for her cover of Kenta’s “Umi no Koe.” Check it out below, along with more information on the album!