On May 17, TOKYO HEALTH CLUB will release their new mini album, “MICHITONOSOGU.” The group sees this release as a further refinment of their brand of hip hop, continuing from their album from last year, “VIBRATION.” The mini album’s promo single, “supermarket”, is the ending theme for the TV Tokyo series “Yamoya Summers 2.” Check out the music video for it below, along with more information on the new mini album!

On May 17, KEN THE 390 will release his new mini album, “Samidare no Kimi ni.” The title track was produced by BACHLOGIC, who also features on vocals. It’s a smooth, melodic song that honestly brings Drake to mind. “Samidare no Kimi ni” has an encouraging message, telling listeners to continue on through life even though there is rain at times.

Also featured on “Samidare no Kimi ni” is the song “Call Of Justice.” This song was created for the the 2016 film “CYBORG009 CALL OF JUSTICE” and is now being released for the first time. It sees KEN THE 390 collaborating with DOTAMA, RUDE-α, Rei(c)hi, Jyou, ACE, MC☆Nigari a.k.a Akai Inazuma, Lick-G, and KOPERU.

The limited edition of “Samidare no Kimi ni” features a bonus CD titled “ANOTHER BEST.” It can best be described as a non-single best album.

KEN THE 390 recently released the music video for “Samidare no Kimi ni.” It has a relaxing vibe to it, which brings to mind summer nights. Check it out below, along with more information on the new mini album!

This week’s guests were Aikawa Nanase, Ichikawa Yukino, Kame to Yamapi, Godai Natsuko, Jyunretsu, Shimazu Aya, Takeshima Hiroshi, Hanawa, Mori Konomi, Flash Kaneko, and MUSIC CONCERTO.

On Sunday, Louis Vuttion held their Resort 2018 show at the Miho Museum, in the mountains outside Kyoto. The dramatic setting matched the collection’s dramatic looks, a love letter to Japanese culture. Vuitton’s creative director Nicolas Ghesquiere is a big fan of Japan and its culture, as was displayed last year when Lightning from the “Final Fantasy” series of video games appeared in the brand’s ads.

Samurai armor, the colors of Akira Kurosawa’s films, kabuki makeup, traditional prints of fishermen, and the “Stray Cat Rock” film series from the 70s served as inspiration for the collection. Ghesquiere collaborated on this collection with one of his inspirations, the legendary fashion designer Kansai Yamamoto. Going along with the Japanese theme of the collection, Rila Fukushima opened the show.

Check out the Louis Vuitton Resort 2018 show below, along with more information related to it!

Popular online women’s publication “Asa-Jo” recently held a poll asking which sports star their readers would want to marry, the poll was apparently only voted by women in their 20s and 30s.

Figure Skater Yuzuru Hanyu easily topped the poll winning by a landslide. Within the past few years Yuzuru has gained a legion of young fans, mostly girls, and is credited with bringing in a new audience to figure skating in Japan. Traditionally, figure skating fans and followers tend to be middle aged.

Quite a few netizens weren’t in agreement with Yuzuru topping the poll, GirlsChannel in particular, with many showing favor to Shohei Otani, a baseball player who came in 5th place on the poll. The entire top 5 results are as follows:

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry recently released its annual report, detailing what happened in the music industry worldwide in 2016.

Titled “Global Music Report 2017: Annual State of the Industry”, the report says that the worldwide music industry saw revenue grow by 5.9% in 2016, with digital making up 50% of total global revenue. Digital revenue grew by 17.7%, with the streaming sector of digital seeing a 60.4% growth in revenue. The revenue for physical and digital downloads shrank, 7.6% and 20.5% respectively.

The Japanese market in still the second largest in the world, behind the United States. It saw revenue grow by 1.1% in 2016, the second consecutive year of growth. Physical revenue declined by 1.3%, but digital revenue grew 12.6%.

Staff picks for the month of April, check them out below.

We’re back with this week’s edition of Oricon Flashback. This is where we look back on what topped Oricon this week 5, 10, 15, and 20 years ago. Think of it as a way to reminisce and learn about the past of Japanese music.