The American Music Awards has been around for 50 years and is celebrating more cross-cultural collaborations and international artists, but did you know Japan just had its very own music awards show? The inaugural Music Awards Japan (MAJ) 2025, held on May 21–22 at Kyoto’s ROHM …Read more »
On April 2 President Trump imposed tariffs on goods coming into America, including a 24% tariff on Japanese goods. Things coming in from other countries will have a baseline of 10%, but countries President Trump called the “worst offenders” — including Japan — have much …Read more »
The Pillows, the Japanese rock band best known in the west for the soundtrack to anime FLCL, have disbanded after 35 years. The band, made up of core members Sawao Yamanaka (vocals/guitar), Yoshiaki Manabe (lead guitar), and Shinichiro Sato (drums), formed in September 1989, and …Read more »
As a whole, VTubing has made great strides in the last year, especially outside of Japan. After announcing its overseas subsidiary COVER USA expansion, COVER has curated opportunities to engage North American audiences with its Hololive VTubers talent pool, including the popular Los Angeles Dodgers …Read more »
The Haruhi Suzumiya franchise, which is getting a new light novel this month titled The Theater of Haruhi Suzumiya, is holding a crowdfunding campaign to make a song and music video, among other things. While the campaign will continue to January 15, it made its …Read more »
With a new album release and anime debut on the horizon, Japan’s leading virtual artist, KAF has been plenty busy lately. Debuting in 2018, KAF’s digital avatar is anime-inspired but her smooth vocals and emotional lyrics are real. Forging a path for virtual singers, the …Read more »
Want all your favorite anime songs in one place? Spotify recently announced its partnership with Crunchyroll to bring fans and anime music lovers new curated playlists, making streaming your favorite anime opening themes easy. Anime is composed of incredible storylines, vibrant characters, and stunning animation; …Read more »
The mega successful manga Attack on Titan has gotten a number of adaptations, and that includes the stage play ATTACK on TITAN: The Musical, which debuted in Japan last year. After strong runs in Osaka and Tokyo, the musical is moving on to its international …Read more »
Coachella just put out a long list of this year’s performers, and one of them is none other than twin-tailed Vocaloid Hatsune Miku! Hatsune Miku was tapped to take part in the 2020 Coachella event, but that all got thrown off because of the pandemic. …Read more »
GLAY is a major Japanese rock band, and 2024 marks a major milestone for them: 30 years since their major debut in 1994. As a result, GLAY is offering its GLAY EXPO this year. A big event like this needs a visual image to go …Read more »
Yūya Saito, an anime composer and arranger who’s worked on Smile Pretty Cure!, Precure All Stars New Stage: Mirai no Tomodachi, and more, is in the news, and it’s not for anything musical. He’s in the news for being arrested. According to reports, a Metropolitan …Read more »
Johnny & Associates, an idol talent agency in Japan, has been under the microscope over accusations that its founder, the late Johnny Kitagawa, sexually abused teen boys for decades. Kitagawa died in 2019, and while there were some written reports in the press about the …Read more »
Now that The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has made its six-year-long awaited debut, loyal fans took the chance to celebrate by taking a much-deserved “Zelda holiday”. With new game releases, there are bound to be artists rushing to make inspired content. Remixed …Read more »
MAN WITH A MISSION and milet are behind the opening and just-announced ending theme songs for the new season of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, and MAN WITH A MISSION guitarist, vocalist and rapper Jean-Ken Johnny is keen to talk about it. The opening song …Read more »
Ever wonder which anime songs are the most popular in Japan? Every Wednesday, Billboard Japan updates their Hot 100 list, to include the most popular J-Pop and anime theme songs of the week. This time, we are treated to an extensive list filled with artists …Read more »
Brianna Fox-Priest
Danica Davidson
Matt Schley
