In connection with my desire to fully keep up with the J-pop industry, I’m planning to do a weekly round-up of any new releases that have caught my ear. Some of these may have been covered on the blog already, but my hope is that this will become a one-stop shop for anyone interested in what’s new in J-pop.
With that in mind, here’s where you come in: I’m one person with one set of musical preferences, so please embed any other new J-pop tracks you’ve enjoyed in the comments so we can get a fuller spectrum each week.
*And just like I do with my reviews, I’ll wait until full versions of songs are available before posting them in this round-up. This will mostly apply to Johnny’s groups, who still limit the majority of their YouTube uploads to shorter, edited versions.
2023-2024 Index
2025 Index: Dec 29 – Jan 11 // Jan 12 – Jan 18 // Jan 19 – Jan 25 // Jan 26 – Feb 1 // Feb 2 – Feb 8 // Feb 9 – Feb 15 // Feb 16 – Feb 22 // Feb 23 – Mar 1 // Mar 2 – Mar 8 // Mar 9 – Mar 15 // Mar 16 – Mar 22 // Mar 23 – Mar 29 // Mar 30 – Apr 5 // Apr 6 – Apr 12
THIS WEEK: April 6 – April 12
Ado – Charles
Another very Ado-sounding Ado track. She’s so prolific.
Anly – Energy
Nice anthemic energy.
ano – LoliRockyunRobo♡
As always, her music is very much an acquired taste but it’s always interesting!
Ayumi Hamasaki – Mimosa
I wrote about this before but now it has a music video.
Genic – Hurray!
Those first notes are a real jump scare! This isn’t one of their better songs, unfortunately. It’s pretty generic J-pop.
imase – Nameless Days
A little dour for me, but it will please his fans.
iScream – Reach For The Sky (song of the week!)
I’ll always love a “you can do it!” style J-pop song and this is no different.
Kimi Wa Saikoro Wo Furanai – Lovey Dovey
A solid, sweet rock track.
King Gnu – Twilight!!!
This is more interesting than purely enjoyable for me. The music video’s very cool.
Kis-My-Ft2 – Glory Days (song of the week!)
I wrote about this here. I loved it!
Kiyoshi Hikawa – Party Of Monsters (with Tetsuya Komuro)
I wrote about this before but now it has a music video.
noa – Pink Punch
This is cute and catchy.
ONE OK ROCK – C.U.R.I.O.S.I.T.Y. (ft. Paledusk & Chico Carlito)
A pummeling rock track.
Radwimps – Tamamono
This is really catchy.
Ren – Awairono Shiawase
This has a very open-hearted, melodic chorus that works well. He has such a smooth voice.
Ryugujo – Waltz (song of the week!)
I wrote about this here. I like it a lot.
Sakurazaka46 – Addiction (song of the week!)
I assume this is getting a music video eventually? I like it a lot. I love when they release super energetic material like this.
SennaRin – Kontinuum
Producer Hiroyuki Sawano strikes again! This song doesn’t quite live up to its awesome intro, but it’s still very solid. I wish the tempo was faster throughout.
Super Eight – BUCHI★I GOT IT
Great energy. A bit unhinged. I’m really not sure what to think but I don’t see myself listening to this again.
Super Junior-L.S.S – Pon Pon
I wrote about this here. I thought it was meh.
TRENDZ – Push Down
This is actually one of their stronger singles. The chorus is quite good.
Yoasobi – Players
I wrote about this before but now it has a music video.
&TEAM – Go In Blind
I wrote about this here. I thought it was okay.
This week’s old favorite:
Kamen Rider Girls – Next Stage (2016)
This isn’t the most representative song of theirs (their music is usually more rock than dance), but it’s currently my most played in their discography. I highly recommend their entire catalog, especially if you like your girl groups backed by metal guitars and pounding tempos.