'PPAP' star Piko Taro and pop group Arashi release hand-washing songs
Comedian Pikotaro, best known for his viral hit song "Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen," and boy band Arashi have released songs encouraging people to wash their hands amid the coronavirus pandemic. "I have a hand, I have a soap. Uh! Wash! Wash! Wash! Wash!" Pikotaro repeats, adopting the same ...
Ensuring live music survives the pandemic
While the COVID-19 pandemic has all but shut down Japan's live music scene, innovative acts and labels are still reaching fans in the country.
Intersection: Bridging the Pacific through the medium of J-pop
Intersection's four dual-heritage members say they want Japanese music listeners to be more open to international culture and people with more diverse backgrounds.
‘33⅓ Japan’ has nerdy but accessible tales of albums and artists
With the "33⅓ Japan" series, music aficionados bring classic Japanese albums and artists to life in nerdy, but accessible, prose.
Popular boy band Arashi is calling off a concert scheduled for this spring in Beijing due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 coronavirus, their agent has said. "Members of Arashi had been looking forward to seeing local fans, but we reached this conclusion after making ...
Singer Noriyuki Makihara allegedly admits to taking drugs again after his 1999 conviction
Singer-songwriter Noriyuki Makihara, who has been arrested on suspicion of illegal drug possession, has confessed he began using drugs again sometime after his 1999 conviction for a similar case.
Pop singer Noriyuki Makihara again arrested over drug possession
Police arrested pop singer Noriyuki Makihara, 50, for alleged illegal stimulant possession, investigative sources said Thursday. According to NHK, police found 0.083 gram of stimulant at his condominium in Tokyo's Minato Ward in April 2018. Later police concluded Makihara himself owned the substance, which led ...
Japanese students take idol worship to a whole new level
Take a look at the world of Unidol, in which teams of Japanese university students emulate the moves of pop groups in a battle to be the greatest idol copy dance club.
Arashi lets fans in on a little tedium with new streaming Netflix documentary
After 20 years of entertainment the masses, J-pop group Arashi is embarking on its final tour ahead of a hiatus. A new Netflix documentary goes behind the scenes of the preparations.
Looking back at the most influential Japanese songs of the 2010s
Given how Japanese music takes time to receive widespread recognition, what gems would the kids of the 2040s unearth from the decade that just passed?
Arashi tapped as Japan goodwill envoys to China ahead of Tokyo Olympics
The government said Wednesday that it has tapped popular Japanese boy band Arashi as a goodwill ambassador to promote cultural and sports exchanges with China ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics. During his stay in China from Monday, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told ...
The dawn of a new era and a change in J-pop
2019 brought changes to Japan's pop scene, including established acts finally embracing the internet as a way of reaching fans
