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.

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2023 Index

2024 Index: Dec 24 – Jan 6 // Jan 7 – Jan 13 // Jan 14 – Jan 20 // Jan 21 – Jan 27 // Jan 28 – Feb 3 // Feb 4 – Feb 10 // Feb 11 – Feb 17 // Feb 18 – Feb 24 // Feb 25 – Mar 2 // Mar 3 – Mar 9 // Mar 10 – Mar 16 // Mar 17 – Mar 23 // Mar 24 – Mar 30 // Mar 31 – Apr 6 // Apr 7 – Apr 13 // Apr 14 – Apr 20 // Apr 21 – Apr 27 // Apr 28 – May 4 // May 5 – May 11 // May 12 – May 18 // May 19 – May 25 // May 26 – Jun 1

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THIS WEEK: June 2 – June 8

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A.B.C-Z – It Has To Be You

Starto Entertainment continue their frustrating approach of cutting out the second verse on their YouTube uploads, but the full version of this song is available on streaming platforms. The music is just okay, but I dig the retro video.

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ATARASHII GAKKO! – Fly High

I really like the beat, but I still find it difficult to get behind this group because it always feels like they’re trying to be a comedy act and I’m just not charmed by that branding.

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CRAVITY – Show Off

I like the chorus, but why do the verses have to slow down so much?

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East Of Eden – Chasing The Moon

Pretty good. As usual, I like the violin.

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ExWHYZ – Sweet And Sour

I enjoy the symphonic elements in this. It feels more fleshed out than most of their material.

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Ken Miyake – Haunted

At just over two minutes, this song is in and out before you know it. The indie rock sound is a good choice for Miyake, though.

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Kimura Takuya – New Start

The legend is back! I can’t say I love this style of music, but kudos to him for sticking to his guns.

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Lead – Don’t Stay

It’s always a nice surprise when Lead releases a new single. They’ve had such a long career. This one doesn’t do much for me, though.

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NCT Dream – Moonlight (song of the week!)

I wrote about this here. I liked it a lot!

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Sakurazaka46 – Jigoujitoku

The instrumental intro go me so excited. It sounds like a cool reinvention of late-90’s electronica and feels very fresh. Sadly, the song reverts to a very standard Sakamichi sound and the melodies aren’t hitting as hard as they should. But man, I love some of those production choices.

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STARTO For You – We Are

Worthy cause. Sappy song. Sappy music video.

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STU48 – Ai No Omosa (song of the week!)

A very expected sound for them, but satisfying nonetheless. I’ll always love that electric guitar and surging beat. This is a great example of sticking to a formula and making it work. It’s probably the best version of this sound I’ve heard all year.

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Tomohisa Yamashita – Perfect Day (ft. Taehyun of TXT)

I’m seeing a trend of HYBE artists collaborating with established J-pop stars. It’s interesting, to say the least. This song is better than the ballads Yamapi has been releasing lately, but it still feels like it’s missing something.

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XY – YG (song of the week!)

I wrote about this here. I liked it a lot!

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This week’s old favorite:

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MAX – Seventies (1996)

Probably my favorite single from MAX’s initial Eurobeat blast. This debut album is so funny to me because every single song kicks into the same high-pitched synth sound a few seconds in. I’m not complaining, though!