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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2023-2024 Index

2025 Index: Dec 29 – Jan 11 // Jan 12 – Jan 18 // Jan 19 – Jan 25 // Jan 26 – Feb 1 // Feb 2 – Feb 8

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THIS WEEK: February 9 – February 15

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Ano – Just The Two Of Us In This World

It’ll likely appeal to her fans. It’s a bit too subdued for me.

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ASCA – Never Let It Go

She always brings the drama. This one takes a bit to get going but ends in a satisfying place.

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Boyfriend – Time Limit

I wrote about this here. I thought it was okay.

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CRAVITY – Jelly Bean

Pretty much a continuation of a couple of their lighter, brighter K-pop singles. It’s not as memorable, though.

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Eunhyuk – Like This / Attention / E-M-O (song of the week!)

Like This does nothing for me but I am giving b-sides Attention and E-M-O “song of the week” status because they’re pretty great! I should hate everything about Attention, but I love the guitar-fueled beat and stupid hook. Meanwhile, E-M-O‘s funk disco sound is right up my alley.

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Fruits Zipper – Click The Like

This group is getting pretty big and I really should feature them more often. The cutesy sound isn’t really for me, but this is pleasant enough.

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HANA – Drop

I wrote about this last week but now it has a music video. It’s still not for me.

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ILLIT – Almond Chocolate

I wrote about this here. I thought it was okay.

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INI – Breath

The other unit song (Howlin’) is awful but this isn’t bad.

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Ken Miyake – Taxi

This new material fits his unique voice but I find this style of music quite dull.

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Nogizaka46 – Natsukasisanosaki

Quite pretty, but they have so many songs like this that are better.

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Psychic Fever – Wonder Woman

It seems like they’re just releasing new music every week!

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The Rampage – Burn

One of these days I’ll love The Rampage’s music again. Remember how awesome their songs used to be? This is just noisy and unpleasant and predictable.

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Ryosuke Yamada – Snow Moon

He’s got a full album on the way. I really hope I end up liking some of the music because this is the second strikeout for me. It’s just not that interesting as a song.

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Sakurazaka46 – Nothing Special

This song opens with a ton of promise but its energy level kind of stays stagnant throughout. I really like the costumes, though!

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Sato Triplets – Change My Life

You don’t see a pop group made of triplets very often! That’s all I’ve got for this one.

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SixTONES – Barrier

It’ll be a banger for many. It kinda goes in one ear and out the other for me.

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WEST. – Shhhhhhh!!

Another Starto song I won’t remember in a week’s time.

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This week’s old favorite:

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KAT-TUN – Believe In Myself (2014)

With KAT-TUN’s impending disbandment (Noooooo!!!), Starto must put their full catalog on streaming so their music endures. They were one of the groups who got me into J-pop in the first place and I genuinely adore a huge chunk of their discography. Here’s a personal highlight from the mid-2010’s. The filtered guitar riffs are pure catnip to my ears.