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 Starto 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 // 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 // Apr 13 – Apr 19 // Apr 20 – Apr 26 // Apr 27 – May 3 // May 4 – May 10 // May 11 – May 16 // May 17 – May 24 // May 25 – May 31 // Jun 1 – Jun 7 // Jun 8 – Jun 14 // Jun 15 – Jun 21 // Jun 22 – Jun 28 // Jun 29 – Jul 5 // Jul 6 – Jul 12 // Jul 13 – Jul 19 // Jul 20 – Jul 26 // Jul 27 – Aug 2 // Aug 3 – Aug 9 // Aug 10 – Aug 16 // Aug 17 – Aug 23 // Aug 24 – Aug 30 // Aug 31 – Sep 6 // Sep 7 – Sep 13 // Sep 14 – Sep 20 // Sep 21 – Sep 27 // Sep 28 – Oct 4 // Oct 5 – Oct 11 // Oct 12 – Oct 18

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THIS WEEK: October 19 – October 25

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Aimyon – Belt Of Venus

I find this very dull but I can already tell it’ll be a hit.

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Ash x MindaRyn – Kyomei Revolution

Pummeling rock.

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BAND-MAID – Present Perfect

Not my style of rock, but it will definitely appeal to their fans.

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BoA x TVXQ – Anata wo kazoete

You mean to tell me you pair two of SM’s biggest performance legends and give them a dull ballad? Who is making these decisions?

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Da-iCE – Monster

Oh, Da-iCE, what have you turned into?

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HiiT Factory – Spitfire / Shinin’ On, Movin’ On (song of the week!)

My favorite 90s J-pop tribute act is back with an EP full of retro goodness. These are two of my favorite tracks. They simply nail this sound.

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ICEx – Da-Da-Da

This is quirky in a fun way. I like it quite a bit (except for the second verse).

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Koji Tamaki – Fanfare

This has such a satisfying, old-school sense of anthemic heft.

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Ling tosite sigure – Loo% Who%

This is super abrasive but in an exciting way.

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One N’ Only – Gooey

Oh I hate that title and the song is even worse.

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@onefive – KIBIDANGO

Hmm… it’s a bit annoying.

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Psychic Fever – Swish Dat

The title alone turns me off. Yeah, this isn’t for me at all.

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REIKO – Maybe

A nice laidback groove.

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Sakurazaka46 – Kogarashi wa nakanai

Doesn’t quite soar for me, but this is nice.

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Takanori Iwata – Reaching For Your Light

This is a solid dance track with stylish appeal.

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timelesz – Recipe

Toothless crap.

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TXT – Can’t Stop / Where Do You Go? (song of the week!)

Two strong singles from TXT this week. I wrote about them here and here and even made an extended mix of Can’t Stop (which I love).

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White Scorpion – Corner Of My Heart (song of the week!)

This is really good and continues to develop their strong discography.

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Yuta (NCT) – Ember

I wrote about this here. I didn’t like it.