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.

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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 // Oct 19 – Oct 25 // Oct 26 – Nov 1 // Nov 2 – Nov 8 // Nov 9 – Nov 15 // Nov 16 – Nov 22 // Nov 23 – Nov 29 // Nov 30 – Dec 6 // Dec 7 – Dec 13 // Dec 14 – Dec 20 // Dec 21 – Dec 27

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THIS WEEK: December 28 – January 3

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ASCA – Giver

Starting the year off right. I’m digging the energy, even if the melodies aren’t wowing me.

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ALI – Choose Life (ft. Ashley)

Groovy.

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BIGMAMA – The Parade (song of the week!)

This has such a nice sense of catharsis.

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Gen Hoshino – Glitch

I personally dislike this kind of skittering percussion. It makes a song difficult to enjoy.

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KAGUYA – KAGUYA

A decent debut. It’s incredibly generic, but the girls seem talented.

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NOISEMAKER – North Wind (ft. GEN)

I wrote about this last week and now it has a music video.

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Official HIGE DANdism – Make Me Wonder (song of the week!)

This has much more groove than their recent stuff. I like it. Good chorus, too.

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PIGGS – Firedance Saga (song of the week!)

That band name! I actually love this, though. Sure, it’s silly… but those melodies are absolutely fantastic. It reminds me of something Nanase Aikawa might have done in the 90s.

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SE7ENTHSENSE – Aagatteru

The audio in this video sounds like it was recorded in a tin can, but I appreciate the EDM energy (until we hit the second verse, of course).

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White Jam – Bakyun (song of the week!)

Their just-released album has some great tracks on it (this is one of them!), which is prompting me to finally explore their discography.