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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2023-2025 Index

2026 Index: Dec 28 – Jan 3 // Jan 4 – Jan 10 // Jan 11 – Jan 17 // Jan 18 – Jan 24 // Jan 25 – Jan 31 // Feb 1 – Feb 7 // Feb 8 – Feb 14 // Feb 15 – Feb 21 // Feb 22 – Feb 28 // Mar 1 – Mar 7 // Mar 8 – Mar 14 // Mar 15 – Mar 21 // Mar 22 – Mar 28

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THIS WEEK: March 29 – April 4

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AiNA THE END – Luminous (song of the week!)

It’s surprising to see her nab a One Piece opening theme. This is pretty good. A bit different for her.

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Asian Kung-Fu Generation – Skins

Upbeat and catchy. I like it.

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Ayumu Imazu – Home

Cute dog in the video.

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BsGravity – Evolution

I always want this co-ed group to release better music than they do. This is almost there, but parts come across as unpolished to me.

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Chanmina – Flip Flap

I like the stomping handclap percussion on this. The actual song, not so much…

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Infinity Fox [Quubi×YOLOZ] – 9vs46

That convoluted artist name/title reads like a bunch of gobbledygook, but the song is actually pretty good.

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INI – All 4 U (song of the week!)

I’ll review this when the music video’s out next week, but this is my exact kind of summery tropical house bop. I’m kind of in love with it, actually.

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IVE – Fashion

A perfectly fine CF song, but it’s way too short.

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JO1 – Eien

A decent mid-tempo. I wish it transformed into a full-on dance track.

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KID PHENOMENON – Mirror

A nice 90s throwback, though I wish it had more energy.

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LiSA – DECOTORA15

Doesn’t do much for me, but fans will enjoy it and she has a ton of fans.

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MYNAME – Time’s Up

They’re still at it with their Japanese work! This is a bit too subdued for me.

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NiziU – Too Bad

I had high hopes for this based on the teasers, but the end product sounds like too many other songs to stand out.

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Nogizaka46 – Kimibakari

Meh.

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Novelbright – Transparent

This is pretty nice.

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OFFICIAL HIGE DANDISM – Elderflower

Quite a beautiful OST ballad. They really excel at these.

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STARGLOW – USOTSUKI (song of the week!)

Definitely an improvement over their last song. It’s still not up there with their best, but I feel like we’re at least back on track.

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SUPER★DRAGON – Number

A nice mid-tempo pop/rock track

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Suzuki Ryo – Make My Day

A strong vocal on this.

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timelesz – 4-Funkan dake jikan o kudasai

Well, it’s no Run.

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Yasuyuki Okamura & Kento Nakajima – Sudden Spark

I love Kento’s voice on these kind of retro tracks.

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22/7 – Futatsu no michi (song of the week!)

The melodies in this are very nice. It nails that fantastical medieval sound.