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 // Mar 29 – Apr 4 // Apr 5 – Apr 11

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THIS WEEK: April 12 – April 17

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ano – Love Dinner

Very much in her usual wheelhouse. Not for me, but others will love it.

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aoen – Youth

A pretty typical anime rock track, but I like this direction for them.

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ASH DA HERO – Believers

A big, clobbering rock track.

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ClariS – Revive

This is much more rock-oriented than I expected from them.

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cosmosy – Silence ~ body & soul ~

They’ve been skirting the line between Japanese and Korean promotions, making it difficult to slot them into one market or the other. This one’s a mix of English, Japanese and Korean. Too bad the song wasn’t better.

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DISH// – Hero

They released a couple of videos for this new single. The song is nice, but nothing special.

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Exile – 24karats Gold Legacy (ft. Takahiro Matsumoto)

This has the bombast I’d expect from Exile. Sadly, the melodies aren’t doing much for me this time.

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HiiT Factory – She Doesn’t Mind

Our favorite 90s J-pop revivalists have a new full album out this week. I prefer their dancier stuff (like album track Twilight!) to this kind of new jack swing influenced pop, but this is still nice.

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Hyde – Die Happily

His vocal is so good. The song is too sleepy for me.

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IMP. – Invader

I just don’t understand why songs like this must have such slow, plodding passages in between the energy. Totally takes me out of the experience. The chorus is awful, too.

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Kazuya Kamenashi – Diamond

I’ll always love him, but this song isn’t doing much for me.

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The Lethal Weapons – Let’s Go Hanafuda

Fun, silly 80s-style synthpop — as usual from these guys.

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ME:I – Update ME

A perfectly solid upbeat girl group track. The chorus is the best part and it repeats often.

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Mrs. Green Apple – Wind And Town

Japan’s biggest band is back with another very characteristic song. I’m no longer their target audience, but this is the side of their music I tend to prefer.

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muque – Good Luck, Have Fun

I really like the driving energy of this.

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Official HIGE DANdism – Stardust (song of the week!)

The chorus of this is fantastic and so catchy. It’s also incredibly cinematic, which tends to appeal to me. I can see myself playing this a lot when I’m in the mood for big, anthemic rock. His vocals are out of this world.

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@onefive – Kakumei GirlS

Pretty cute.

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The Rampage – Black Tokyo (song of the week!)

This has parts I love and parts that dull the experience. Overall, the “love” parts win pretty easily.

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RIIZE – Kill Shot

I like this sound even if I’m not sure what I think of the song itself.

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Snow Man – Save Your Heart (song of the week!)

Finally, another straight-up club song from them! They’ve definitely had better in this vein, but I appreciate the energy. I also appreciate how this (mostly) sounds like pre-Starto Johnnys.

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Tatsuya Kitani – HIDANE (Dancing Ember)

Oh wow, I love this instrumental. It’s so refreshing to hear something completely different. The song isn’t as exciting, but the production is very fun.

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White Scorpion – 7 Byou no Resistance (song of the week!)

I’ve been enjoying this group since debut and this is another strong single from them. I love how they inject electronic touches to their music.

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Zipang Opera – Rainy Heart

Pretty dull.

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&TEAM – We On Fire

I wrote about this here. I found it very disappointing by their standards. It’s got some good b-sides, though. Hopefully one of them will be promoted with a music video.