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

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THIS WEEK: October 4 – October 10

AK-69 – Seasons (ft. Ayumi Hamasaki) (song of the week!)

Cool idea to use Ayumi’s track for the chorus. I miss these rap tracks with sung choruses featuring a pop diva. This is very nostalgic in a great way.

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ano – Kirai nochi suki!

Sharing because I’m sure this will be up someone’s alley…

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CENTCHiHiRO ChiTTiii – Hao!

This reminds me of Orange Caramel, who of course were heavily inspired by J-pop. It’s a lot of fun!

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CNBLUE – 360°

Love that searing guitar and hints of a gospel choir, but the rest of the song is quite boring.

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DXTEEN – Equally In Love

Another bubblegum banger brought to you by The Wind’s primary composer team.

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Exile B Happy – Wonder Yard

Much better if you don’t watch the AI-heavy video. Still kinda sounds like a kid’s song, though.

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GAN – She Just Wanna

Ugh. The vocal effects.

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Gyubin – Everybody!!

It’s funny that I’m writing about one of her Japanese songs before writing a Korean review. Anyway, this is fine.

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Hearts2Hearts – Candy Box Lover

This is pretty fun. A bit repetitive, but propulsive enough.

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imase – Service Area

I like this much more than his usual stuff because it’s got some energy. The instrumental is great.

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IS:SUE – New Look (song of the week!)

I wrote about this a few weeks ago and now it has a music video. It’s still very good.

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Kaito – swim? (song of the week!)

I’ve always kind of secretly thought he’s the most interesting one in King & Prince (and has the coolest voice), but even so I wasn’t expecting this sound from him. The song’s fantastic (does it sound slightly Cuban to anyone else?) and the video is a ton of fun. I’m really looking forward to his solo career.

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L’Arc-en-Ciel – Soutennenshoku

Why is this song under two minutes?

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Lee Chaeyeon – My Voice

This isn’t the sound I’d give her at all. It doesn’t feel like the genre she thrives in most.

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Lienel – Ai no Dabada

Meh.

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Masayoshi Oishi – Sugar Salt

Dramatic and quirky as usual. At least it’s not boring.

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Naniwa Danshi – Moonlit

This is pretty good. It’s got a nice build and a real sense of drama, even if it devolves into a very generic chorus.

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ONE OR EIGHT – Yellow Brick Road (song of the week!)

It feels like we’ve heard so many of these moody, mid-tempo synthpop tracks lately but this one gets things totally right. I love how that chorus (pre-chorus?) opens up.

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ORBIT – Tacos

This is incredibly stupid. (Not complimentary)

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RADWIMPS – Yuzutsu

Oh, this is catnip for Japanese charts.

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ROIROM – Mistia

This has touches of the slamming Y2K Backstreet Boys/Nsync sound I’ve been hoping would make a comeback. I wish the verses carried this same energy, but I hope this is a step toward this sound becoming bigger and bolder.

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Sakurazaka46 – Genkyo (song of the week!)

This has their trademark fast phrasing and orchestral instrumental. It’s nothing new, but I like it very much.

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WATWING – Get So Jealous

The latest upbeat pop-rocker from a boy group. No better or worse than the baseline for this style.

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&TEAM – Fearless

A bit toothless, unfortunately.