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 Johnny’s groups, who still limit the majority of their YouTube uploads to shorter, edited versions.

2023 Index: Feb 1 – Feb 18 // Feb 19 – 25 // Feb 26 – Mar 3 // Mar 4 – Mar 10 // Mar 11 – Mar 18 // Mar 19 – Mar 25 // Mar 26 – Apr 1 // Apr 2 – Apr 8 // Apr 9 – Apr 15 // Apr 16 – Apr 22 // Apr 23 – Apr 29 // Apr 30 – May 6 // May 7 – May 13 // May 14 – May 20 // May 21 – May 27 // May 29 – Jun 3 // Jun 4 – Jun 10

THIS WEEK: June 11 – June 17

Anju Inami – Killer Bee

This dance rock hybrid has a lot of sting to it. (See what I did there?)

Chai – Para Para

The song is just okay, but this video is a hoot!

Charisma.com – Low Guys (b-side of the week!)

This is a group I’ve been meaning to dive into, and their newest track is a great starting point. This is so fun! I don’t know if it’s getting an mv eventually since it’s technically a single, but for now we’ll call it a b-side so I can draw your attention to it with some fancy red font.

Fudanjuku – Kimi Biyori

I want to like this more than I do, but the production feels a bit unfocused.

Hanna Ishikawa – Touch My Heart

Are you missing propulsive, early-10’s EDM pop? This one’s for you.

LiSA – REALiZE

LiSA needs no promotional help from me, but this is a banger. It’s tied to the Japanese release of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, but it might as well be another anime opening.

Misamo (Twice) – Marshmallow

I wrote about this here. I didn’t care for it.

Mrs. GREEN APPLE – Magic (single of the week!)

I wrote about this here. I loved it, and it’s my single of the week!

M!LK – Topaz

Ever since moving to a major label, M!LK’s music has changed for the worse. They’ve moved from the quirky brilliance of Winding Road and Over The Storm to generic idol pop that sounds like it wants to be King & Prince on a budget. Get back to the good stuff, guys!

ODDLORE – Coming Dawn

I really enjoyed their last single, but this one doesn’t quite work for me. It’s just not catchy or energetic enough.

OWV – Gamer

I like when boy groups go rock, so this is a nice change of pace for OWV. The song could be stronger, but they’re on the right track.

Sakurazaka46 – Shijima no Boryoku

I don’t love this as much as Start Over (too many tempo changes), but the emotive EDM sound fits them well and this is another strong entry from the group.

SixTONES – Kokkara

Another SixTONES song that does little for me. Sadly, I’m not a fan of the direction their music has taken over the past couple of years.

TM Network – Devotion

The legendary group has returned with a new album filled with original material and remixes of old tracks. The title track is quite good, but the upcoming Whatever Comes sounds like it’s going to be even better.

Versailles – Vogue

I’m not usually a big visual kei fan (I like the looks, not so much the music), but this is too dramatic not to spotlight.

&TEAM – Firework

I wrote about this here. I liked it, and I’d probably bump up its rating a notch or two after more listens.

This week’s old favorite:

Bullet Train (Chotokkyu) – Fanfare (2015)

I don’t know if I’ve ever written about this song, but it’s one of my all-time favorite Bullet Train tracks (even if it was never a single). It was written by the same guy who composed Sexy Zone’s Run, which should tell you all you need to know!