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.

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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 // Jun 11 – Jun 17 // Jun 18 – Jun 24 // Jun 25 – Jul 1

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THIS WEEK: July 2 – July 8

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Ami Suzuki – I Just Feel Good (single of the week!)

The production by TeddyLoid is just sublime. This veteran dance diva has returned with a total banger. I love this. It’s one of three (!) “singles of the week” this week.

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CRAVITY – I Can’t Fight The Feeling (b-side of the week!)

I wrote about this here. I liked it a lot!

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ExWHYZ – Furachina Summer

Give me a straightforward summer dance beat and I’m good. This won’t win awards for originality, but it’s very satisfying.

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Hinatazaka46 – Am I Ready?

The verses are a little too affected for me, but I’m enjoying the bright, bubbly chorus.

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Madkid – One Room Adventure

There are some nice, anthemic moments in here.

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Miss Mercy – Summer Rays

There’s something not quite yet developed about this, but overall it’s another pleasant summer dance track.

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NIK – Turning Point

Given their impending disbandment, I assume this is kind of a farewell release. That’s too bad.

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OWV – Here & Now

A nice bit of upbeat, boy group j-pop with a surging beat.

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Reol – Edge

Pretty much what you’d expect from Reol, which means this is quite good!

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Rhymester – My Runway (ft. Rei)

This is a little cheesy in parts, but that’s kind of its charm. I love upbeat, party rap. Add guitar on top and you’ve got a recipe for success.

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Super Junior L.S.S – Close The Shutter

I’m not sure how this song came about. It seems like it was dumped onto streaming platforms without much fanfare. But I really enjoy the classic Super Junior goofiness and creative percussion.

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Tokyo Gegegay – Break The Romance (single of the week!)

I wrote about this here. I loved it, and even though the video came out a couple weeks ago I’m calling it one of my singles of the week.

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Travis Japan – Candy Kiss (single of the week!)

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

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WATWING – Let’s Get On The Beat

WATWING tend to be hit or miss for me, but this falls somewhere in the middle. It’s groovy, but a bit too generic to stick.

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Yuya Tegoshi – Super Session

This reminds me of a solo he would have recorded as part of a News project. It’s one of the stronger songs he’s released since leaving the group.

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This week’s old favorite:

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Predia – Voyage (2015)

Today feels like a great day to feature another fantastic Predia song. This whole album is epic, actually.

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