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 // Jul 2 – Jul 8 // Jul 9 – Jul 15 // Jul 16 – Jul 22 // Jul 23 – Jul 29 // Jul 30 – Aug 5 // Aug 6 – Aug 12 // Aug 13 – Aug 19 // Aug 20 – Aug 26 // Aug 27 – Sep 2 // Sep 3 – Sep 9

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THIS WEEK: Sep 10 – Sep 16

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Aimer – Skylight

My favorite track on Aimer’s newest album now has a music video!

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Ayumu Imazu – Run For You

I don’t like this quite as much as his last song, but I’m a fan of his voice and the chugging synthwave elements.

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BE:FIRST – Mainstream

Arrghh!! I seriously want to love BE:FIRST’s music. Sadly, this is another track I simply find “okay.”

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Damian Hamada’s Creatures – The Beginning of the End

Here’s a bit of early Halloween for you! I was first attracted to this video because of the group’s unusual name, but I’m into the dark symphonic metal sound. It reminds me of Finland’s Nightwish.

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FTIsland – F-R-I-E-N-DS

I enjoy this much more than their recent Korean comeback. It’s got a nice bounce to it and would have been great for summer.

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Girls²×iScream – The Finest

A big, brash statement piece. K-pop fans will like this one, I think.

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IMP. – IMP. (song of the week!)

I wrote about this here. I liked it a lot and it’s already growing on me, so I’m choosing it as a song of the week.

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Kami Wa Saikoro Wo Furanai – Division

This band’s Meguru Meguru was one of my favorite tracks of 2021. I’m still waiting for another song I like as much. This is fine, but a bit safe.

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lol – Raise Me Up

This is good! I like the bombast of it.

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Lucky² – Yumezora Ni Hane

Not my thing, sadly.

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Naniwa Danshi – Make Up Day / Missing

I wasn’t impressed by either of these songs when the short versions were revealed, but time has been kind to both. I’ve enjoyed them much more with each listen. The b-sides are strong as well. I love Umbrella!

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Official HIGE DANdism – Nichijo

This is better than their last one, but they’re definitely in their boring era of songwriting.

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Psychic Fever – Fire (ft. Sprite)

This is another group I want to like more than I do. This song is okay but doesn’t really stand out.

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Rides In ReVellion – Yoake Saizensen

I’m not a big fan of visual kei and I don’t know that I’d enjoy anything else by this band. However, I love this. The singer has a great voice and the song feels super anthemic.

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Ryugujo – Japanese Psycho (song of the week!)

You might as well call me a Ryugujo stan. I love what they’re doing, and their debut EP is fantastic. I’m absolutely obsessed with Japanese Psycho – a solo track from their leader Keigo. I love the unhinged performance, the driving energy and the gorgeous synth textures. It’s like punk rock meets Flashdance. I would have never expected them to have a synthwave track! This is my favorite song of the week.

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Sekai No Owari – The Peak

It feels weird to think of Sekai No Owari writing an OST for One Piece, but it kind of makes sense when you think about it. It’s nice to hear something more sprightly from them. I could see this growing into a big standout once I’ve had time to become more familiar with it.

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STA*M – Dancing Forever (song of the week!)

Stardust has so many groups and units – both debuted and un-debuted. I don’t know much about STA*M but I really like this song. It’s got such a rousing, upbeat energy. The chorus is great. This is another song of the week.

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Tomei & Aina The End – Andromeda

I think I would have preferred this as an Aina solo, but this version is also very good. The video is cool, too.

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Zillion – Nightmare

Honestly, One Love One Heart pulls off this sound much better. This is okay, but the melodies could be stronger.

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This week’s old favorite:

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TRF – Masquerade (1995)

This is such an epic dance track. They just don’t make them like this anymore. The guitar! The wailing background vocal! The CHORUS!