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 // 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 // Sep 10 – Sep 16 // Sep 17 – Sep 23 // Sep 24 – Sep 30 // Oct 1 – Oct 7

THIS WEEK: Oct 8 – Oct 14

Ado – All Night Radio

Ado continues to blitz us with new music. This city pop style track is quite different for her. It’s nice to hear her voice in this realm.

Chanmina – I’m Not OK

The punchy rock energy is satisfying but the darker lyrical content doesn’t really appeal to me.

Girls² – Rise And Shine

Upbeat and fun!

Hi-Fi Un!corn – U & I

This is perfect for a light youth drama, which is exactly what it soundtracks.

Hinatazaka46 – Kimi wa 0 kara 1 ni nare

The melodies could be just a bit stronger, but I love the propulsive energy of the instrumental.

IMP. – SWITCHing

I wrote about this here. I liked it!

INI – Hana (song of the week!)

I wrote about Hana here. I liked it a lot, and it’s my song of the week!

I also want to embed b-side 10 Things, which is a really fun upbeat synth power pop track.

ITZY – Sugarholic

Not a fan of this. It’s very dull.

Legit – Magic

Though this song isn’t all that memorable, I think it’s interesting how this project is moving from animation to live action. I need to see a JAXX/JAXX mv next.

The Rampage – Katasumi

I’m not sure if this is a single or just a pre-release b-side, but it’s nice. Their vocals are always so good. It reminds me of a more subdued version of Snow Man’s Tapestry.

Reol – DDD

I’m very hit or miss with Reol, and this is a bit too all over the place for me.

Yu Serizawa – Jungle Fire (ft. Motsu)

Okay, this is unhinged Eurobeat nostalgia that totally works for me. You’ll hate it if you don’t like the genre, though!

Yuma Uchido – Hope

He’s been releasing so much material this year. This is okay, but I don’t understand why we couldn’t have had an mv for the superior Shot.

This week’s old favorite:

Choshinsei – Meki☆Love (2011)

A forgotten Sweetune banger! Their Japanese production deserves more attention because this could have easily been a standout Infinite or Boyfriend song.