Hikaru Utada, also known mononymously as Utada, is a Japanese and American singer, songwriter and producer. Utada is considered to be one of the most influential, bestselling musical artists in Japan.
J-pop, natively also known simply as pops, is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1990s. Modern J-pop has its roots in traditional music of Japan, and significantly in 1960s pop and rock music. J-pop replaced kayōkyoku, a term for Japanese popular music from the 1920s to the 1980s in the Japanese music scene.
Mai Kuraki is a Japanese pop and R&B singer, songwriter and record producer. After releasing her US debut single "Baby I Like" in 1999, Kuraki signed with Giza Studio and released her Japanese debut single "Love, Day After Tomorrow" in 1999. In 2000, she released her debut album, Delicious Way, which debuted at number-one and sold over 2.2 million copies in its first week. The album has spawned four top-three singles, "Love, Day After Tomorrow", "Stay by My Side", "Secret of My Heart", and "Never Gonna Give You Up". Eventually, the album sold over 3.5 million copies nationwide and became the best-selling album in Japan in 2000, and has been the ninth best-selling album in Japan of all-time.
SMAP was a Japanese boy band, composed of Masahiro Nakai, Takuya Kimura, Goro Inagaki, Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, and Shingo Katori. The group was created in 1988 by music producer Johnny Kitagawa, founder of Johnny & Associates, originally as a six-piece with Katsuyuki Mori, until his departure from the band in 1996. The name stands for "Sports Music Assemble People". After making their debut in 1991, the group took the Japanese entertainment industry by storm, becoming one of the most successful boy bands in Asia. The group is often referred to as a "national treasure" and a "fortune and property of the country" in Japan.
Namie Amuro is a retired Japanese singer. She rose to prominence as a teen idol, and transitioned into a leading pop artist due to her versatility across music styles and visual presentation. Due to her career reinventions and longevity, she is known as an icon across Japan and Asia. She has been referred to as the "Queen of Japanese Pop", and her influence domestically has drawn equivalent comparisons to artists such as Janet Jackson and Madonna in Western pop culture.
TVXQ, known as Tohoshinki in Japan, is a South Korean pop duo formed by SM Entertainment, composed of U-Know Yunho and Max Changmin.
Perfume: Complete Best is the first greatest hits album by Japanese girl group Perfume. It was released on August 2, 2006 by Tokuma Japan Communications. The greatest hits album includes work released from their previous record label Bee-hive Records, and previous work with Tokuma Japan Communications. The album also included b-side and one newly recorded track. It was released in three different formats; a CD and DVD bundle, a digital release, and a double 12-inch vinyl LP. The LP was released through Perfume's February 2016 box set Perfume Complete LP Box, and a singular limited release.
Best Selection 2010 is the first Japanese greatest hits album from South Korean pop group Tohoshinki, released in Japan on February 17, 2010, by Rhythm Zone. It contains songs from their albums Heart, Mind and Soul (2006), Five in the Black (2007), T (2008) and The Secret Code (2009). It also features four new singles, two of which are certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ). Best Selection 2010 is the final album release by the group with its original five-member lineup.
South Korean boy band 2PM has released twelve studio albums, three compilation albums, two EPs, and thirty-nine singles.
Kono Hi no Chime o Wasurenai is the first album by the Japanese idol girl group SKE48. It was released in Japan on September 19, 2012 by Avex Group.
Exile Tribe Revolution is an album by Japanese group Exile Tribe. It was released on August 27, 2014. It reached number one on the weekly Oricon Albums Chart. It was the eighth best-selling album of the year in Japan, with 333,998 copies sold.
Tōmei na Iro is the debut album of Japanese idol girl group Nogizaka46. It was released on January 7, 2015. It reached the number-one place on the weekly Oricon Albums Chart, with 222,000 copies. It also reached the number-one place on the Billboard Japan Hot 100. In January 2015, the album was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of Japan.
Planet Seven is the 5th album by Japanese group Sandaime J Soul Brothers from Exile Tribe. It was released on January 28, 2015. It reached the number-one place on the weekly Oricon Albums Chart and stayed at number-one for two weeks. It was the best-selling album in the first half of the year in Japan, with 820,470 copies and it was the 2nd best-selling album of the year in Japan, with 868,247 copies.
D×D×D is the fourth Japanese studio album by South Korean boy band Shinee. It was released on January 1, 2016, by Universal Music Japan sub label EMI Records. The album features three previously released singles, "Your Number", "Sing Your Song" and the Japanese version of previous Korean single "View", and one new single, "DxDxD". The album reached number one on the Oricon weekly chart, becoming the first album to do so in 2016. It was Shinee's second number one album in Japan following their 2014 release I'm Your Boy.
Cosmic Explorer is the fifth studio album by Japanese girl group Perfume. It was released on April 6, 2016 by Universal Music Japan, Universal J, and Perfume Records. It is Perfume's fifth consecutive album to be fully produced, written, composed, and arranged by Japanese musician and Capsule band member Yasutaka Nakata. Five different formats were released to promote the album: a standalone CD, a double CD and DVD/Blu-ray box set, a digital release and a double disc vinyl, where the first disc is blue and the second disc could be orange, pink or yellow. The vinyls were available for purchase at Perfume: A Gallery Experience Supported by Rhizomatiks in London and NY.
L.U.V is the fifth Japanese single of the South Korean boy group, BTOB. It was released on June 15, 2016 by Kiss Entertainment. The single album also peaked at #1 on the Daily and Weekly Oricon Singles Chart, making it BTOB's first Japanese single to reach number 1. It sold more than 62,000 copies on its first day, and 77,000 copies on its first week. The song also reached number-one on the Billboard Japan Hot 100.
SMAP 25 Years is a greatest hits album by Japanese boy band SMAP and the last one overall before their disbandment. It was released on 21 December 2016. It reached number-one on the weekly Oricon Albums Chart with 667,802 copies sold. It also reached number-one on the Billboard Japan Hot Albums chart. It went on to sell over 1,174,000 copies and was the second best-selling album in Japan of 2017.
Japanese rock, sometimes abbreviated to J-rock, is rock music from Japan. Influenced by American and British rock of the 1960s, the first rock bands in Japan performed what is called group sounds, with lyrics almost exclusively in English. Folk rock band Happy End in the early 1970s are credited as the first to sing rock music in the Japanese language. Punk rock bands Boøwy and The Blue Hearts and hard rock/heavy metal groups X Japan and B'z led Japanese rock in the late 1980s and early 1990s by achieving major mainstream success.
E.G. Crazy is a double album by Japanese girl group E-girls. Rhythm Zone released it in various formats on January 3, 2017. Prior to the album's release, the group's management team, LDH, released a new line-up system that removed several members from E-girls; as a result, it is the first album without members Chiharu Muto and Kyoka Ichiki due to their personal departures, as well as minimal appearances by Erie Abe, who appeared as the group's DJ. Additionally, LDH president Exile Hiro produced the entire album.
Ima ga Omoide ni Naru made is the fourth album by Japanese idol girl group Nogizaka46. It was released on 17 April 2019. The album reached the top position on the weekly Oricon Albums Chart, with 446,618 copies sold. It also reached number one on the Billboard Japan Hot Albums and Top Albums Sales charts.
