Hikaru Utada, who is also known by the mononym Utada, is a Japanese-American pop singer, songwriter and producer. Utada has become one of the most influential and best-selling 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 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.
Toshinobu "Toshi" Kubota is a Japanese singer, songwriter, musician, music producer, and radio personality. He has produced six million-seller records and thirty-three Top 40 singles during his career. Kubota is currently part of Sony Music Japan. In addition, he has composed and written songs for many singers including Hiromi Iwasaki, Misia, Toshinori Yonekura, Kyōko Koizumi, and many other recording artists.
Mika Nakashima is a Japanese singer and actress. Five of her studio albums, one of her mini-albums and one of her compilation albums have reached number one in Japan's Oricon album chart. She also embarked on an acting career, most notably as Nana Osaki in the live action film adaptations of Nana. She has sold over 10 million records in Japan.
Kumiko Kōda, known professionally as Koda Kumi, is a Japanese singer from Kyoto, known for her urban and R&B songs.
Crystal Kay Williams is a Japanese singer, songwriter, actress and radio host.
Speed were a Japanese female vocal/dance group comprising Hiroko Shimabukuro, Eriko Imai, Takako Uehara and Hitoe Arakaki. All four members are former students of the Okinawa Actors School which also trained popular artists Namie Amuro and MAX.
Yui, stylized as YUI or yui, is a Japanese singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. In her solo career, she sold more than 5 million physical copies in Japan. She is popular in Japan and in surrounding countries, ranking number one in 2011 Count Down TV "Dearest Female Artist" and Music Station "Artist You Most Want to Marry" polls, as well as Radio Television Hong Kong's "Most Popular Japanese Artist".
South Korean pop group TVXQ, known as Tohoshinki in Japanese releases, have released nineteen studio albums, three extended plays, four compilation albums, nine live albums, four remix albums, one soundtrack album and one box set. The group has sold over 14 million physical records since 2004, including 9.4 million in Japan, making them one of the best-selling K-pop acts of all time.
Complete Best is the second English-language greatest hits album by Canadian singer Celine Dion, released exclusively in Japan on 27 February 2008. It reached number three on the Oricon Albums Chart, was certified Gold by the RIAJ and has sold 173,100 copies in Japan in 2008.
Shota Shimizu is a Japanese singer-songwriter and musician from Yao, Osaka, Japan, who debuted in 2008. On June 1, 2008, Shimizu performed at Central Park in New York City, USA, during the annual Japan Day Festival. Shota Shimizu went to a local Christian school in Osaka where he learned how to sing gospel music. He became captivated with soul music, which is how his music career started. He was inspired by Donny Hathaway, Marvin Gaye, and Ray Charles.
Dohzi-T is a Japanese rapper, singer and songwriter who has been active since 1989.
"Mō Ichi do..." is a double-A side single released by artist Dohzi-T. The main song is a collaboration song with Beni. The song sold over 2,000,000 ringtone downloads and was later released as a single. The single managed to reach the number seven spot weekly on the Oricon ranking and was a long charting hit selling over 80,000 copies. The single is ranked as #93 on the yearly Oricon chart.
12 Love Stories is an album released by Japanese rapper Dohzi-T. The album came in 2 versions: CD only and CD+DVD. The CD+DVD was a limited edition containing 2 promotional videos. This was the first album from Dohzi-T to chart in the top 10 on the Oricon Chart and selling over 200,000 copies. All the songs in the album have the same theme: love. This album contains a lot of collaborations with various artists. The album had as single release "Mō Ichi do..." which was a long charting hit selling over 80,000 copies. This album is ranked as #55 on the yearly Oricon chart.
Fight is the fifth studio album released by the Japanese boy band Kanjani Eight. Fight was announced on September 8, 2011 as a new untitled album. On October 17, 2011, its release date and title were announced. There were three versions of this release: a 2 Disc regular edition and two CD+DVD limited editions. The first press release of the regular edition contains 7 trading cards while limited editions A and B contain a 48-page photo book. It was released on November 16, 2011. This album marked one year and three weeks since the release of their previous album, 8 Uppers.
Back Number is a Japanese rock power trio formed in 2004. The group consists of Iyori Shimizu, Kazuya Kojima, and Hisashi Kurihara (drums). The group signed to independent record label Idolsmith Recordings in 2009 and released their debut EP Nogashita Sakana (2009) and studio album Ato no Matsuri (2010). They signed to Universal Sigma in 2011.
Japanese singer and songwriter Miliyah Kato has released eleven studio albums, six compilation albums, two EPs, one remix album, one cover album, one tribute album, 51 singles, and 15 promotional singles. She has sold over 9 million records in Japan, making her one of the best-selling and most-downloaded artist in the country of all time. Kato has been named as "the charisma of the high school girls" and "the queen of the unrequited love songs" by several media.
Snow Man is a Japanese idol boy band formed by Johnny & Associates in 2012. The group was previously a sub-unit of Johnny & Associates' pre-debut trainee group, Johnny's Jr. The group's activities focused on acrobats and stage play. Along with SixTONES, Snow Man made their official debut on 22 January 2020. The group's simultaneous debut marks the first time for two groups to debut on the same day in Johnny's history.
"Forever Love" is a song by Japanese singer-songwriters Miliyah Kato and Shota Shimizu, from Shimizu's second studio album Journey (2010) and their first collaborative album, The Best (2014). The song was written by Kato and Shimizu, while the production handled by Japanese production team, 3rd Productions. The single was released for the two versions of CD and digital download on 3 February 2010 through Mastersix Foundation as the third single from Journey. Ahead of the release, the short version of the song was released on 12 December 2009 as a ringtone.
