Arashi is a Japanese boy band consisting of five members formed under the Johnny & Associates talent agency. The members are Satoshi Ohno, Sho Sakurai, Masaki Aiba, Kazunari Ninomiya, and Jun Matsumoto. Arashi officially formed on September 15, 1999, in Honolulu, Hawaii, and made their debut CD on November 3, 1999. The group was initially signed to Pony Canyon and released one studio album and six singles—beginning with their 1999 eponymous debut single before moving to the Johnny's subsidiary label J Storm in 2001, which was initially set up for their succeeding releases. While their debut single sold close to a million copies, the group took a mixture of pop and alternate/contemporary approach to its music which attracted core followers, but subsequently faced commercially slow sales.
Takamasa Ishihara, better known by his stage name Miyavi, is a Japanese guitarist, singer-songwriter, record producer, and actor known for his finger-slapping style of playing a guitar.
Ayaka Iida, known simply by the mononym Ayaka, is a female Japanese singer, songwriter and record producer formerly signed to Warner Music Japan. Born in Osaka, she moved to Tokyo to pursue a singing career. She married actor Hiro Mizushima on February 22, 2009.
AKB48 is a Japanese idol musical girl group named after the Akihabara area in Tokyo, where the group's theater is located. AKB48 has sold more records than any other female musical act in Japanese history. AKB48's producer, Yasushi Akimoto, wanted to form a girl group with its own theater and performing daily so fans could always see them live. This "idols you can meet" concept includes teams which can rotate performances and perform simultaneously at several events and "handshake" events, where fans can meet group members. Akimoto has expanded the AKB48 concept to several girl groups in Mainland China, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan and the Philippines.
Jin Akanishi is a Japanese musician, singer, songwriter and actor. He has been active since 1998 as one of the two lead vocalists of the J-pop boy-band KAT-TUN before starting a solo career in 2009. Akanishi has also acted in several films and dramas.
Greeeen is a Japanese vocal group from Kōriyama in Fukushima Prefecture, comprising the all-male four members: HIDE, navi, 92, and SOH.
Hey! Say! JUMP is an eight-member Japanese boy band under the Japanese talent agency Smile-Up. The group is split into two sub-groups: Hey! Say! BEST and Hey! Say! 7. In Japan they sold more than 10 million physical copies.
Radwimps is a Japanese rock band who debuted independently in 2003 and signed with Toshiba EMI in 2005. The band's name, Radwimps, was formed from two English slang terms, "rad" and "wimp". According to the band, the coined word had several meanings, including "excellent weakling" and "superlative coward".
Flumpool are a Japanese rock band. The band, originally from Osaka Prefecture, was formed in January 2007. The band's name is a portmanteau of the words four, lump, and pool. Thus, the name could be interpreted to mean "collective mass of four" or a "quartet".
The following is a list of notable events and releases that occurred in 2010 in Japanese music.
Generations from Exile Tribe is a seven-member Japanese dance and vocal group formed and managed by LDH. The group is part of the "Exile Tribe" collective related to Exile and is signed to the record label Rhythm Zone from the Avex Group. Generations debuted on 21 November 2012.
Flower was a Japanese pop girl group formed and managed by LDH from 2009 to 2019 and signed to the record label Sony Music Japan. They were a dance and vocal unit of collective girl group E-girls alongside Happiness, Dream and three other original E-girls members. The group consisted of one vocalist and four performers at the time of their disbandment.
Sandaime J Soul Brothers, formerly simply J Soul Brothers and also known as Sandaime J Soul Brothers from Exile Tribe, are a J-pop vocal and dance group formed by Exile ex-leader and producer Hiroyuki Igarashi in Japan in 1991. Sandaime J Soul Brothers are managed by Hiroyuki's talent agency LDH and are a part of the supergroup, Exile Tribe. Reformed exclusively by Exile's Vocal Battle Audition in 2010, Sandaime J Soul Brothers released their first single "Best Friend's Girl" in November 2010, which peaked at number three on the Oricon Singles Chart. Their self-titled debut album J Soul Brothers, released in 2011, also peaked at number three. In 2013, they achieved their first number-one record with their third album Miracle.
Atsushi Satō, known as Atsushi or Exile Atsushi is a Japanese singer-songwriter and part-time producer. Debuting as a member of the band EXILE in 2001, Atsushi is currently one of the main vocalists for the group. In 2004, Atsushi began working as a producer for the group Deep, and in 2011 released his debut solo single "Itsuka Kitto...". In 2016, he announced his temporary hiatus from EXILE and formed a new band named Red Diamond Dogs. Atsushi returned to EXILE in 2018 and later graduated from the group in December 2020 to focus on his solo activities. Atsushi rejoined the Exile Power of Wish tour on a limited basis in 2022 and announced that he would officially return to Exile's activities on the last day of the tour, 21 December 2022.
Happiness was a Japanese pop girl group formed and managed by LDH since 2008 and signed to the record label Rhythm Zone. They were a dance and vocal unit of collective girl group E-girls alongside Dream and Flower. The group consisted of two vocalists and three performers at the time of their disbandment.
Exile the Second, or simply The Second, is a Japanese music group comprising Exile members Kenchi, Keiji, Tetsuya, Nesmith, Shokichi and Akira. Formed in 2012, the group is managed by LDH and is signed to the Avex Group record label Rhythm Zone.
Yoshihiro Usami is a Japanese dancer. He is a member of Exile in which he is a former performer and a member of Dance Earth Party. He is a former member of the first generation J Soul Brothers and Rather Unique. He is married to actress Arisa Sugi since 2017.
Naoki Kobayashi is a Japanese actor, dancer, choreographer, and model. He is a performer of J-Pop dance and vocal group Exile, and is a leader and performer of J-Pop dance and vocal group Sandaime J Soul Brothers. He was also a member of Nidaime J Soul Brothers until their migration to Exile in 2009. As a member of Sandaime J Soul Brothers, he has received the Japan Record Awards twice, and has received the same award three times as a member of Exile. He choreographed the famous "Pocky Dance" for Pocky's advertisement in 2015.
The Rampage from Exile Tribe, is a J-pop vocal and dance group formed and managed by talent agency LDH and signed to Avex's record label Rhythm Zone. The Rampage is part of the collective supergroup, Exile Tribe and is composed of sixteen members. The group was formed in 2014 and the members were chosen from Exile's Vocal Battle Audition 4, Exile Performer Battle Audition and Global Japan Challenge auditions. The Rampage made their debut in January 2017 with the release of their first single "Lightning".
Ballistik Boyz from Exile Tribe is a seven-member Japanese male dance, vocal and MC unit formed and managed by LDH. The group is part of the collective Exile Tribe, related to Exile, and signed to the record label Rhythm Zone from the Avex Group.
