"63rd Kohaku Uta Gassen" artist line-up

Fans have been waiting a long time to hear which artists will appear on NHK’s 63rd ‘Kohaku Uta Gassen‘, and that list has finally been revealed!

Check out the list below to see if your favorite artists will be at the most highly-anticipated event of the year!

63rd Kōhaku Uta Gassen, Predictions by Oricon Style

*The ‘Kohaku Uta Gassen’ is the biggest end-of-the-year music event in Japan, where female and male artists compete against each other in front of a panel of judges.

PV for Hey! Say! JUMP's “SUPER DELICATE”

Hey! Say! JUMP have just revealed the full PV to their upcoming single, “SUPER DELICATE“.

PV for U's single “Worth Fighting For feat.HOWIE D” !

Last October U (a.k.a. Shirota Yu) collaborated with Backstreet Boys member Howie D with the song “If I Say feat. U“. Now the roles have switched.

Tsunku holds press conference about idol training cafe, “AKIHABARA Backstage Pass”

On December 22nd, music producer Tsunku held a press conference for the idol training cafe, “AKIHABARA Backst←→age pass“, at the cafe itself.

PV for Matsushita Yuya's “Kimi e no Love Song ~10nen Saki mo~”!

Matsushita Yuya has unveiled the PV for his latest ballad, “Kimi e no Love Song ~10nen Saki mo~“!

“Kimi e no Love Song ~10nen Saki mo~” is the title song for Matsushita’s upcoming single, which will be released on January 25th. The video switches between shots of Matsushita singing against the backdrop of a city and scenes of an unfolding love story, making for a touching PV perfect for the winter season.

Check out the PV for yourself below

“MUSIC STATION SUPER LIVE 2011″ artist line-up

The artist lineup for TV Asahi’s year-end music special, “MUSIC STATION SUPER LIVE” has been announced! This year, the program will broadcast live from Chiba Makuhari Messe on December 23rd from 7:00 – 11:10 PM.

The 30 artists who will perform on the show are:

Yamashita Tomohisa opens up about withdrawing from NEWS

Actor/singer Yamashita Tomohisa (26) held a press conference on December 7th to commemorate the first day of shooting for his upcoming drama, “Saikou no Jinsei no Owarikata~Ending Planner~“. During the event, he opened up about his withdrawal from NEWS for the first time.

First teaser for “Liar Game -Reborn-”

It was announced that a new “Liar Game” movie called “Liar Game -Saisei-” (-Reborn-), starring Matsuda Shota and Tabe Mikako, will be opening in Japan on March 3rd, 2012.

Now the official site of the movie was updated with a 30-second-long teaser, and while it doesn’t reveal much, it gives us a quick glimpse at familiar characters, including Matsuda as the protagonist, Akiyama Shinichi, and Suzuki Kosuke as the peculiar Fukunaga ‘Kinoko’ Yuji, who is now a member of the ‘Liar Game Office’.

However, there are also many new characters, including Tabe as the new heroine, Sasamiya Yuu; Funakoshi Eiichiro as the charming leader of a religious cult, and child actress Ashida Mana as the Liar Game official, Alice.

In a recent news it was also announced that Nakata Yasutaka is once again going to be responsible for the emphatic soundtrack of the movie.

Check out the teaser!

Downtown holds press conference for year-end “No Laughing” show

On November 30th, comedians Downtown held a press conference for their year-end “no-laughing” show, “Downtown no Gaki no Tsukaiya Arahende!! No Laughing Airport 24 Hours!“.

"62nd Kohaku Uta Gassen" artist line-up

Fans have been waiting a long time to hear which artists will appear on NHK’s 62nd ‘Kohaku Uta Gassen‘, and that list has finally been revealed!

Check out the list below to see if your favorite artists will be at the most highly-anticipated event of the year!

PV for KAT-TUN's “Birth” & “Star Rider” has been revealed

KAT-TUN has finally unveiled their PVs for “Birth” and “Star Rider“!

“BIRTH” has been chosen as the theme song for a member Kamenashi Kazuya’s upcoming drama “Yokai Ningen Bem” .

This new single will be release on November 30th!

Check out the PV.

“2011 FNS Kayousai (FNS Music Festival)” artist line-up

Fuji TV’s annual music program “FNS Kayousai (FNS Music Festival)” will air live on December 7th starting at 7:00 pm. Having Kusanagi Tsuyoshi and Takashima Aya as the main hosts, it will be a big music festival totaling over 4-hours.

Below is the list of artist line-up for “2011 FNS Kayousai”. 

“Suugaku Joshi Gakuen”, starring Morning Musume’s Michishige Sayumi & Tanaka Reina

It’s been revealed that Morning Musume’s Michishige Sayumi and Tanaka Reina will take lead roles for upcoming late night drama “Suugaku Joshi Gakuen” which will start airing on January 11th (NTV).

First trailer of Matsuda Shota as “Afro Tanaka” revealed

The live-action adaption of the popular manga ‘Afro Tanaka‘, starring Matsuda Shota and Sasaki Nozomi, finally has its first trailer.

The “Afro Tanaka” story revolves around Tanaka Hiroshi (Matsuda), a twenty-four year old high school drop-out who works as a tunnel digger in Tokyo.  His  trademark is a big fluffy afro. One day, a beautiful woman named Kato (Sasaki) moves into the apartment next door and he falls madly in love with her.

Although her character wasn’t part of the original manga, her sweetness plus neat and clean appearance create a wonderful chemistry between the two.

In the trailer, we can also see Henmi Emiri blowing away viewers with her incredible performance as Tanaka’s eccentric mother. Other unique appearances include a group date with the female entertainment group Ayaman JAPAN, as well as, Lily Franky, Fukikoshi Mitsuru, and Minagawa Sarutoki as Tanaka’s superiors.

Tanaka’s friends are being played by Impulse’s Tsutsumishita Atsushi, Tanaka Kei, Endo Kaname, and Komakine Ryusuke.

“Afro Tanaka” is slated for a release on February 18th, 2012.

Check out the trailer below!

Check out the full PV for Arashi’s “Meikyu Love Song” + four B-side songs of this single

Arashi’s new single “Meikyu Love Song” which is being used as the theme song for member, Sakurai Sho’s ongoing drama “Nazotoki wa Dinner no Ato de“, will be released soon on November 2nd.

This five-member group has also revealed full audio rips for its four coupling songs for this upcoming single that is to be released on November 2nd.

The songs that were unveiled is as follows: “Kienu Omoi”, “together, forever”, “Utakata”, and “wanna be…”.

First episode of Kimura Takuya’s drama pulls in average rating of 22.2%

The first episode of Kimura Takuya’s drama, “Nankyoku Tairiku“, which aired on October 16th, pulled in an average rating of 22.2%! The 2-hour and 5-minute drama reached its peak rating of 25.5% at 10:37 pm.

Kimura Takuya’s latest CM for “Nikon”

On September 21st, Kimura Takuya (38) of SMAP attended a press conference for his latest endorsement of a new digital camera by “Nikon”.

Check out the CM below!

YUI announces new single, “Green a.live”

YUI has revealed that she’s releasing a new single titled, “Green a.live“. The single is set to be released on October 5th!

The title track of the single was made after the Tohoku earthquake and with YUI’s thoughts after the earthquake, the track is sure to became a song that will touch the listeners’ hearts.  There will be two different editions; limited edition that will include a DVD, and a regular edition.

YUI commented, “I put the title of the song with the meaning of ‘living inside of the earth’, because sometimes, I ask myself if I have not lost something precious while living in a city.  I started thinking about fate through this song ‘Green a.live’.” 

Check out the track list and cover jackets of YUI’s upcoming single below!

Matsuzaka Tori and Okamoto Rei to star in “Detective Conan” drama!

On August 14th, the additional cast for the current on-air drama, “Meitantei Conan Kudou Shinichi e no Chousenjou”, has just been named!