Digital Masters, RIAJ reveals digital certifications for November

The Recording Industry Association of Japan (or ‘RIAJ’ for short), has just released the digital recording sales certifications that artists achieved during the month of November.

To announce the certifications, the RIAJ works together with almost all of the digital and mobile download portals in Japan, including recochoku, dwango, music.jp, mu-mo (Avex), oricon ME, and many more. After compiling the data …


Utada Hikaru thanks fans for her 13th anniversary!

Utada Hikaru (28) is currently on hiatus from activities, but she still posted a tweet on the day of her 13th anniversary on the 10th. She wrote, “Yesterday was the 13th anniversary of my debut! Even though I have been on hiatus for a year already, I received a lot of congratulations, thank you so much “(`(エ)´)ノ彡☆ !!”

Shortly afterwards fans …


Japan’s favorite artists named by 20,000 people

Weekly entertainment magazine “Only★Star” has revealed its 8th “20,000 Music Fans Select Their Favorite Artist Ranking”.

As expected, Arashi kept their position from last year, coming in at #1 for two consecutive years. Additionally, this year also saw some big leaps. Popular for their hit songs and infamous “Senbatsu General Election”, the girls of AKB48 jumped from #30 …


Utada Hikaru and Ayaka to make a comeback?

Lately, there have been many rumors of several female singers who are currently on hiatus and that these artists are preparing to make their return to the music industry. The first person in question is Utada Hikaru. Last August, she announced that she will be going on an indefinite hiatus starting in 2011 to focus on ‘human activities’.

A person involved …


Which second generation musicians are most talented?

Many second-generation singers carry this stereotype about how they’re riding their career off of their parent’s fame and fortune.

To break this prejudiced image, goo Ranking polled users on who they thought were the most talented second-generation artists.

Check out the results below!


Utada Hikaru congratulates Nadeshiko Japan + corrects the media

On July 17th, Utada Hikaru made a comeback on twitter with a series of tweets pertaining to the FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Hikki, who seems to be a soccer fan herself, congratulated Nadeshiko Japan with, “They won! It’s been awhile since I’ve been this impressed, I cried. The spiritual strength of Japanese women is amazing!!“ She even sent out a …


Utada Hikaru sews for the first time

It has been over a month since the last time Utada Hikaru has tweeted, leaving her fans wondering what she has been up to nowadays. On July 1st, Hikki made a brief appearance on twitter and randomly tweeted that she challenged herself to sewing for the first time. ”I was sewing for the first time and stepped on a …


Who are the top CM characters for “Pepsi Nex”?

International cola brand “Pepsi” came to Japan in 1957 and in 1998, Suntory became in charge of manufacturing and sales for the product. In 2006, they came up with a new brand of Pepsi that everyone now knows as “Pepsi Nex”.

A poll was conducted asking ‘Pepsi’ fans which endorsement model they liked the most for the brand’s CMs. Check out the ranking …


Utada Hikaru confirms that she is not leaving Twitter

Rumors have been spreading that Utada Hikaru may officially quit all of her “celebrity activities”, including her official twitter account.

According to an article on Yahoo! Japan, fans have been speculating that the star may have also abandoned her Twitter as part of her indefinite musical hiatus, since her last tweet was April 28th – almost an entire month …


Shirota Yu wants to collaborate with Utada Hikaru

On May 7th, actor Shirota Yu, who recently debuted as a singer under the artist name U, performed at a release event for his debut single “U” in Kawasaki city.

The actor/singer commented, “I’ve wanted to sing since I was 13, and my dream came true after 12 years.”

He performed 3 tracks to an audience of 5000, including the single’s title …


Fans leave Utada Hikaru a message at Tower Records


A giant message board was left at the Shibuya Tower Records store, allowing fans to express their love towards the celebrated singer-songwriter Utada Hikaru.

“Thank you for all the messages overflowing with left on the message board. ^o^”, tweeted Hikki’s official staff Twitter, along with a photo of the large board. A closer look at the “Message …


Which celebrity blog do people like to read the most?

Cobs Online has just revealed the results of its latest poll, asking readers which celebrity blog they like to (or would like to) read the most.

Coming in with 15.4% of the votes is actor Mukai Osamu, whose official blog can be found here. When asked why they chose Mukai, voters responded, “Mukai-san writes a lot of intelligent things on …


SPACE SHOWER TV announces the winners of the “SPACE SHOWER MUSIC VIDEO AWARDS”!

SPACE SHOWER TV has just announced the winners of this year’s “SPACE SHOWER MUSIC VIDEO AWARDS”!

Only 70 videos out of the 4,000 that were released in the year of 2010 were nominated for awards in the 14 different categories. This year, pop singer Kimura Kaela received awards for both “BEST ARTIST” and “BEST FEMALE VIDEO” for her PVs “You bet!!”, …


Utada Hikaru sends out a message regarding the Tohoku earthquake

J-pop singer Utada Hikaru (a.k.a Hikki) updated her blog with a message in both English and Japanese, regarding the Tohoku Earthquake.

In the message Hikki mentions that after the earthquake, she donated 400ml of her blood to the blood bank and made an ¥80,000,000 ($983,888 USD) donation to Japan’s Red Cross. She asks that everyone help by donating to …


Is a second marriage near? Utada Hikaru goes on a romantic getaway with ex-love!

As announced in August of last year, Utada Hikaru (28) is currently on break from her activities as an artist. The reason for this hiatus as she explained, “Because I started my activities as an artist at the age of 15, there’s a part of me which has never really grown up. It’s an important part of me as a …


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