Yamaha releases VOCALOID7 on November 11, 2026, with an AI Megpoid based on Megumi Nakajima's voice. Vocaloid voices have come from real people. In an age of AI cloning, what is a voice with a known owner worth?
A 50-stop organ built by 18th-century methods has been finished at a Yamazaki Baking hall near Tokyo. It takes five people to sound right, at a moment when Japan's public halls are struggling to keep theirs.
BE:FIRST release BRUCE WAYNE feat. Flo Milli, ATL Jacob on July 31, 2026. Five months after drawing 100,000 people to a Tokyo stadium, the six-piece plays a 650-capacity New York theatre in October. How a Japanese boy group is entering the U.S. on a route that is not the K-pop playbook.
YAO unites ONE OK ROCK, Awich, CHICO CARLITO and Paledusk, with debut single 777 released on July 7, 2026. A look at the rock/hip-hop crossover, their global reach, and why these four aren't as random a pairing as they seem.
Ado has signed with WME, the agency behind Billie Eilish and Bruno Mars. From her 500,000-fan Hibana world tour to headlining Zipangu in LA and Lollapalooza in August, here's how Japan's faceless superstar is going global.
Ado topped Spotify's 2025 first-half ranking of Japan's most-streamed artists abroad, ending YOASOBI's four-year reign, yet without a single song in the overseas Top 10. Here's what that means.
Japanese nine-member group JO1 heads to North America this October for a five-city tour tied to its US debut EP. Here are the venues in Toronto, New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles, and exactly how the tickets work.
X JAPAN has released never-before-seen 1989 Hibiya footage of Kurenai and X. Here's why fans treasure this exact show — from the famous +YOUR VOICE live single to the original TAIJI-era lineup.
New York-trained Japanese soul singer Nao Yoshioka releases her new album 'self' on July 17, with 13 artists from across the global soul scene, including Philadelphia legend Bilal. A world tour follows in October, with four Japan dates. Here is her journey from the Apollo Theater stage to the world, and a look at the Japanese soul scene most listeners abroad have never heard about.
BABYMETAL will headline Germany's Impericon Festival in Leipzig on June 26, 2026. We look at why a one-hour set matters, the band's tracks in Forza Horizon 6, and how far they have climbed in the European metal scene.
In a new Billboard JAPAN interview, sailor-uniformed quartet ATARASHII GAKKO! reflect on entering their 11th year. We unpack their 'hamidashi' philosophy, how they perform for crowds who don't speak Japanese, and the 12-year bond between four members, from their 88rising debut to Coachella and beyond.