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.
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.
Japan-born global group XG will throw the first pitch at Dodger Stadium on May 31. We break down the newly announced seven North American dates of the XG WORLD TOUR: THE CORE, from venues and tickets to the TikTok-and-Billboard fanbase that made an arena tour possible.
Yellow Magic Orchestra co-founder Haruomi Hosono will release his 23rd studio album 'Yours Sincerely' on September 11, 2026, via Ghostly International, and play his first U.S. shows in seven years: Radio City Music Hall in New York on September 16 and the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles on September 20, with Toro y Moi guesting in LA. Here's why a Japanese musician in his late seventies is one of the most quietly influential figures in global pop.
Number_i has signed a label deal with Atlantic Records, completing the global infrastructure they started building with WME in February. Here's what the Atlantic deal adds, why being labelmates with Bruno Mars matters, and what the trio is actually planning.
Japan's sailor-uniformed quartet ATARASHII GAKKO! heads to Latin America for the first time in December 2026. The tour spans Santiago's Teatro Caupolican, a debut at Brazil's Primavera Sound Sao Paulo, and a 6,800-capacity solo show at Mexico City's Velodromo Olimpico, their largest overseas headline date yet. A look at how the 88rising-signed group got from Coachella to Interlagos.
Number_i, the trio of Sho Hirano, Yuta Jinguji and Yuta Kishi, all former King & Prince members, are holding their first-ever fan meeting: three shows at Osaka-jo Hall on July 21 and 22, and five at TOYOTA ARENA TOKYO from August 25 to 27. Tickets went out by fan club lottery only, with facial recognition at the door. While expanding globally through Coachella and a WME deal, the trio keeps finding new ways to deliver love to the fans they call iLYs.
Kenshi Yonezu's 'Peace Sign', the My Hero Academia Season 2 opening theme, was certified Gold by the RIAA in May 2026. Following 'KICK BACK' (Gold and Platinum), this is his third RIAA certification, making him the only artist ever to receive three certifications for Japanese-language songs. We look at the milestone, its overlap with the anime's 10th anniversary year, and the 2025 JUNK world tour that drew 440,000 fans.
YOASOBI's debut song "Yoru ni Kakeru" (Into the Night) has crossed 1.3 billion cumulative streams on Billboard JAPAN, the first Japanese song ever to hit that mark. Released in December 2019 and based on a Japanese short novel, the track has now outlasted hits, sequels, and even the duo's own anime megahits. As YOASOBI heads into their biggest-ever North American tour, here's why this song refuses to fade.
Creepy Nuts will join The Weeknd's record-breaking After Hours Til Dawn Stadium Tour as special guests across five Asian dates, starting September 20 at Japan's Belluna Dome. The tour has grossed over $1 billion globally (the highest-grossing tour ever by a male solo artist), and this is the Japanese hip-hop duo's biggest international stage to date.
Sushiro, the king of Japan's revolving sushi industry with 14 consecutive years as the top earner, is finally making a real run at the US market. The Times Square flagship opens this fall, but rival Kura already runs 91 US restaurants and is listed on NASDAQ. Inside Japan's three-way sushi war and Sushiro's last frontier.
SEGA and RGG Studio just dropped the theme song for STRANGER THAN HEAVEN, and the lineup is wild: Snoop Dogg, Ado, Official Hige Dandism's Satoshi Fujihara, and Tori Kelly on a single track. We break down Ado's record-breaking Hibana world tour (500,000 fans across 33 cities), Higedan's anime-fueled global rise via Spy x Family and Tokyo Revengers, Snoop Dogg's long history of collaborating with Japanese artists, and how international gaming and music communities are reacting to this Pacific-spanning collision.
Japan's wolf-masked rock band MAN WITH A MISSION, known worldwide for anime theme songs from Demon Slayer, Attack on Titan, and Seven Deadly Sins, has announced three consecutive monthly digital single releases starting August 2026. Frontman Jean-Ken Johnny made the surprise reveal on stage at VIVA LA ROCK 2026 on May 5, nine days before the band's Americas and Europe world tour. We break down what this means, the band's history of 3-month release campaigns, and what international fans should expect next.
North West, the 12-year-old daughter of Kanye West, sampled Kikuo's Vocaloid track 'Aishite Aishite Aishite' on her debut EP N0rth4evr, released May 1. Kikuo replied: 'of course it's approved, and welcome even unauthorized.' A close read of why this is structurally unprecedented for Vocaloid in American hip-hop.