On February 28, 2026, Ado released "Vivarium," her first live-action music video, showing her profile and eyes for the first time. The song ties in with the autobiographical novel Vivarium: Ado to Watashi, written by Narumi Komatsu and published by Bungeishunju on February 26. Here is who made the roughly 300-cut video, what she said in her Billboard JAPAN interview, and how her two Nissan Stadium nights and the Zipangu festival in Los Angeles went.
XG announced that their second world tour "XG WORLD TOUR: THE CORE" will continue as scheduled despite the arrest of producer JAKOPS (SIMON). After careful deliberation, the seven members are going ahead with the remaining Japan shows in March and April, plus legs in Asia, North America, Europe, Australia, and Latin America. Full tour dates, ticket refund details, and how fans are rallying behind XG.
MAN WITH A MISSION announces their 2026 world tour "MARKING NEW GROUND," spanning 10 cities across 7 countries. The wolf-headed rock band will make their first-ever appearances in Chile and Brazil, share the main stage with Iron Maiden at Spain's Resurrection Fest, and perform at Zipangu — the largest Japanese music festival ever held in the US. A deep dive into how anime theme songs built their global fanbase and what this tour means for Japanese rock worldwide.
BAND-MAID, Japan's five-piece hard rock band in maid outfits, has been confirmed to perform at Download Festival 2026, the UK's premier rock and metal festival headlined by Limp Bizkit, Guns N' Roses and Linkin Park. We cover their massive 2026 world tour spanning Hong Kong, Europe, North America and Mexico, culminating in two historic nights at Tokyo's Nippon Budokan.
YOASOBI will make history as the first-ever J-Pop artist to perform at OSHEAGA in Montreal, Canada. Following appearances at Coachella and Lollapalooza, this marks their Canadian live debut. Full details on the festival lineup, ticket info, and J-Pop's expanding global footprint.
TK from Ling tosite sigure wrapped his first North American tour on June 7, 2026, playing seven shows in six cities to about 8,000 people, with five dates sold out. Here is what the run showed about his audience abroad, what Spotify's play map says, and what comes next through Budokan in December.
BABYMETAL will curate the entire Sonic Stage at Summer Sonic 2026 as "SONIC METAL STAGE – Curated by BABYMETAL." This unprecedented move sees the 15th-anniversary kawaii metal unit taking artistic control of a stage at Japan's biggest urban rock festival, now celebrating its 25th year. With Billboard 200 Top 10 credentials, BABYMETAL is poised to reshape the summer festival landscape. Ticket info and lineup speculation included.
Ado, the anonymous Japanese singer who conquered the world without showing her face, has released "Vivarium," a song she wrote and composed herself, alongside her autobiography. For the first time, her single cover carries a real photograph of her. From closet recordings to sold-out arenas, this is the biggest turning point yet in the 23-year-old's career.
KID PHENOMENON, a seven-member dance & vocal group from LDH JAPAN, has been selected to perform at SXSW 2026 in Austin, Texas, the legendary festival that launched Billie Eilish, Ed Sheeran, and Kendrick Lamar. Discover how their "TOKYO NEO POP" concept is charting a new path for Japanese artists going global.
Eve, the voice behind Jujutsu Kaisen's viral hit "Kaikai Kitan," teams up with Yorushika vocalist suis for "Kaze no Anthem," the opening theme of TV anime Witch Hat Atelier (premiering April 2026). It is their third collaboration. Here is why this Eisner Award-winning manga adaptation drew so much attention outside Japan.
Hatsune Miku's European tour "MIKU EXPO 2026 EUROPE" is set for November 2026, visiting 7 cities starting from London's The O2. With a steampunk theme and 120 shows across 50 cities behind her, Japan's virtual singer keeps widening what a live act can be.
SKY-HI's D.U.N.K. Showcase 2026 added Filipino acts SB19, BGYO, and Cup of Joe plus Thailand's BUS to its fourth-wave lineup, with BMSG TRAINEE opening DAY 3. The three-day run at K-Arena Yokohama was the largest edition of the cross-agency project yet.
XG's "HYPNOTIZE" topped Billboard JAPAN's country-by-country Japan Songs chart in seven markets at once for the week of February 6-12, 2026. Their debut album "THE CORE - 核" reached the Billboard 200, and their world tour opened with three sold-out nights and 60,000 fans in Yokohama.
BABYMETAL will perform at Summer Sonic 2026 in both Tokyo and Osaka, curating the SONIC METAL STAGE on one day at each venue. It is a convergence of two anniversaries: BABYMETAL's 15th and Summer Sonic's 25th. Fresh off their Billboard 200 Top 10 debut, Japan's kawaii metal pioneers continue to reshape the global metal landscape.
Netflix's biggest Japanese title ever, "Alice in Borderland" Season 3, reached No. 1 globally with 46.3 million hours viewed in its first week. Stars Kento Yamazaki and Tao Tsuchiya on the show's worldwide reach and what Japanese content means to streaming, plus how Season 3 ended up being the last.
Kenshi Yonezu's "IRIS OUT" has achieved 21 consecutive weeks at #1 on YouTube and Oricon streaming charts, setting the all-time solo artist record in Japan. With a peak of #5 on the Billboard Global 200, the highest ever for a Japanese-language song, and a sold-out world tour drawing 440,000 fans, we explore how Japanese artists are reshaping global music streaming.
Japan-born global HIP HOP/R&B group XG has been named Coca-Cola Japan Ambassador for FIFA World Cup 2026, appearing in limited-edition soccer jerseys in a new web movie. From closing Coachella's Sahara Stage to a 47-show world tour, here is the record that made a music group the face of a World Cup campaign.
At just 25, Japanese multi-artist Vaundy has become the youngest male solo artist ever to headline a dome tour in Japan, selling out all 7 shows and drawing roughly 350,000 fans across four cities. At his Tokyo Dome concert he announced his first Asia arena tour, covering Seoul, Hong Kong, Taipei and Shanghai. From posting songs on YouTube to Japan's biggest stages in seven years: the story behind the rise.
JAKOPS, CEO and lead producer of Japan-born global group XG, reveals plans to spend up to six months in the U.S. from spring 2026 in a Hollywood Reporter interview. Following the release of debut album 'THE CORE,' he discusses XGALX's next phase, from new artist projects to breaking idol conventions.
Japan's anime market has reached a record $25 billion globally. While aggressive M&A deals by Sony, KADOKAWA, and others have fueled explosive overseas growth, questions remain about low animator wages, creative risk-taking, and whether the industry's real creators are seeing any of the profits. A deep dive into the boom's winners and losers.
