Japan
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As a significant part of HYBE’s grand plans for 2022 and 2023, the Korean entertainment corporation’s first Japan-based act officially arrived on the music scene with its debut EP this week.
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&TEAM is the nine-member boy band aiming to be a “global” group with representation from their Japanese, Korean, Taiwanese and German backgrounds. Consisting of members K, Fuma, Nicholas, EJ, Yuma, Jo, Harua, Taki and Maki, the nine were selected from the singing competition show &AUDITION – The Howling that wrapped in September. The program featured HYBE chairman Bang Si-Hyuk leading and advising the group, while Scooter Braun and Zico appeared as special producers for the show. BTS, SEVENTEEN, Tomorrow X Together and ENHYPEN cheered on the contestants.
The boy band started their journey with their rock-pop lead single “Under the Skin,” released in late November, to preview their forthcoming EP, First Howling : ME. Produced by Slow Rabbit (who’s produced multiple singles for BTS and Tomorrow X Together), “Under the Skin” showed early indication that trusted HYBE collaborators would also work with the new act with contributions from Melanie Fontana (who’s written on multiple BTS, TXT, and ENHYPEN singles) and Kyler Niko (ENHYPEN, LE SSERAFIM).
For the release of First Howling : ME and the Southern hip-hop/pop track “Scent of You,” &TEAM once again had production handled by Slow Rabbit as well as Supreme Boi (the HYBE rapper and producer who’s appeared on BTS and J-Hope albums) with a music video that spotlighted the precise choreography K-pop acts are famous for shot by a 360-degree camera. Bang also helmed the group’s new song “Buzz Love.”
While &TEAM is not the first Japan-based group to debut from a Korean label, the group does stand out by already incorporating into multiple parts of the K-pop conversation. &TEAM’s music videos are uploaded on the HYBE Labels YouTube channel (with more than 69 million subscribers) and have released a performance of “Under the Skin” with popular K-pop dance company STUDIO CHOOM (where performances from the likes of Stray Kids, (G)I-DLE and Kep1er have racked up tens of millions of views). &TEAM also has had global distribution on streaming services when many Japanese labels still do not share their music worldwide.
After &TEAM confirmed its lineup in September, the members shared their international ambitions. K, born in Japan and once competed for a spot in ENHYPEN, said via a press release that “our ultimate goal is to reach a global audience and be charted on Billboard like BTS.”
The group didn’t have to wait long as “Under the Skin” already bowed at No. 80 on the Japan Hot 100 chart dated Dec. 3. Where the group will go next—and what charts they may enter—will be exciting to watch as &TEAM and HYBE look to expand their global reach.
J-pop songstress JUJU spoke to Billboard Japan for its latest Women in Music interview featuring trailblazing women in the Japanese music industry. The initiative launched this year in the same spirit of Billboard’s annual Women in Music issue that began in 2007, with a mission to produce interviews, live performances and panel discussions focusing on women who continue to break new ground in Japan’s music business.
The 19-year veteran of Japanese showbiz continues to make great strides this year, including her new song “Hana” (Flowers) written as the theme for the movie Motherhood, which hit Japanese theaters in November. The pop star who has inspired legions of fans with her powerful vocals throughout her music career shared her thoughts on self-acceptance and celebrating individuality in this latest interview.
Have you ever felt that being a woman was an obstacle in your career?
At the moment, not at all. This year marks the 19th anniversary of my debut as a singer, but I don’t think I’ve experienced anything where I felt that it was difficult to accomplish because I’m a woman. When I look around me, however, I do feel the need to change the system. The way society works was mostly established more than 60 years ago during the period of economic growth in Japan, and is out of step with the times. Even the systems that were created specifically for women need to be updated by assessing what we really need. For example, a blanket rule for maternity leave isn’t enough, don’t you think? People have completely different potentials whether they’re a woman or a man, in terms of physical strength and family environment and such, but the disadvantages may be greater if everyone is bound by a set of rules that aren’t flexible.
Since you mentioned maternity leave… Your latest song “Hana” is the theme of Ryuichi Hiroki’s new movie Motherhood, which depicts the complicated relationships between mothers and daughters.
The movie is a story that revolves around women, but the title of the theme song “Hana” expresses the idea of respecting all individuals as we live our lives as people, including being women. We all grow up knowing that there are many different kinds of flowers, right? From the kinds we don’t know the names of that bloom on the roadside to the ones in a magnificent bouquet made at a florist, flowers bloom at different times and in different ways, but they’re all splendid. The spirit of the lyrics is, “Wouldn’t it be great if we each could bloom in the place of our choice, in the way we decided, and in the color we want to be?” I hope this song inspires listeners to reflect on whether they’re being true to themselves. I’d like people to remember that it’s OK for you to be who you are.
I get the impression that you firmly believe that people are diverse in their own ways. When did you start thinking this way?
Ever since I was a child, I think. There were a lot of weird adults around me growing up. My family and the other grown-ups around me didn’t care that there were children around and never hid anything from me. Even topics that people would normally be like, “Don’t let kids hear that!” would be openly discussed. Maybe they figured, “If she’s going to eventually hear about it elsewhere, she might as well hear it from us.” Like, “If she doesn’t understand something, she can ask an adult around her on the spot. That way, she won’t end up misunderstanding.” People would come to our parents’ gatherings crying and asking for advice about their problems. Because I grew up in such an environment, I was able to imagine that even those who normally seem happy can have such problems, and I came to think, as a kid, that being a grown-up can be hard.
I spent some time in New York later on, a place where people of different races and languages gather, but I realized that in the sense that people have various worries and problems even if they don’t show it on the outside, the world is no different from the one I’d seen growing up.
How have you dealt with your own worries and problems?
Whenever I’m in a difficult situation, I think back to a letter a friend sent me long ago. It said, “A day is a day, no matter how you spend it.” Things happen as you live your life and sometimes it can be hard. Still, the days go on, and no matter how you spend it, the same amount of time will pass. Then let’s try to not take it too seriously, so that we don’t spend all our time on the hard things. That’s the message I got from the letter. I mean, today is the youngest day of our lives. And tomorrow we’ll be a day older and maybe wiser. So I’m not afraid of getting older, and it’s never too late to start something. After all, a day is a day no matter how you spend it. That’s why I try to think that things will work out no matter how I do it. Though sometimes it’s not good enough even when I do try to think like that.
You know it, but sometimes it’s not good enough. Is there a way to cope when you can’t bring yourself to think, “A day is a day no matter how I spend it?”
I’m the type who doesn’t know when to give up, so I can’t give up on myself when I’m in a bad situation. What inspires me when I want to pull myself up again is a line from Whitney Houston’s “Greatest Love of All”: “I decided long ago / Never to walk in anyone’s shadows / If I fail, if I succeed / At least I’ll live as I believe / No matter what they take from me / They can’t take away my dignity.” I sing this verse out loud when I want to fire myself up.
I’m sure there are many people who are inspired by the way you motivate yourself to perform on stage and by hearing your voice.
I’d be happy if that were so. Even if we have to go through some painful experiences, it’d be nice if we could learn a lot from them. I’ve loved to sing since I was a child and always wanted to be a singer and was lucky enough to make that dream come true. Still, there are times when I feel bad or sad, but each time I think, “Oh, now I have one more thing I can sing about,” so I’m able to continue without breaking down. I think everyone has their own way of putting things into perspective like that, even if they’re not singers.
—This interview by Rio Hirai (SOW SWEET PUBLISHING) first appeared on Billboard Japan.
Official HIGE DANdism’s “Subtitle” returns to the top of the Billboard Japan Hot 100 again, extending its record to 5 weeks at No. 1 on the chart dated Dec. 7.
“Subtitle” continues to sit at No. 1 for streaming for the seventh straight week (from 19,306,522 to 18,006,563 weekly streams) and hits No. 1 for downloads (from 14,583 to 15,611 units) for the fourth, while also coming in at No. 3 for video (from 2,869,548 to 2,696,956 views), No. 6 for radio airplay, and No. 8 for karaoke.
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Last week’s No. 1 song, Kenshi Yonezu’s “KICK BACK,” falls to No. 2, coming in at No. 2 for streaming (from 13,272,889 to 12,507,777 streams), downloads (from 14,349 to 11,613 units), video (from 4,356,710 to 3,031,299 views) and karaoke. In other metrics, the track hit No. 10 for radio and No. 11 for sales. Both “Subtitle” and “KICK BACK” are slowing down figure-wise, but “Subtitle” saw a smaller decrease overall and their positions reversed on this week’s list.
King & Prince’s former No. 1 single “Tsukiyomi” holds at No. 3 on the Japan Hot 100 and continues to perform well. The single sold 111,385 copies this week (up from 80,306 last week) and rises 3-1 for the second time on the metric, and also holds at No. 1 for video for the third week although figures have decreased slightly from 3,564,897 to 3,363,622 views.
The Billboard Japan Hot 100 combines physical and digital sales, audio streams, radio airplay, YouTube and GYAO! video views and karaoke data.
See the full Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart, tallying the week from Nov. 28 to Dec. 4, here. For more on Japanese music and charts, visit Billboard Japan’s English Twitter account.
Suzume, the highly anticipated latest animated feature film by director Makoto Shinkai, hit theaters in Japan on Nov. 11. The movie’s music is by RADWIMPS, fronted by Yojiro Noda, marking the third time the hugely popular J-rock band collaborated with Shinkai on his movies following Your Name. from 2016 and Weathering With You from 2019.
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The featured female vocalist on one of the theme songs called “Suzume feat. Toaka” was selected through auditions, and the film’s score was co-produced by RADWIMPS and Kazuma Jinnouchi, who has written music for numerous video games and films including the Metal Gear Solid series and Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045.
Suzume takes place in various ruins around Japan as a girl named Suzume goes on a journey to close the “Doors of Disasters.” Noda sat down with Billboard Japan and shared the process of creating music for the project, which Shinkai notes that he’s “confident that you’ll feel the impact of what can be described as a musical experience in theaters.”
I understand this project began around the spring of 2020. Did Mr. Shinkai ask you to work with him again?
Yojiro Noda: It was the same with Weathering With You, but Mr. Shinkai would send me the screenplay beforehand without fanfare. Kind of like, “Here’s what I have in mind for the next movie, please read it if you have the time.” He never clearly says, “Please work with me again.” He waits for me to send him something.
Around the time when I first sent him my feedback, the world was going through a major pandemic crisis and the mood of society was like “now isn’t the time for this,” so we sort of stopped contacting each other for a while. But I was able to go to the studio, so I wrote some music and sent him several demos including the prototype of “Suzume” around August. “Suzume” is the only one that made it from that batch.
What did you think when you first read the script?
I found this one the most exciting (compared to the other two Shinkai collaborations). I love road movies and the way people change during their journeys, and I also have a thing for abandoned buildings, so there were a lot of elements I liked. But at that point I still didn’t know how the story would end and I couldn’t imagine what the “mimizu” (literally, “earthworm”) that appears many times in the story would look like just from the words, so those unknowns also fueled the excitement because I wondered how they would play out. I remember telling Mr. Shinkai that I really looked forward to seeing the story.
What parts of the screenplay inspired you?
First, I wanted music that was different in flavor from the past two works. While this is a story about people living in the modern world, at the same time it’s a story that focuses on villages and towns that have fallen into decline, and the activities, vitality, and liveliness of people who once thrived, so I also wanted a somewhat nostalgic sound. Kind of like a folk song-ish nuance from no particular country, or the sound of ethnic instruments.
Why did you decide to feature a female vocalist again for the theme song for this movie, like you did with Toko Miura (for Weathering With You)?
Mr. Shinkai had told me that he wanted to use my voice for this one, so that was my intention when we started working on it, but once the arrangement was finalized, we both began to feel that a female voice would better define the impression of the track. So we spent about a year last year searching for a female vocalist.
We didn’t have anything specific in mind but did want a voice that would transcend current times. There were many people who simply had a good voice, or sang well, or had a voice that would sell in 2022. But we needed a voice that felt like it resonated 100 years ago and would still do so 100 years from now. A transparent voice with an endless clarity, like. At the same time, a voice with strength of will. While we were looking for something like that, we came across Toaka’s voice and it just clicked. It was an almost immediate decision, including Mr. Shinkai.
RADWIMPS’ “KANATA HALUKA” is the other movie theme song. How did you come up with the idea of featuring two songs?
Mr. Shinkai always said he wanted another song. I had to squeeze it out so hard it was like, “I can’t come up with anything else!” I was also working on the movie score, so at the last minute I said, “I’ll give it one more try. If it doesn’t come out next time, let’s just go with ‘Suzume,’” and gave him “KANATA HALUKA” and one more track, I think. The other one was a really simple tune accompanied by an acoustic guitar.
And “KANATA HALUKA” was chosen from there.
This movie discusses so many themes like disasters, how to survive in the modern world, matters about parents and children, and history. But when I considered what I should sing about in the end, I wanted to sing about how it’s a story about Suzume and Sota. They travel together, gradually building a relationship, and she ends up risking her life to save him.
Everything that happens during their journey contains various themes, but Suzume doesn’t care about them. She wants to see Sota and save him and wants to live in a world where he exists. During the two years that we were working on this film, I think Mr. Shinkai, Mr. Genki Kawamura (producer), and I all sort of lost sight of that part, so I’m glad we were able to realize it by the time we finished.
Compared to your past two soundtracks, the rock band feel is much more subdued. Instead of the exuberant rock-meets-orchestra style of ”Shukusai” (Weathering With You) and “Zenzenzense” (Your Name.), the themes for this work feature beautiful piano melodies and delicate strings accompanied by Toaka’s and your vocals.
I didn’t have a rock band sound in mind at all. This is sort of like what I said about Toaka’s voice, but rock is one of the musical genres that emerged in the last few decades, and (for this film) I knew I needed a kind of timeless resonance or series of sounds that someone could have been playing a hundred years ago and could still be playing a hundred years from now. There’s a guitar sound at the end of “KANATA HALUKA,” but I wanted the root of the song to be simpler, not a rock band sound, but a phrase that could be played with your index finger, or even by a kindergartener.
Mr. Shinkai has said that while he always liked to make things by himself, he tries to be conscious of the fact that he’s making big movies, especially after Your Name. Do you also feel that opportunities like these tie-ins have broadened your horizons and changed the scale of your activities?
There are moments when it’s actually not very interesting to just do what you like, and I come up with more interesting things when I’m asked, “What can you do on this kind of theme?” Makoto Shinkai’s works are the perfect example. Without that motivator, a song like “Zenzenzense” would never have been born, and the same goes for “Is There Still Anything That Love Can Do?” (Weathering With You) and “KANATA HALUKA.” I would never have come up with those words if it were only for myself and could never have maintained that kind of grit like, “I’m going to deliver this song at any cost.” You tend to exert more strength when doing things for the people you care about.
Could you give a message to the people who will see the movie?
I’m really happy now that the film is completed at last. It’s a work that has an overwhelming force. Some may like animated works and some may not like this style of movie, but it’s really a magical film that will definitely take viewers to a single goal. It’s Japanese entertainment at its best and I think that I’m fortunate to be able to see it in real time. I want to share this happy experience with you and hope that you’ll savor it.
—This interview by Takuto Ueda first appeared on Billboard Japan.
Kenshi Yonezu‘s “KICK BACK” returns to No. 1 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100, dated Nov. 30, topping the chart for the second time after six weeks.
The CD version of the Chainsaw Man opener went on sale during the chart week and launched with 289,147 copies. The single rules sales and video (increasing 57.1 percent from 2,772,899 to 4,356,710 weekly views), while also coming in at No. 2 for streaming and No. 3 for downloads, look-ups, Twitter mentions, karaoke, and radio airplay. The points for this track across all metrics added up to 20,784 this week, which is the second highest for any single this year following Yonezu’s own record for the Shin Ultraman theme “M87” (20,881 points).
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After hitting No. 1 on the chart released Nov. 16, King & Prince’s “Tsukiyomi” continues to hold in the top 10 of the Japan Hot 100, rising 7-3 this week. Weekly sales for the single increased by 147.5 percent from 32,441 to 80,306 copies, lifting the track a notch to No. 3 for the metric. While the song slips to No. 2 for video (dropping 10 percent to 3,564,897 views), it rises 2-1 for Twitter this week, and nine songs in the top 10 for the metric are King & Prince numbers. The untiring support from the currently five-member Johnny’s group’s fans has boosted the total points for “Tsukiyomi” by 47.3 percent from the previous week to 9,400 points, elevating it back into the top 3 on the Japan Hot 100.
The excitement generated by the 2022 FIFA World Cup has fueled King Gnu‘s “Stardom” into the top 10 this week, moving 16-8. The song is being featured in NHK’s soccer broadcasts and has risen significantly in a number of metrics: streaming increased by 108.3 percent to 4,189,640 weekly streams (69-17), and radio by 146.6 percent (9-2). It remains to be seen how the ongoing enthusiasm surrounding the World Cup will affect this and other songs related to the broadcasts in Japan.
The Billboard Japan Hot 100 combines physical and digital sales, audio streams, radio airplay, Twitter mentions, YouTube and GYAO! video views, Gracenote look-ups and karaoke data.
Check out the full Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart, tallying the week from Nov. 21 to 27, here. For more on Japanese music and charts, visit Billboard Japan’s English Twitter account.
Japan-based boy band ONE N’ ONLY — consisting of members EIKU, TETTA, REI, HAYATO, KENSHIN, and NAOYA — recently digitally dropped its bouncy new single “Good Day.” The six-member dance and vocal unit has been steadily expanding its global fanbase, particularly in Asian and South American countries, through their unique style of music they’ve coined “JK-pop” that blends the best qualities from both genres.
Billboard Japan caught up with the members for the first time since they performed in front of their fans in Brazil at the end of July. The members chat about “Good Day” and share their thoughts on the danceable tune, plus give away some behind-the-scenes details about its recording and choreography in this latest interview.
You recently released your new song “Good Day.” Could you tell us a bit about this cheerful, uplifting number?
NAOYA: It’s like we’ve added another track to our repertoire of cheerful numbers such as “Video Chat,” “LUCKY” and “HOLIDAY.” “Good Day” is a song that really looks great performed live and can be presented in a different way from the other songs I just mentioned. It’s just a lot of fun to dance to. It brings out the members’ genuine expressions. It’s also unusual in that it starts and ends with the A melody (first verse). I’m pretty sure it’ll becomeone of our signature songs in the future.
It’s very addictive.
REI: Yes, it is. I think it’s a song that really goes straight into people’s hearts. I want it to be the kind of tune where people think, “Yes!” when they hear the intro at a concert.
EIKU: I really like the choreography of the chorus. The part where the members dance facing each other just makes me smile, and I tried to make the song feel fresh and spontaneous in my own way when we recorded it.
You make eye contact one-on-one?
KENSHIN: We do, a lot!
NAOYA: I’m on the outermost end of the formation, so I get to make eye contact with KENSHIN, then look other way and make eye contact with SWAG [the group’s fans]. It’s one of the fun parts of the song, so I’m looking forward to performing it live as much as we can.
How do you feel when you face each other individually like that?
KENSHIN: It cheers me up! I love seeing the other members faces close up like that. But when I make eye contact with EIKU, I always crack up.
EIKU: He twitches his eyebrows. He tries to make me laugh.
KENSHIN: I also make eye contact with NAOYA, and he looks at me like, “How’s this?” [Laughs] We goof off like that, so fans are encouraged to look out for those moments.
REI: HAYATO is over there looking like he has nothing to do with this conversation, but he’s the one who makes the weirdest expressions.
HAYATO: I don’t deny it. [Laughs]
TETTA, anything you want to add about the track?
TETTA: I really like the A melody(first verse) too. Actually, I heard that our choreographer came up with the dance for this part by imagining me dancing to it. The soft spot I have for this part has grown even more after hearing that. Besides, the choreographer praises me every time I dance to it.
KENSHIN: We all tend to thrive on praise.
TETTA: Yeah! Praise us!
Do you all often praise each other?
REI: We often praise TETTA after he finishes singing. Also, HAYATO’s rapping is really awesome. I was surprised at how much he evolved during the fall tour. But in Sapporo, he called SWAG “twag.” [Laughs]
HAYATO: I did my best to pretend it didn’t happen. [Laughs] That was my first time performing a solo on stage, and since it was my own idea, I was still sort of pondering what to do. That was part of the reason why I got nervous onstage and blurted out “twag.” It was pretty vexing so I was super careful during the rest of the performance. [Laughs]
KENSHIN: No, you really did better with each performance. The final was even more amazing with the added emotion.
REI: You’re always quick to praise, KENSHIN.
TETTA: The momentwe finished “STARLIGHT~Mirai no Tobira~,” you came over to tell me it was great and it made me so happy.
KENSHIN: I can’t hide my feelings. I want to communicate my thoughts every time.
Getting back to the subject, HAYATO, tell us your favorite part of this song.
HAYATO: I like the part where REI sings, “Life goes on, risou o koete (beyond ideals).” His voice matches and it feels so good. It really does go “beyond the ideal.” I’d like everyone to listen carefully to that part along with the lyrics.
REI: Sweet. You pointed out what I was aiming for! Actually, that part is deliberate and I’m singing at full volume while staying relaxed.
HAYATO: So that’s why it feels “beyond the ideal”! After that, you tighten it up with “ready.”
REI: Thanks for saying all that. [Laughs]
HAYATO: The cadenced way you handle the ending of each line is really cool, too.
REI: I learned that from TETTA.
Did you decide who sings which parts by yourselves?
TETTA: The writer of the song had all the parts laid out at first, but we discussed things among ourselves and changed it while were recording it.
REI: My part we spoke about just now used to be EIKU’s at first, right?
EIKU: Yeah. But REI’s voice fits better, and since I’m in charge of the beginning of the chorus, it’s better to have someone else do it. REI’s voice adds a really nice touch to the song.
KENSHIN: It turned out really well. It’s really great because EIKU’s chorus brims with encouragement and respect for those who live and work hard every day, and it can be interpreted as us saying, “Let’s keep on growing together from now on.” It’s heartening and uplifting so I recommend listening to it in the morning.
NAOYA: First thing in the morning is good.
KENSHIN: Recently I’ve been challenging myself to play this song the moment I wake up and get ready to leave the house during the three minutes it takes to finish. Everyone should give it a try!
NAOYA: That sounds pretty thrilling. [Laughs]
—This interview by Kana Yoshida first appeared on Billboard Japan.
Official HIGE DANdism’s “Subtitle” returns to No. 1 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100, dated Nov. 23, extending its record to four weeks atop the list.
“Subtitle” rose to No. 1 again powered by streaming (21,377,577 to 21,708,199, No. 1 for the metric), downloads (22,717 to 19,838, No. 1), and video views (2,934,239 to 3,025,749, No. 2). While showing a slight decrease in downloads, the track continues to add weekly streams and views, and the track has also accumulated more points overall compared to the week before.
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Naniwa Danshi’s “Happy Surprise” sold 517,381 CDs in its first week to rule sales and look-ups, but couldn’t add enough points through the other metrics (No. 11 for video, No. 10 for radio airplay, No. 39 for Twitter mentions) to debut at the top and launches at No. 2 on the Japan Hot 100. Still, the rising Johnny’s boy band has sold over half a million CDs in its first week for three singles in a row — its debut single “UBU-LOVE” sold 632,655 copies and the follow-up “The Answer/Sachiare” sold 534,004 copies — showcasing the seven-member group’s rising popularity.
Last week’s No. 1 song, King & Prince’s “Tsukiyomi,” falls to No. 7, but continues to perform well in various metrics, coming in a No. 1 for video, No. 2 for look-ups and Twitter, and No. 4 for sales. In particular, the track has been coasting along in the top 5 in video since its debut on the metric, moving 1-5-5-4-3-1 and logging its highest weekly view count this week at 3,957,470 views.
The Billboard Japan Hot 100 combines physical and digital sales, audio streams, radio airplay, Twitter mentions, YouTube and GYAO! video views, Gracenote look-ups and karaoke data.
See the full Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart, tallying the week from Nov. 14 to 20, here. For more on Japanese music and charts, visit Billboard Japan’s English Twitter account.
Official HIGE DANdism‘s latest single “Subtitle,” released Oct. 12, has become a record-breaking hit in Japan.
On the Billboard Japan Hot 100 songs chart dated Nov. 9, 2022, “Subtitle” took the No. 1 position for a third consecutive week. In its streaming metrics, which serve as signposts of major hits, it came in at No. 2 on the chart dated Oct. 19 (with 9,905,294 streams), No. 1 on Oct. 26 (18,116,526 streams), No. 1 on Nov. 2 (20,781,069 streams), No. 1 on Nov. 9 (21,044,966 streams), and No. 1 on Nov. 16 (21,377,507 streams).
The number of streams just keeps going up and up and up. For the week tracking Nov. 7 to 13, the song had 29,935,364 streams — the second-highest number of streams for any song on the chart ever, surpassed only by BTS‘ “Butter,” which was released on June 2, 2021. It’s also the first time in Japan Hot 100 history that a song has had over 20 million plays for three weeks in a row. There’s no question that “Subtitle” is one of the leading hit songs of the Japanese music scene in the latter half of 2022.
“Subtitle” is a winter ballad written as the theme song to the dramatic TV series silent. The members of the band read the script treatment and actual script for the show, which are completely original. The story and the show’s message resonated with the band, which is why they decided to write the show’s theme song. silent is a love story focused on protagonist Tsumugi Aoba (played by Haruna Kawaguchi) and her former boyfriend, So Sakura (played by Snow Man’s Ren Meguro). The bittersweet and endearing tale of Sakura, who begins to gradually lose his hearing at the age of 18, Aoba, who works to accept the changes he is undergoing and rebuild her relationship with him, and Nana Momono (played by Kaho), who was born deaf, has attracted a diverse audience. The show itself has become one of 2022’s outstanding programs, with playback numbers that sweep away previous record-holders on TVer, the television broadcast service for over-the-air broadcasters. The synergy between the show and its opening theme is boosting the hit’s trajectory. It’s an ideal tie-up.
The choice of the name “Subtitle” for the theme song of this drama about meeting again in a soundless world shows the respect they have for the series.
“Subtitle” begins with the line “‘Pouring the sun into your frozen heart’ and ‘That’s what I’ll be for you,’” sung by Satoshi Fujihara (vocals and piano). The way the song launches straight into the vocals without an intro shows a modern sensibility, but the structure of the song itself is pure J-pop: verse, bridge, chorus, soft chorus, middle eight. HIGE DAN’s strengths, like chord progressions which make effective use of modulation and dramatic melody lines, are taken to a new height, producing a song that is pleasant yet never goes stale. Care was also taken with the arrangement, and the colorful guitar phrases and rhythm line, with its deep bass tone, make quite the impression. Another of the appeals of this song is the musical skill shown by Daisuke Ozasa (guitars and chorus), Makoto Narazaki (bass and saxophone), and Masaki Matsuura (drums and chorus).
Coming in at over five minutes, the song is unusually long for a modern song, but thanks to the quality of the melody and the intricacy of the song’s design, it never overstays its welcome. The reason the number of plays keeps rising is that the song has so much depth — every time you listen to it, you discover something new.
What enthralls listeners the most about “Subtitle,” though, are its lyrics. The core of the strong is the powerful love the singer feels toward “you,” and the frustration they feel about not being able to convey that love. The lyrics artfully express how words spoken to convey one’s feelings vanish the moment they are uttered, as epitomized in the phrase “words are like snowflakes.”
This emotion peaks in the line “Even more than saying I love you, I want to say wait, just a moment more, until you feel my love.” The struggles faced by the singer end, unresolved. They do not take any concrete action. But the love the singer feels for “you” is true and without question, and the singer wants to share their feelings, moving “your” heart. Listening to the song, you feel these emotions ring pure and clear.
Immediately after the song’s release, people started posting their interpretations of the lyrics on social media and in YouTube comments. “I love the lyrics. I’d rather feel the kind of love where two people support each other than love that’s a one-way street. If I have to experience the lowest of the lows in life, that’s the kind of life I’d rather lead.” “I feel like the lyrics to ‘Subtitle’ really affect the way I see love…but shift them a little, at the same time.” “No matter how you try to express yourself, if your emotions aren’t of the same intensity, your ability to communicate your feelings will suffer. But you can’t give up on sharing what you feel in your heart.” Comments like these are testament to how the words to “Subtitle” resonate with the experiences and memories of listeners, and how they feel like the song is their own song.
Official HIGE DANdism has produced countless hits, including “115man Kilo no Film,” “Pretender” and “I LOVE…” “Subtitle” will surely become one of their new standards, thanks to the quality of its music and the profundity of its lyrics. It will become a leading J-pop winter ballad of the 2020s, continuing to enthrall listeners for years to come.
—This article by Tomoyuki Mori first appeared on Billboard Japan.
TOKYO — This summer, the Japanese entertainment company Avex launched the seven-member girl group XG on a weekly music TV show — in South Korea, instead of Japan. The move was strategic. Rather than promote the group, which was five years in the making, at home, Avex leveraged Korea’s K-pop-rich media market to make an international splash.
It’s a prime example of the newest chapter in K-pop’s globalization: non-Korean acts tapping into the training, promotion, styles and strategies that made the genre an international success.
Korean networks’ many music programs showcase dozens of bands and live performances, which are readily available on YouTube — a key factor in K-pop’s international expansion, according to industry experts. In stark contrast, Japanese TV networks have been slow to embrace YouTube because sharing original content there often leads to unauthorized reuse. “Japanese TV shows are really inside — we can’t really reach to the global fans,” says Reina Aiguchi, a manager in Avex’s digital marketing group who works with XG. “In order to gain the global fans, we had to go on Korean TV shows.”
XG — like JO1 from Japan and boy band SB19 from the Philippines — followed the K-pop star incubation model, drawing their members from thousands of auditioning hopefuls and undergoing yearslong training regimens. Thanks to instruction from K-pop vocal coaches and choreographers, they appear to be gaining traction, accumulating millions of audio streams and YouTube views. What remains unclear, though, is whether they will lure non-Korean listeners away from Korean bands or grow the genre’s fan base by having lesser-known artists attract more listeners.
Either way, experts say the development could help boost K-pop’s long-term viability worldwide. Non-Korean K-pop bands may displease some existing fans, but this expansion evolves the genre beyond Korean pop. “If globalizing Korean acts was the model in the past, now the mindset is to create global-level groups around the world,” says Kim Young-dae, a Seoul-based music critic. “It didn’t happen overnight. This has been the goal that [the industry] has been working on for the last two decades.”
K-pop acts with members from outside Korea aren’t a new phenomenon. Starting in the 1990s, agencies recruited from the Korean diaspora and later expanded the talent pool to such key target markets as Japan and China. From Super Junior to TWICE to Aespa, bands have benefited from members who communicate with fans and media in relevant markets in their own languages.
But this latest wave of K-pop groups has no Korean members. Instead, they are working within Korea to take advantage of the know-how, distribution channels and global attention K-pop has established. They were often exposed to K-pop from childhood and see Korea as a platform for international stardom.
XG
Courtesy of XGALX
XG, for example, is produced by an agency led by Simon Jakops, a former K-pop idol who was born in the United States to Korean and Japanese parents. Avex selected XG’s members from a pool of 15,000 Japanese girls in 2017 and put them through five years of training — starting when they were ages 10 to 15 — to master hip-hop and R&B music, as well as English and Korean. They lived together in a dormitory in Tokyo and moved to Seoul during the pandemic. Singing and rapping in English — with the occasional Japanese word thrown in — the group made 14 appearances on six different Korean TV shows in June and July to promote its first two singles, “Tippy Toes” and “Mascara,” Aiguchi says. The group is marketed by XGALX, an agency overseen in Tokyo by Avex, which, in recent years, has struggled to repeat its J-pop idol successes from the 1990s and 2000s.
“We wanted to refer to K-pop and have those methods for XG,” says Yudai Hasegawa, manager for XGALX, speaking through Aiguchi’s translation. “Second is, we wanted to shoot those music videos in Korea, where they have good music video directors.” Such strategies appear to be making a difference: XG has about 700,000 subscribers on YouTube and around 600,000 on TikTok, while “Mascara” reached No. 14 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100, spending 11 weeks on the chart. In addition, the group won the Rising Star award at the MTV Video Music Awards Japan in November. Comments below the group’s videoclips contain English, Bahasa (Indonesia) and Spanish, alongside Japanese.
JO1, a Japanese boy band formed from the 11 winners of the 2019 reality TV contest Produce 101 Japan, also received training in South Korea. Their music, often a collaboration between Japanese and Korean producers, is sung in Japanese with English words peppered into the mix, a K-pop formula for upping the songs’ global appeal. The members have appeared on Korean variety shows and K-pop-focused YouTube channels. (Their latest single, “SuperCali,” borrows the famous compound word from Mary Poppins.) JO1 has racked up several No. 1s on the Billboard Japan Hot 100, including “Bokura no Kisetsu” (“Our Season”), which topped the chart last December and has nearly 420 million combined views on YouTube.
Korean agencies in recent years have also launched non-Korean bands that perform K-pop-like music — notably SM Entertainment’s China-geared boy band WayV, as well as NiziU, an all-Japanese girl group from JYP Entertainment and Sony Music Entertainment Japan.
After an open call for auditions beginning in 2014 involving hundreds of Filipino boys, SB19 was formed by ShowBT Philippines, a subsidiary of Korean agency ShowBT Group. The five-member boy band, which sings in English and Tagalog, trained in South Korea for three years before signing with Sony Music Philippines in December of 2019. They recently have begun cracking the Billboard charts and touring overseas, including a show at Los Angeles’ Avalon nightclub this past Saturday (Nov. 12). “They’ve really raised the bar, the Koreans,” Roslyn Pineda, general manager, Sony Music Entertainment Philippines, said in September. “Number one is the discipline” SB19 members learned in Korea, which led to a “sharpness of [dance] movements…that doesn’t lie,” she says.
“We can’t deny the K-pop influence [on JO1],” says Choi Shin-hwa, CEO of Lapone Entertainment, a joint venture between entertainment conglomerates CJ ENM of South Korea and Yoshimoto Kogyo of Japan that produces JO1. He doesn’t describe Lapone artists as K-pop, but rather envisions “a new genre that is a hybrid of K-pop and Japanese culture.”
In an interview in Tokyo, some members of JO1 told Billboard they grew up listening to K-pop CDs from boy band TVXQ and pop rock band CNBLUE, which their respective mothers, as fans, had played around the house. The members nervously denied they were already stars. “We keep on working with the hopes of catching up with all the awesome K-pop artists who are active today,” says member Issei Mamehara.
Additional reporting by Alexei Barrionuevo
This June, BLUE ENCOUNT announced that its bassist, Yuta Tsujimura, would be moving to the U.S. in 2023. He will continue to take part in the creation of new material, but during live shows, which are so important to the band, he will be replaced by a support member. This unusual approach is a surprising one, but there are good reasons for it, as the band explained in their latest Billboard Japan interview.
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In 2022, the same year that the band made this unusual decision, it released two new songs: “Ao” (“Blue”) and “Owaribi” (“Ending Fire”). Listening to them, you get a clear sense of what a forward-looking and ambitious band BLUE ENCOUNT is. Now it has released a new song, “Z.E.R.O.,” a culmination of BLUE ENCOUNT’s efforts this year. “Z.E.R.O.” was written as the ending theme for the rebroadcast of Code Geass Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 in commemoration of its 15th anniversary. The song is simple yet soaring, with lyrics that match the anime while sharing a straightforward message. This solid, deep song provides a window into the future of BLUE ENCOUNT as it sets off to a new start next year.
You’d already released two streaming singles this year, and now you’ve released a third song, “Z.E.R.O.” Looking back on 2022, what kind of year has it been for you so far?
Shunichi Tanabe (vocals/guitar): In June of this year, Tsujimura announced that he’d be moving to America next year. We were finally able to let fans and the rest of the world know that. For a whole year, since our April 2021 Yokohama Arena show, we’d been struggling with how to tell the world about the future of our band, but now it’s all in the open. Because of that, I’m now able to really enjoy our live shows. It feels like we’re finally at the starting line.
When I listen to your songs, it’s clear that you’re a really relaxed, natural band. I’m sure that in the past BLUE ENCOUNT would bring in different ideas when the timing was right, maybe because you wanted to perform at a certain venue or you wanted to create an album with a certain theme. This year, it feels like you’re taking a really even, open approach.
Tanabe: That’s right. We’re putting on a ton of shows this year, and we’ve been invited to a lot of events and festivals. We’ve also started a tour of our own, and I feel like our image has become a really open one. We’re having a lot of fun. It doesn’t matter what other people think of us, we’re just doing what we want every day, playing songs that have messages we want to share. We’re just having a blast.
Yuya Eguchi (guitar): Being able to share the news with our fans about Tsuji (Yuta Tsujimura, bassist) has made a huge difference. Since the announcement, I feel like the relationships between us four have been better than ever. We’re discussing all kinds of things, and there’s a real feeling of unity. Because of that, we’ve been able to write great songs and put on great shows.
So the announcement that Tsujimura was moving to the U.S. has had quite an impact.
Tanabe: I think it’s the biggest thing that’s happened to us. We were in discussions right up to the end of last year getting everything ready for the announcement. We didn’t know for sure where we were headed, and yet we were touring, so we weren’t able to really open up about it. We couldn’t, for example, say “everything will turn out fine.” Everybody was choosing their words carefully. I thought, “this isn’t like us.” Up on stage, it was always like, “What should we say?” That was something that I, and the rest of the band, struggled with. But Tsuji had made his decision, and I was worried that if I opened up with “Okay, fine then, what are we going to do?” it would cause things to crumble.
So you understood why Tsujimura made the choice he did, but the band was feeling down because it hadn’t decided on what to do?
Tanabe: Right. Last year, we were finally scheduled to do shows at Yokohama Arena, and they were great days. Over the course of the two days, we put on two different but wonderful shows. It reaffirmed for me that it was the four of us that made it so great. I wanted the four of us to be together, and I felt like we just hadn’t accomplished anything yet. So Tsujimura’s course of action was decided, but that’s how I was feeling about things, so I just felt down the whole time. I realized that towards the end of the tour, so I opened up to Tsuji about it, and we came to an understanding. You only live once. That’s true for Tsuji and it’s true for the rest of us, so we all have to enjoy ourselves. But the four of us, as a group, still hadn’t accomplished anything, and I felt that achieving our goals would be how we could live our best lives.
So you ultimately decided that Tsujimura would move to America but remain a member of BLUE ENCOUNT. He would work on new songs, but you’d have a support member come in for live shows. That must have been a hard decision to arrive at.
Tanabe: That’s right. We’re skating a fine line.
Honestly, when I first heard about it, I wondered if it would really work out, but hearing what you’ve had to say, it seems you’ve given it a lot of thought before making that decision.
Tanabe: Of course, the best thing would be for the four of us to keep what we were doing, without changing things up. But, in a way, I thought his decision would also have a really good influence on us. That situation, and the COVID situation, had in a way presented us with new opportunities. Over the past two years, we haven’t been able to put on live shows like we would have liked to. Things are getting back to normal now, but some of the people who had been coming to see us before haven’t returned. I was thinking that, in in this situation, what’s most important is for us, as musicians, to share our music with people who haven’t heard it before. Live shows are really important to us, so we want to keep playing them, but to do that we need to keep bringing in new “kindred spirits.” To do that, I want to keep releasing lots of new songs. If we can do that, we can keep on moving forward even if Tsuji’s in the U.S. Of course, we’re exploring just how to do that, but we’ve got lots of different ideas, and I’m sure they’ll strengthen us as a band. I myself have started learning how to make music on a computer.
You’re programming music? That’s something new for you.
Tanabe: Right. I was never into that, and was the kind of person that would record songs I made onto a MP3 player. But now I realize that using computers will be essential for this phase of BLUE ENCOUNT. I plan to use a computer to express what’s in my head, to the best of my ability, and share that vision with the rest of the band. If I can do that, then we can make songs right away, even if Tsuji is in the U.S.
Is that how you made the new songs you released this year, “Ao” and “Owaribi?”
Tanabe: Yes. Starting with “Ao,” instead of Tsujimura coming to the recording studio, we worked as if he were in America, with him recording his phrases and saving them as data, which I then snapped into what we’d recorded in the studio. With “Z.E.R.O.,” though, we all gathered together to record in the studio.
The two songs you made using this new approach were an aggressive guitar tune and a ballad with a beautiful melody. They really showed two sides of BLUE ENCOUNT.
Tanabe: Yes, they did. We released “Ao” at the stroke of midnight on the night when Tsuji announced on a live stream that he was going to America. We wrote “Ao” to express our resolve in the form of a song. It felt like, for the first time in a long time, we’d had fun making a standout song that would stand the test of time.
Eguchi: When I got the rough cut from Tanabe, every one of us was like “I want to make this song,” so that was that. Even before creating the song, we felt that it’d become a really special song for us, so I was happy that our fans received it so well, saying it was a true BLUE ENCOUNT song.
Tanabe: The song was a great fit for BLUE ENCOUNT from the very start, which is why I think we were able to create it using our new approach. It was our first attempt, so it was really hard going, but I think it served as a great litmus test.
That’s why you chose to include it on your single, right? “Owaribi” is also a great song. I feel like it’s been a while since you wrote that kind of love song.
Tanabe: Yeah, I feel like we haven’t written a song like that in about two years. We actually wrote “Owaribi” before “Ao,” and it had a full chorus even then. But nobody had a chance to hear it right away, and then Tsuji made his announcement, and we started working on “Ao,” and before we knew it there was just barely enough time to make it a summer release (laughs). “Ao” went so well that we thought we could do things right away using the new approach, but when we actually got to working on it the arrangement was pretty hard to do. The theme of the song is the end of summer, but for some members the image didn’t fit. I’d thought it would be easy to create the song by passing data back and forth, but I realized that it’s not always so easy (laughs).
On “Owaribi,” you experienced some hurdles you didn’t experience with “Ao,” right?
Tsujimura: It was really difficult for us to communicate our feelings to each other without being in the same studio.
Tanabe: Like, for example, the places and the music that Tsujimura has experienced over the past few years have had a really strong influence on BLUE ENCOUNT, and the life experiences of our members have taken the form of music, creating all kinds of songs in new genres. I think that’s why we were able to make “Z.E.R.O.”
All four of you gathered together in the studio when you made “Z.E.R.O.”, right?
Tanabe: Right. That’s why the creation process was so fast. Through these two songs, we really gained a deeper understanding of the good and bad parts of this new style of songwriting. We wrote “Z.E.R.O.” after being approached to write the ending theme for Code Geass Lelouch of the Rebellion R2. In preparation for writing the song I watched the whole series on Netflix, and I really got into it. It isn’t just a collection of battle scenes, but there are some real character studies, and the main character, Lelouch, has a dark, twisted side, which is interesting. I loved the feel of the world. Because of that, I got an immediate feel for the world, and right away got ideas about the chords, vocals, melodies, and the like.
“Z.E.R.O.” Music Video
This song is very much a BLUE ENCOUNT song, but in a way it’s also very fresh. The edge to the song, its soaring scale — these are things that, surprisingly, you’ve never really used in your past songs, right?
Tanabe: The songs that we set out to write as really big, sweeping songs didn’t turn out that way. We’ve had a ton of songs where that’s what we were setting out for, but the four of us were never all fully satisfied with them. Sometimes it was like the starting point, which was just me singing while playing guitar, had the most expansive feel, and we just couldn’t get that feel across in the final song. I think I was able to finally achieve that by using a computer. I was able to express that sense of scale while having fun doing it.
It is a really simple sound, but because of that each part is that much stronger. That’s what makes it feel so big. It really feels like you were able to share your own ideas with the rest of the band and bring them to life.
Tanabe: Part of it was that I had started working with making music using a computer, so I’d started figuring out how it worked, and it worked out with the four of us. I think it provides a glimpse at what BLUE ENCOUNT has achieved this year.
Eguchi: The guitar part for this song was really hard. During the stage where I was writing the phrases, I just couldn’t really unpack and actualize Tanabe’s concept of this massive, dramatic song. It was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do. I think the song has a kind of Western sound to it, but I’m not really all that well-versed in Western music, so I ended up buying a new guitar in preparation for recording, and I struggled to wrap my head around everything.
Yoshihide Takamura (drums): The drums are all about subtraction. I guess it was a good thing that we weren’t adding stuff in. We used the computer to test out lots of subtly different drum patterns and nuances, and then thought about what we could strip out from them, which was good.
Tsujimura: I also think that I was able to express where I am now with the bass melody. When I first heard the rough cut, I wanted to play a bass line with a bit of an American feel. I’m a fan of Western music myself, and I wanted to produce that feeling of creating this sense of a big, wide-open sky even though you’re using the same chords. I thought that hints of that kind of tone would be good for BLUE ENCOUNT, so I made a lot of requests about things like the sounds of the drums or the sounds of other accompaniment.
The lyrics fit Lelouch of the Rebellion, but they’re also very straightforward.
Tanabe: I started out knowing nothing about the series, and then I watched all of it, soaking in the feeling of that world, and then wrote the lyrics while it was still fresh and vivid in my mind. We were writing a new ending song for the 15th anniversary revival of the series, so I was a bit worried about what the original fans of the series would think, but I decided to just write what I felt when I watched it for the first time, as a whole new interpretation of it. I think that’s what made the words flow out so easily.
BLUE ENCOUNT has collaborated on several anime, such as Gintama, Mobile Suit Gundam Iron-Blooded Orphans, and My Hero Academia. You’re really good at writing songs with lyrics that match their anime but which also convey a message.
Tanabe: You think so? Well, sure, we do enjoy making them. It’s something that most people don’t have the opportunity to do. We can become a part of each work, and also a pillar that helps support it. Our songs shape the future of the works they go with, but also the future of our band. It’s really the best, and I never forget that.
And, looking back, the songs you’ve written that way are also essential for you as a band.
Tsujimura: That’s because they’re also fun to play live.
Tanabe: “Polaris,” the opening theme of My Hero Academia, connected BLUE ENCOUNT with the rest of the world. But we didn’t make it because we wanted people overseas to hear us, we simply knew that it was the only song that would fit that anime. I think things will feel the same in our future work, too. When you’re Japanese, everything you create is going to have something what of a Japanese feel to it. I can only play guitar the way I know how. We’re in an era in which you can hear all kinds of music, so I think that it might actually be better to try to emphasize those elements. Luckily, anime culture and the like are strong allies of Japanese bands, so we hope to keep making music, and we hope that, ultimately, it will reach a global audience.
—This interview by Tomohiro Ogawa first appeared on Billboard Japan