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The 2026 edition of MUSIC AWARDS JAPAN (MAJ), one of the country’s premier international music honors, is set for June 13 next year.
The Grand Ceremony, including the red carpet and presentation of the major categories, will be held that evening at TOYOTA ARENA TOKYO, while the Premiere Ceremony, which covers additional categories, will take place earlier that day at TOKYO DREAM PARK. The MAJ week, running from June 8 to 13, will also include artist performances alongside seminars and showcases featuring music industry professionals from Japan and abroad.
At a press conference held in Tokyo on Wednesday (Nov. 5), organizers revealed mid-year standings based on data from January through August 2025, covering the current entry pool of eligible works and artists. Nominees for Artist of the Year include some of the year’s most prominent acts: timelesz, HANA, Gen Hoshino, Mrs. GREEN APPLE, and Kenshi Yonezu, among others. For New Artist of the Year, the list includes CANDY TUNE, CENT, TENBLANK, HANA, Brandy Senki, MON7A, and ONE OR EIGHT.
The Song of the Year field features many of the year’s defining releases, such as AiNA THE END’s “On the Way,” Sakanaction’s “Kaiju,” JENNIE’s “like JENNIE,” Snow Man’s “CHARISMAX,” and multiple tracks from HANA (“Burning Flower,” “Blue Jeans,” “ROSE”), BE:FIRST’s “Muchu,” and Mrs. GREEN APPLE (“KUSUSHIKI,” “Darling,” “Heaven”), as well as Kenshi Yonezu (“BOW AND ARROW,” “Plazma”).
Meanwhile, Album of the Year contenders include acclaimed works such as Southern All Stars’ THANK YOU SO MUCH, Snow Man’s THE BEST 2020 – 2025, Fujii Kaze’s Prema, BABYMETAL’s METAL FORTH, and Mrs. GREEN APPLE’s 10.
Eligible works include songs and albums whose full official versions were first released between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2025, either on public digital services or in physical form (with some category exceptions). Winners are determined through voting by members of the music community.
The award categories have been restructured since the inaugural MAJ with 14 new categories added. To reflect the diversity of Japan’s music landscape, new Dance & Vocal categories (Group/Solo) and separate Boys Idol Culture and Girls Idol Culture Song awards (Group/Solo) have been introduced. In response to the rise of long-running hits and renewed attention on catalog music, a Back Catalog category has also been created to honor works that continue to be embraced over time. In addition, with vinyl experiencing a resurgence, an Analog Record category has been established. The Largest Live Audience (International) award and Best Music Video Director award have also been newly added.
Founded under the theme of “Connecting the world, illuminating the future of music,” MAJ was established by five major organizations in Japan’s music industry. At the inaugural event held in May, music professionals voted — with some category exceptions — to determine winners across 62 categories (including six major awards) from a pool of approximately 3,000 entries.
Mrs. GREEN APPLE took Artist of the Year, Creepy Nuts won Song of the Year with “Bling-Bang-Bang-Born,” tuki. earned New Artist of the Year, Fujii Kaze won Album of the Year with LOVE ALL SERVE ALL, YOASOBI took Top Global Hit From Japan with “Idol” and aespa won Best Song Asia with “Supernova.” The ceremony at ROHM Theatre Kyoto was streamed worldwide on YouTube.
Ceremony Date: Saturday, June 13, 2026
MAJ Week: June 8 (Monday) – June 13 (Saturday), 2026
Venue: TOYOTA ARENA TOKYO, Tokyo
On a warm, breezy evening in Kyoto, Japan’s biggest music stars walked a red carpet, performed their most popular hits and thanked their fans as they took the stage to receive ruby-hued awards.The dazzling ceremony, which was televised across Japan May 21-22 and livestreamed on YouTube, felt in many ways similar to the Grammy Awards.
But remarkably, even though Japan is the world’s second-biggest music market, the inaugural Music Awards Japan (MAJ) marked the country’s first major national music awards show.
“We’re honored to have received an award, but I also believe this could become a goal for young people in Japan who are just starting out in music,” said Ayase, producer and member of Japanese duo YOASOBI, after winning the top global hit from Japan award. “I hope that through events like this, people both in Japan and abroad will come to appreciate the greatness of Japanese music even more.”
The glitzy new gala is core to Japan’s mission to turbocharge its export of music to the world. For years, its music industry was able to increase revenue by marketing to fans within its borders thanks to the country’s enormous appetite for physical products like CDs and vinyl, which still account for 62.5% of its overall recorded-music revenue, according to IFPI. But those days have come to an end: Japan’s population has been shrinking for the past 14 years — and has been slow to adopt streaming. The country’s recorded-music revenue fell 2.6% in 2024, even as global recorded-music revenue has grown for the last 10 years, according to IFPI. So, to woo a global audience, Japan’s major music trade groups representing labels, concert promoters, publishers, producers and other enterprises united to form the Japan Culture and Entertainment Industry Promotion Association (CEIPA) and organized the show, inviting guests from 15 countries to attend.
Nominees for most of the awards were selected based on chart data provided by Billboard Japan, and winners were determined by a two-stage voting process involving over 5,000 industry professionals.
Hip-hop sensation Creepy Nuts took home nine awards including song of the year for its viral hit “Bling-Bang-Bang-Born.” Singer-songwriter-pianist Fujii Kaze earned album of the year with his Love All Serve All project. Pop-rock band Mrs. GREEN APPLE racked up a multitude of honors including artist of the year. Kendrick Lamar, Billie Eilish and Ariana Grande won awards for the impact of their hits in Japan, though they weren’t present to accept in person. MAJ executive committee chairman Tatsuya Nomura says that CEIPA plans to host the next show in June 2026 at a bigger venue in Tokyo so fans and more international artists can attend.
One sign of this year’s success: Streams of songs that won top honors have jumped an average of 31% in Japan, with 21 out of the 27 songs that received top honors gaining streams compared with the previous week, according to Luminate.
This story appears in the June 7, 2025, issue of Billboard.
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