The year 2018 in Japanese music.

Number ones

* Oricon number-one albums * Oricon number-one singles * Hot 100 number-one singles

Awards

60th Japan Record Awards The 60th Japan Record Awards was held on 30 December 2018. The Tokyo Broadcasting System Television network televised the show live from the New National Theatre Tokyo in Tokyo. This is the last Heisei-era Japan Record Awards. Abstract Nogizak ...

* 2018 MTV Video Music Awards Japan

Albums released

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Debuting and returning artists

Debuting groups

April April is the fourth month of the year in the Gregorian and Julian calendars. It is the first of four months to have a length of 30 days, and the second of five months to have a length of less than 31 days. April is commonly associated with ...

Day6 Day6 (; stylized in all caps) is a South Korean pop rock band under the label JYP Entertainment. The group debuted on September 7, 2015, with the EP ''The Day,'' which peaked at No.2 on ''Billboard''s World Album Chart a week following its r ...

* dps *

Dreamcatcher In some Native American and First Nations cultures, a dreamcatcher ( oj, asabikeshiinh, the inanimate form of the word for 'spider') is a handmade willow hoop, on which is woven a net or web. It may also be decorated with sacred items such as ...

Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

EXID EXID (; ; short for "Exceed in Dreaming") is a South Korean girl group formed in 2012. The group currently consists of five members: Solji, Elly, Hani, Hyelin and Jeonghwa. EXID debuted in February 2012, with the single "Whoz That Girl". Tho ...

Fantastics from Exile Tribe Fantastics from Exile Tribe (Japanese: ファンタスティックス・フロム・エグザイル・トライブ, stylized as FANTASTICS from EXILE TRIBE and formerly known as Fantastics) is a nine-member Japanese male dance and vocal group forme ...

* First Place *

GFriend GFriend (stylized in all caps; ) was a South Korean girl group formed by Source Music in 2015. The group consisted of six members: Sowon, Yerin, Eunha, Yuju, SinB, and Umji. They debuted with the extended play (EP) '' Season of Glass'' on Ja ...

Gugudan Gugudan (), also stylized as gu9udan or gx9, was a South Korean girl group formed in 2016 by Jellyfish Entertainment and the company's first girl group. The group debuted on June 28, 2016, with their EP '' Act. 1 The Little Mermaid''. The group ...

Hachimitsu Rocket Hachimitsu Rocket (はちみつロケット, stylized in English as Hachimitsu Rocket) is a Japanese girl idol group, formed by Stardust Promotion is a leading Japanese talent agency, headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo. It was founded in 1979 a ...

King & Prince King & Prince is a five-member Japanese idol group under Johnny & Associates that debuted in 2018. The group was originally a Johnny's Jr. unit, ''Mr. King vs Mr. Prince'' that was composed of 2 separate units: Mr. King and Prince. The units lat ...

* Mamamoo *

Myteen MYTEEN (; short for Make Your Teenager) was a South Korean boy band formed by The Music Works in 2016 and debuted in 2017 with the release of their first extended play titled ''MYTEEN GO!''. At the time of their disbandment, the group consisted ...

Raise A Suilen Raise A Suilen (stylized as RAISE A SUILEN) is a Japanese all-female rock band that is part of Bushiroad's media franchise ''BanG Dream!''. Formed in 2018, the group's members portray fictional characters in the project's anime series and mobile ...

* Red Velvet * Seventeen *

Spira Spica is a Japanese pop rock band from Nara Prefecture which is affiliated with Sacra Music. The band began activities under the name Snowman in 2013, and would perform at various music venues throughout Japan and release several independent singles an ...

STU48 STU48 (Setouchi48) is a Japanese idol group and sister group of AKB48 named after the Setouchi Region. The group had a from 2019 to 2021. It is co-owned by the tourism board of Setouchi Region and is highly involved in their promotional efforts ...

* Uijin *

Yoshimotozaka46 is a Japanese idol group produced by Yasushi Akimoto. It was created on February 21, 2018. It is Nogizaka46's second sister group, after Keyakizaka46 (now split between Sakurazaka46 and Hinatazaka46). This was named after the Osaka-based enter ...

Zutomayo , stylized as ZUTOMAYO, is a Japanese rock group that debuted in 2018. Secretive by nature, the group has never released a full member list, crediting different people for music, arrangements, and music video production each time. The only member ...

Debuting soloists

Aina the End , stylized as AiNA THE END, is a Japanese singer and idol. She is a founding member of the idol group Bish. Career Prior to joining Bish, Aina the End moved to Tokyo and first worked as a singer at a nightclub in Shibuya, then in a backup d ...

* Shuta Sueyoshi *

Ryuji Imaichi is a Japanese singer and actor. He is a vocalist of the J-pop dance and vocal group Sandaime J Soul Brothers from Exile Tribe. He joined the group after winning the ''Vocal Battle Audition 2'', alongside Hiroomi Tosaka. As a member of Sandaime J ...

Taiki Yamazaki Please don't delete this article because this actor or actress will play a lead or supporting role in the tokusatsu series "Uchu Sentai Kyuranger" and will continue their career and make more roles, either lead or supporting, after the end of the ...

Minori Suzuki is a Japanese voice actress and singer affiliated with E-Stone Music. She started her career after passing an audition for the role of Freyja Wion in the 2016 anime television series ''Macross Delta'', beating 8,000 other auditionees for the r ...

Mai Fuchigami is a Japanese voice actress and singer from Fukuoka Prefecture, affiliated with the talent agency m&i. As a singer, she is signed under record label Lantis. After passing an audition held by the talent agency Sigma Seven, she played her first ...

Misako Uno is a Japanese Tarento, artist, actress, essayist and talent agent best known as a lead vocalist and dancer of the performing arts group AAA (band), AAA. She is also the Middle management, Middle manager of Avex Group, advertising management, adve ...

* Ryucheru *

Rika Tachibana is a Japanese voice actress, singer and model. She worked at the Holy Peak talent agency until 2018. She is represented by With Line since February 2019. In July 2019, she transferred to PUGNUS. She married baseball catcher Kenya Wakatsuki on D ...

* Kiyoe Yoshioka *

Kaori Ishihara is a Japanese voice actress and singer managed by Style Cube. She was formerly part of Up-Front Agency in which she was involved with Happy! Style and Team Dekaris. She was affiliated with Sigma Seven from 2013 to 2017. She was a member of Styl ...

* Shigeru Joshima *

Haruka Yamazaki is a Japanese voice actress and singer affiliated with Arts Vision. Yamazaki has had main roles in several anime shows including as Tomoyo Kanzaki in ''When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace'', Lilith Bristol in ''Absolute Duo'', and Mero ...

Yuma Uchida is a Japanese voice actor and singer who works for Intention. His big roles have included Yuuma Kousaka in '' Gundam Build Fighters Try'', Nagisa Kiryū in ''Classroom Crisis'', Megumi Fushiguro in '' Jujutsu Kaisen'', Eishirō Yabuki in '' Th ...

Makoto Furukawa is a Japanese voice actor and singer previously affiliated with Space Craft Entertainment. He became a freelancer in September 2018. He joined the record label, Toy's Factory, in December 2018. He made his solo singer debut under Lantis in Ju ...

Ryusei Yokohama is a Japanese actor, model, and former singer. He is affiliated with Stardust Promotion. He is best known for playing the role of the pink-haired Yuri Kyohei in the 2019 romantic comedy drama Hajimete Koi wo Shita Hi ni Yomu Hanashi as well as ...

* Yuka Ozaki *

Reona Reona ( ; stylized as ReoNa, born October 20, 1998) is a Japanese singer who is signed to Sacra Music. Having been active as a cosplayer and independent musician, she made her major debut in 2018 as the singing voice of the character Elza Kanzak ...

* Chiaki Satō * Yuka Ozaki *

Akari Nanawo is a Japanese musician and YouTuber from Osaka Prefecture who is signed to Sony Music Associated Records. Starting her career as an independent musician in 2011, Nanawo gained a following performing at various live houses in Japan, as well as th ...

Chiaki Ito is a Japanese singer, actress, dancer, model and a former member of the group AAA AAA, Triple A, or Triple-A is a three-letter initialism or abbreviation which may refer to: Airports * Anaa Airport in French Polynesia (IATA airport code AAA) * ...

Meimi Tamura is a Japanese actress and singer. She is a former member of the Hello! Project group Angerme. Early life and background Meimi Tamura's mother was a Troupe Organizer, and acted at Gunma Prefecture in Japan. Her elder sister, Karen Tamura, was a ...

Halca HALCA (Highly Advanced Laboratory for Communications and Astronomy), also known for its project name VSOP (VLBI Space Observatory Programme), the code name MUSES-B (for the second of the Mu Space Engineering Spacecraft series), or just Haruka (� ...

Taemin Lee Tae-min (born July 18, 1993), better known mononymously as Taemin, is a South Korean singer, actor and dancer. He debuted as a member of the boy band Shinee in May 2008 and the supergroup SuperM in 2019, both under SM Entertainment, and ...

* Key

Returning from hiatus

Ayami Mutō is a Japanese idol, singer, and model. She was represented by Amuse, Inc. from 2004 to 2015, and has been a member of three musical groups formed by the company: Karen Girl's, Sakura Gakuin, and its first sub-unit Twinklestars. Biography Mut ...

Eir Aoi is a Japanese singer from Sapporo, Hokkaido, signed to Sacra Music. After being discovered through the Japanese video sharing website Niconico, Aoi made her major debut in 2011 with the release of her first single "Memoria", whose title track ...

KAT-TUN is a Japanese boy band formed under Johnny & Associates (Johnny's) in 2001. The group's name was originally an acronym based on the first letter of each member's family name: Kazuya Kamenashi, Jin Akanishi, Junnosuke Taguchi, Koki Tanaka, ...

Ami Wajima is a singer from Kutchan, Hokkaido who is signed to Pony Canyon. After passing an audition held by the Japanese entertainment agency Horipro, she debuted in May 2016 with her first single "Gensō Drive", the title track of which was used as the ...

Ellegarden Ellegarden (stylized as ELLEGARDEN) is a Japanese rock band formed in December 1998 in Chiba, Japan. Ellegarden consists of drummer Hirotaka Takahashi, vocalist/guitarist Takeshi Hosomi, guitarist Shinichi Ubukata, and bassist Yuichi Takada. ...

Hilcrhyme is a Japanese two member hip-hop group. The band's name is a pun on the Japanese pronunciation of hillclimb and the word rhyme. They are best known for their 2009 hit song "Shunkashūtō", which has been certified for 1,000,000 cellphone digital ...

Ikimonogakari The romanization of the group's name does not have the hyphen according to Sony's websites for their albums. is a Japanese pop rock musical duo, duo from Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan consisting of Yoshiki Mizuno and Kiyoe Yoshioka. The group starte ...

* Charisma.com

Disbanding and retiring artists

Disbanding

* Idol Renaissance *

La PomPon was a Japanese pop girl group under the Being label in Being Inc. agency. Biography In 2013, Being Inc. held an audition search for new talent, and six girls were chosen to form a new pop group. Each girls has colors which represents themselves. ...

* Mix Speaker's,Inc. *

GEM A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, or semiprecious stone) is a piece of mineral crystal which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. However, certain rocks (such as lapis lazuli, opal, a ...

* Chelsy * Cheeky Parade *

Chatmonchy was a three-piece all-female rock band which consisted of Eriko Hashimoto (guitar, vocals), Akiko Fukuoka (bass, chorus), and formerly Kumiko Takahashi (drums, chorus) who are from Tokushima Prefecture on the island of Shikoku, Japan. Since 20 ...

* Ciao Bella Cinquetti *

Tackey & Tsubasa were a Japanese idol duo consisting of Hideaki Takizawa and Tsubasa Imai from the Japanese talent agency Johnny & Associates. Takizawa, nicknamed "Tackey" (sometimes spelled as its literal romanization, ), is best known for his drama works, and T ...

Passpo were a Japanese idol rock girl group under Platinum Passport. Their first major single, "Shoujo Hikou", reached number 1 at the Oricon charts on May 16, 2011. They also are producing a group called Puchi Passpo (ぷちぱすぽ☆), a 5-girl g ...

Babyraids Japan was a Japanese idol An is a type of entertainer marketed for image, attractiveness, and personality in Japanese pop culture. Idols are primarily singers with training in acting, dancing, and modeling. Idols are commercialized through merch ...

* Vanilla Beans * X21 *

Aqua Timez was a Japanese rock band signed to Epic Records. Overview Futoshi and OKP-Star met on with9.com in 2000 and attempted to start a band together. Unable to agree on the band's future, the two disbanded. In 2003, the current band members gathered ...

Secret Secrecy is the practice of hiding information from certain individuals or groups who do not have the "need to know", perhaps while sharing it with other individuals. That which is kept hidden is known as the secret. Secrecy is often controvers ...

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austra ...

Retiring

Tetsuya Komuro is a Japanese musician, songwriter and record producer. He is recognized as the most successful producer in Japanese music history and introduced contemporary electronic dance music to the Japanese mainstream. He was also a former owner of the ...

Namie Amuro Namie Amuro ( ; ja, 安室奈美恵, Amuro Namie, label=none; born September 20, 1977) is a Japanese former recording artist, producer, songwriter, dancer, model, actress and entrepreneur who was active between 1992 and 2018. A leading figure of ...

Chiyo Okumura is a popular Japanese pop singer, and former fashion model who debuted in the 1960s. She is known for songs such as "Koi no Dorei" (恋の奴隷 English: "Slave of Love") and "Shuuchakueki" (終着駅 English: "Terminal Station"). Her cover o ...

Hideaki Takizawa , also known professionally as , is a Japanese record producer and former singer and actor. In 2002, he debuted with Tsubasa Imai in the group Tackey & Tsubasa under the record label Avex Trax. In 2018, Takizawa retired from entertainment and ...

(Tackey & Tsubasa) *

Hitomi Yoshizawa is a Japanese former singer and actress. In 2000, Yoshizawa debuted as a 4th generation member of the idol girl group Morning Musume and became their leader in 2005 until leaving the group in 2007. Following her departure, Yoshizawa continued to ...

Going on hiatus

* Charisma.com * Folks *

Tsubasa Imai is a Japanese singer, actor and dancer formerly in the Japanese agency Johnny & Associates. He joined Johnny & Associates in 1995 and officially debuted in 2002 in the duo Tackey & Tsubasa with Hideaki Takizawa. They are signed to the record lab ...

(Tackey & Tsubasa) * Chris Hart *

Mao Denda Mao Denda (傳田真央 ''Denda Mao''), also known as MAO/d, is a Japanese singer-songwriter. In 2018 she announced that she was suspending her musical activities. Discography Singles # "Mimimoto ni Iru yo... (Ring the Bells)" (2000/1/19) ...

* Jero *

Yumi Hara is a Japanese voice actress and singer from Osaka Prefecture, Japan. In December 2017, she put her singing career on hold to focus on her voice acting career. She announced her marriage on September 26, 2019. On July 17, 2020, she announced ...

Keito Okamoto is a Japanese singer and actor associated with Johnny & Associates. and former member of Hey! Say! JUMP. Early life Okamoto was born in Tokyo to Kenichi Okamoto, a former member of the rock band Otokogumi, and model Katsue Nishi. He was educa ...

(

Hey! Say! JUMP Hey! Say! JUMP (HSJ or JUMP) is an eight-member Japanese boy band under the Japanese talent agency Johnny & Associates. The group is split into two sub-groups: Hey! Say! BEST and Hey! Say! 7. In Japan they sold more than 10 million physical co ...

) *

Nobuo Uematsu is a Japanese composer and keyboardist best known for his contributions to the ''Final Fantasy'' video game series by Square Enix. A self-taught musician, he began playing the piano at the age of twelve, with English singer-songwriter Elton ...

Shiori Niiyama is Japanese singer and songwriter under Being label. Biography Under the influence of her father, Shiori grew up listening to various music genres such as rock, punk and blues. In elementary school she learned to play on piano, in junior high s ...

Rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and '' Porteresia'', both wild and domesticat ...

* Sads

Deaths

* January 26 – Junji Yayoshi, guitarist and record producer (b. 1968) * January 31 – Itokin, MC and track maker (b. 1979) * April 24 – Doji Morita, singer-songwriter (b. 1953) * April 27 –

Yukiji Asaoka was a Japanese singer and an actress from Chūō, Tokyo. She was the daughter of a famous Japanese painter of shin hanga style prints, Shinsui Itō, and her second husband was actor Masahiko Tsugawa. Asaoka was in the Takarazuka Revue from 1952 ...

, singer and actress (b. 1935) * May 16 –

Hideki Saijo was a Japanese singer and television celebrity most famous for singing the Japanese version of the Village People's hit song " Y.M.C.A.," called " Young Man." In the 1970s, he was called with Goro Noguchi and Hiromi Go. Although the origina ...

, singer and actor (b. 1955) * October 12 –

Takehisa Kosugi was a Japanese composer, violinist and artist associated with the Fluxus movement. Biography Kosugi studied musicology at the Tokyo University of the Arts and graduated in 1962. He first became drawn to music listening to his father play ha ...

, composer and violinist (b. 1938) * November 14 – Masahiro Sayama, jazz pianist (b. 1953) * November 25 –

Norio Maeda was a Japanese jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it h ...

, jazz pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1934)

References

{{Music of Japan