SCANDAL’s full PV for “CUTE!” released on Sanrio’s YouTube!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4WhC1R7zd4endofvid

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Just moments ago, the Sanrio Japan Official YouTube Channel released the full PV for SCANDAL’s “CUTE!“, which is also the “CINNAMON Collaboration Song“.

The track is the coupling song off of SCANDAL’s first single of 2011, “PRIDE“, due out for release on February 9th.

Check out the “cute” PV from the quartet below!




source: tokyohive [endtext]

BRIGHT releases 60-second teaser for “Ichinen Nikagetsu Hatsuka” + announces tour

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oo7-3fBh5-Aendofvid

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We previously reported that pop group BRIGHT would be releasing a new song, called “Ichinen Nikagetsu Hatsuka”, on January 12th through Recochoku, but it appears the girls have more plans for the song!

A 60-second teaser of what appears to be an official PV or advertisement for the “Ichinen Nikagetsu Hatsuka” track was uploaded onto Avex’s official YouTube channel. BRIGHT also announced through this video, and on their official website, that they would be going on tour in order to promote their newest song.

Those who purchased the song through Recochoku as a ringtone will be entered into a raffle to attend a special premium live by the four-membered group. The series of performances, titled “BRIGHT LIVE TOUR ~Sannen Ikkagetsu Nijuuyokka,” will begin on March 12th and end on March 27th for a total of four lives.

Check out the teaser below!




source: tokyohive [endtext]

Chiba Yudai and Kanno Yui star in Violent is Savanna’s “Awa-Iro Sakura Chiru” PV

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oVxZtU7haYendofvid

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Actor Chiba Yudai and fashion model Kanno Yui will both be making special appearances in rookie rock band Violent is Savanna’s newest PV, “Awa-Iro Sakura Chiru”!

Although their second major label single, “Awa-Iro Sakura Chiru / Refrain Tumor”, will not be released until February 9th, the band has already released the music video for their newest song, marking the first time that Chiba and Kanno have appeared together.

Aside from his role as the Red Ranger in Tensou Sentai Goseiger, Chiba also appears in television commercials and fashion magazines as a model. On the other hand, Kanno has made multiple appearances in popular teen magazines, and has even produced her own brand of cosmetics.

Violent is Savanna debuted as major band last year. During their time as an indie band, they charted at number two on the indie single charts. The band’s latest song, “Awa-Iro Sakura Chiru”, is said to be a painfully sad “sakura song” to coincide with the theme of farewells during the season of the cherry blossoms.

Check out the music video below!



source: tokyohive [endtext]

Full audio of Shoujo Jidai’s “Run Devil Run” revealed!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dP_z6Rf4NfUendofvid

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After teasing us with a 30-second sample earlier, the nine ladies of Shoujo Jidai have finally dropped the full audio of their new digital release, “Run Devil Run“.

The girls will perform this track on the January 28th episode of TV Asahi’s “MUSIC STATION”, and many fans are curious over whether Shoujo Jidai will revive the original Korean choreography for its promotion.


Check out the track below (and you can support them by purchasing the music through iTunes Japan)!





source: tokyohive [endtext]

Itano Tomomi performs Tokunaga Hideaki’s masterpiece on Music Fair

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Fuji Television’s music program, MUSIC FAIR aired the “Tokunaga Hideaki the 25th anniversary special” on January 22nd, and AKB48 member, Itano Tomomi made an appearance on the show. Itano performed, “Kagayakinagara…” with Tokunaga Hideaki which is one of the classic masterpieces of Tokunaga from 1987.

Although this was the only song Itano performed on this episode, MUSIC FAIR will air the sequel to the “Tokunaga Hideaki the 25th anniversary special” next week as well. So you will be able to see her performing more on next week!

Below is the performance of Itano and Tokunaga together.




source: tokyohive

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SuG releases “Crazy Bunny Coaster” PV

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkfAJBW-LA8endofvid


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Rock band SuG released their single, “Crazy Bunny Coaster“, on January 12th, and a day before its release, they held a special promotional event for the single.

Just a little while ago, the PV for “Crazy Bunny Coaster” was revealed, and you can check it out below.





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MUSIC STATION performances from January 21st

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Check out some of the performances from the January 21st edition of MUSIC STATION below!

Yuzu – “HeyWa”







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Sample a preview of AKB48’s new single, “Sakura no Ki ni Narou”!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFBcpUZ07Z8endofvid

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AKB48 has just kicked off their 4-day live concert, “AKB48 Request Hour Set List Best 100 2011“, on January 20th at SHIBUYA-AX. The members held a press conference before the concert started, and to the reporters’ delight, they performed their upcoming song “Sakura no Ki ni Narou“!

At the press conference, member Itano Tomomi said, “This year will be the real challenge for AKB48.” Another member, Takahashi Minami, also said, “I hope we’ll be known by people in other countries as well.”


Check out the part of their performance for “Sakura no Ki ni Naoru”.




source: tokyohive [endtext]

Horikita Maki confesses her “villainy” from the past at premiere of “Byakuyako”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzqkdIFn0qUendofvid


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The premiere for “Byakuyako” was held on January 19th, and cast members Horikita Maki, Kora Kengo, and Funakoshi Eiichiro showed up to the greet the press. As we reported several times, Horikita is challenging an evil role in the movie for the first time.

At the premiere event, Horikita was asked by the host what kind of villainies she has done in the past. Horikita answered, “I can’t tell you the worst wrong I have done, but I will confesse my tenth worst one. I was quite terrible at drawing, so I asked my friend to draw it for me in art class. I even received a compliment for the picture.”



Listening her past villainy, Funakoshi, the king of suspense drama, said, “It’s quite bad for the tenth thing. I would like to know what you have done for the worst to the ninth.”

The official release of “Byakuyako” is scheduled to be on January 29th, and it will also be exhibited at the “61st Berlin International Film Festival.”







source: tokyohive [endtext]

Mysterious Flower

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0N9WuoQ8dyQendofvid

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The popular puzzle game series Professor Layton has recruited none other than veteran singer-songwriter, Matsutouya Yumi to sing the theme song for the latest game in the series, “Professor Layton and the Mask of Miracle”!

The Professor Layton series has shipped more than 9.5 million units worldwide, and will be releasing its fifth addition to the franchise next month. The game will be one of the first to be available for Nintendo’s newest handheld console, the Nintendo 3DS, and will hit stores on February 26. Matsutouya’s new song “Mysterious Flower” is described as being a pop tune that is simultaneously mysterious and bright, all characteristics which describe the world inside the game.


This year, the beloved singer will also be performing at the “SURF&SNOW in Naeba Vol.31″ event being held at Niigata’s Blizzardium performance hall. The event begins on February 4th and ends on the 16th for a total of 8 performances. A free “ski slope live” is also being arranged for any person attending the performance on February 13th.

Check out the official trailer and the commercial featuring “Mysterious Flower” below!

Professor Layton and the Mask of Miracle CM (Mysterious Flower ver.)


source : tokyohive [endtext]

Peep the official trailer for Ayumi Hamasaki’s upcoming 3D movie!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTS3zzUmy1kendofvid

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J-Pop queen Ayumi Hamasaki held the final stage of her nationwide tour on October 11th, 2010, and it was such a spectacular show that she’s decided to share it once more!

Titled “ayumi hamasaki Rock’n'Roll Circus Tour FINAL ～7days Special～”, the recording will be released as a special 3D movie in Spring of 2011, but fans can now preview the concert (in 2D) through the singer’s official YouTube account.

To recap, the final stage for Ayu’s “Rock’n'Roll Circus” tour featured 11 different costumes and a whopping 28-song set. From wedding dresses to an aerial swoop over the audience, fans can relive (or experience for the first time) the intense excitement found at her concert. Tickets to the movie will be ￥2,000 -￥2,500 at the door.

Check out the official trailer below!

“A3D-II ayumi hamasaki Rock’n'Roll Circus Tour FINAL ~7days Special~” Official Trailer




source: tokyohive [endtext]

Kusanagi Tsuyoshi & Takeuchi Yuko appear at stage greeting for their movie

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SMAP member Kusanagi Tsuyoshi and actress Takeuchi Yuko showed up at the theater to greet the audience for their movie, “Boku to Tsuma no 1778 no Monogatari“, which was released that day on January 15th.

This marks the third time that the pair have co-starred with one another since the first time it occurred for “Yomigaeri“, released in 2003. Kusanagi said, “Thanks to Yuko-chan, I was able to do wonderful acting, it was a miracle.”

The movie is based on the true story of the San Francisco writer Mayumura Taku and his wife, who passed away due to cancer in 2002, and it’s a story in which the main character kept writing a short story every day for five years to make his wife smile, believing the doctor’s word that when people laugh, it increases the body’s immunity.

Since the movie’s theme is “What can you do for your loved one”, Kusanagi said, “I would find something common between me and the wife. Since I love curry, if the wife also likes curry, how about cooking curry for her every day…the spices are good for her health too.” On the other hand, Takeuchi said, “I would try to keep myself smiling in order to make my partner smile. If he makes curry for me, I would be pleased to eat the curry.”



source : tokyohive [endtext]

Nami Tamaki releases remix of “Missing You -Time to Love-”!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jJm-iBY0Bsendofvid


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Nami Tamaki recently collaborated with select members of popular Korean boy band ‘Choshinsei’ for her latest single, “Missing You -Time to Love-“. The track was originally a cover of a 2009 K-pop song called “TTL (Time to Love)“, a sassy track between two hot K-pop groups, T-ara and Choshinsei.


Now, Nami’s given an original twist to the song, as she renamed it and sang it entirely in Japanese. In addition to her version of the song, the single comes with a laidback R&B remix of the song. Check it out if you haven’t already!



source: tokyohive [endtext]

Shimizu Shota’s Sony Walkman CM song is his new single

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwsILn5gBmcendofvid

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Last year, R&B artist Shimizu Shota was chosen to be one of three representatives for Sony’s Walkman campaign, “Play you. ‘Kimi no Siranai oto project’“.

The song in the CM, “YOU & I“, will be Shimizu’s new single that is set to release on January 26th. The coupling song will be “Kimi no koe” and the acoustic version of “Kimi ga suki” from his 2009 single. It will also include the PV for “Kimi ga kurasu machi“.


Check out Shota’s last single, “Kimi ga kurasu machi”.



source: tokyohive [endtext]

“Toilet no Kamisama” tops charts again thanks to the “Kouhaku Effect”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZYP7VkY-KIendofvid

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The success of the award-winning 9 minutes and 52 seconds-long song, “Toilet no Kamisama“, simply doesn’t want to end, not even in 2011.

On New Year’s Eve, singer-songwriter Uemura Kana had the honor of performing an 8-minute version of her hit song at the “61st NHK Kouhaku Uta Gassen“, the longest ever performance of a single song in the music festival. While there were many music fans in Japan who knew the song and were eagerly anticipating its performance, there still many others who were introduced to the song for the very first time.

Unsurprisingly, the music fans who were exposed to the song for the very first time must have been overwhelmed by its touching lyrics, and flocked to download portals to purchase it digitally. Consequently “Toilet no Kamisama” has once again reached first place on major download portals for the daily chart of January 3rd, 6 months after its actual release. The industry has labelled this jump in interest as the “Kouhaku Effect“.

Today, Uemura turned 28 and held a special birthday concert in her hometown. At the event she expressed her gratitude towards her new fans. “Thank you for downloading such a long song,” she said. She also described her recent experiences in relation to the ‘Kouhaku effect’: “People call out my name on the street or take pictures in front of my home. All because of Kouhaku. I was really surprised.”

As a homage to her song, Uemura has been sincerely cleaning her toilet and visited her grandmother’s grave on New Year’s. “This year I want to go to a lot of places and let everyone in the country listen to the live version of the song,” she added enthusiastically.

Check out her performance from the Kouhaku Uta Gassen:




source : tokyohive [endtext]

Which AKB48 member is most desired for a “Kimono Date” on New Year’s Day?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EmX5qso4goendofvid

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goo Ranking asked males the question of “Which AKB48 member do you want to go on a ‘Kimono Date’ with on New Year’s Day?”, and the result has just been revealed.

All the members look great in kimonos, but who is the most wanted member?

Check out the result below!

10. Sashihara Rino


9. Akimoto Sayaka


8. Watanabe Mayu


7. Kashiwagi Yuki


6. Takahashi Minami


5. Kojima Haruna


4. Ohshima Yuko


3. Itano Tomomi


2. Maeda Atsuko


1. Shinoda Mariko


To figure out who you would choose, watch the members’ performance in kimonos from their special New Year’s show!




source :tokyohive [endtext]

An AKB48 special New Year’s Day program for fans!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RCY4pL0WBgendofvid

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AKB48 participated in a special program titled, “Akemashite AKB! 2011 nen mo Gachi de Ikimasu, Name de Haregi de Zenin Shugou Daishinnenkai Special“, which was broadcasted live via Nihon TV on New Year’s Day.

On the show, AKB48 performed their “Best Hit Medley” in kimonos, and the members divided into teams in order to battle for the privilege of tasting delicious Japanese dishes.

Check out the program in its entirety below!

Part 1




“Best Hit Medley”: “Heavy Rotation” + “Ponytail to Shushu” + “Aitakatta”
-”Slide Quiz”: A member from each team is situated on slides, and teams must answer questions correctly to ensure that their teammate doesn’t get her face covered with powder. If the team guesses wrongly, then the slides shift, and the member on the slide must try not to fall.

Part 2


Continuation of “Slide Quiz”

Part 3


- “Haregi Pair Gesture”: Secret guests who are fans of AKB48 try to guess the gestures that AKB48 is making.

Part 4



- “SHIODOME obstacle race”: Three members from each team try the obstacle race, and the winning team gets to eat sushi which uses the tuna carved by Akimoto Sayaka.

Part 6



- Continuation of “SHIODOME obstacle race”
- “Gachi de Bucchake opinion poll”: They held an image poll to 50 drag queens about “Who seems the best at making money?” from 5 selected members.

Part 7


- “AKB Tsume Houdai”: The battle between “Team Adult” and “Team Young” over how many members can fit into the box at one time in 3 minutes. Water will be come down into the losing team’s box.


source: tokyohive [endtext]

Arashi makes Ashida Mana’s dreams come true!

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Arashi’s popular variety show, “Himitsu no Arashi-chan“, welcomed child actress Ashida Mana to one of the corners. Ashida was featured in the “VIP ROOM” segment, and consequently, this week’s episode was titled, ” Arashi makes Mana-chan’s dreams come true special”!

When questioned about what her dreams were, Mana cutely responded:

- “I wanna eat delicious pickled cucumber!”
- “I wanna sing ‘Lilupuri’ song!!” (“Lilupuri” is a popular anime amongst little girls)
- “I wanna be good at riding a unicycle!”

Did Arashi manage to help her achieve those dreams? Check out the videos below to find out!











source: tokyohive
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AKB48’s sub-unit, French Kiss, reveals PV preview for “If”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBP0i3gPOtgendofvid

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AKB48’s sub-unit, French Kiss, have previously announced that they would be releasing their second single, “If” for January 19th. Recently, the PV preview for “If” was introduced through Mezamashi TV.

It appears that there’s two different sets for the PV. In one, members Kuramochi Asuka, Kashiwagi Yuki, and Takajo Aki are dancing in chic winter outfits. In the other, it seems like they’re suffering some kind of conflict in their friendship.

Check out the PV below! (For additional details on the single, go back to our previous post here.)




source: tokyohive
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An extended look at Horikita Maki’s “back nude” scene from “Byakuyako”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipuRF6n27cMendofvid

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Japanese movie news site eiga.com has released a small clip of the upcoming movie, “Byakuyako” (“Into the White Night”), which features lead actress Horikita Maki in three completely different scenes.

The movie is based on a best-selling novel by Higashino Keigo, which already had a drama adaptation aired back in 2006. ’Yukiho’ (Horikita) is a very beautiful woman who does not hesitate to trick others into great misfortune, starting with an unsolved case of murder that happened during her childhood.

The first two scenes in the clip are of Horikita as a school girl and as a grown-up woman, both of which are uninteresting compared to the third scene, which is a slightly-extended version of her infamous “back nude” scene (as hinted in an earlier trailer).

For this scene, Yukiho seen is taking off her white nightgown, offering the audience a great look at her beautiful pure white back. Afterwards, she gets on the bed and forcefully presses down on ‘Shinozuka Mika’ (Koike Ayame), the daughter of her second husband. The short clip ends with some pseudo-caressing by Yukiho.

In the novel, that scene could easily be described as a rape, so it will be interesting to see how far they will be going for the moments between taking off her nightgown and the caress. The generous exposure of the back alone is already getting interpreted as a big challenge, and a huge change for the “pure” actress Horikita. We’ve reported earlier about the possibility of additional controversial scenes that would be included in the movie, but we’ll see if they make it to the final cut.

Check out the clip below. The aforementioned scene starts around 0:53!





source: tokyohive
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