AKB48 Rules Japan Hot 100 With Biggest First-Week Sales of 2020, Selling Over 1.4 Million Copies

J-pop visual-kei icon Yoshiki joined BBC Outside Source's Kasia Madera from his home in L.A. to speak about his COVID-19 relief efforts as a musician and desire to keep his fans and friends safe.

Japan's ONE OK ROCK will stream six of their past concerts in full on YouTube starting Friday (April 17).

J-pop singer-songwriter Kiiro Akiyama shared the video of his performance of "Caffeine" from the February concert he canceled due to coronavirus concerns, instead recording the show without an audience.The video of the headlining gig was shot at Shibuya WWW on Feb. 28 and streamed via YouTube Live on March 8."Caffeine" is a track on the rising 24-year-old artist's major debut album, From DROPOUT, released March 4.

J-pop singer-songwriter Kiiro Akiyama shared the video of his performance of "Caffeine" from the February concert he canceled due to coronavirus concerns, instead recording the show without an audience.The video of the headlining gig was shot at Shibuya WWW on Feb. 28 and streamed via YouTube Live on March 8."Caffeine" is a track on the rising 24-year-old artist's major debut album, From DROPOUT, released March 4.

Brick-and-mortar record stores in Japan shut down for the foreseeable future after the country declared state of emergency over the coronavirus pandemic last week, resulting in a considerable drop in the share of physical points -- single sales and look-ups -- on Billboard Japan's tallies.

Netflix's hit reality series Terrace House is halting production of its current season in Japan in response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. "We are suspending production of Terrace House Tokyo 2019-2020, giving top priority to the health and safety of our cast and staff," the show tweeted Monday from its official Twitter account.

J-pop band Mrs. GREEN APPLE released a new song called "PRESENT (English ver.)" on Friday (April 10).Earlier that week, their label, Universal Music Japan, teased the song's lyric video without naming five-member group, tagging it #PRESENT and #StayHomeSaveLives and captioning it with the message: "Keep Calm, Stay home.

J-pop singer Aimer has released the full versions of 10 of her music videos on her YouTube channel, to celebrate the account amassing a million subscribers and also as her way of thanking fans making her latest single, "Haru wa yuku / marie," a hit.The videos range from her sixth single, 2014's "StarRingChild," to tracks on her latest studio album, "We Two" and "Stand By You.""Haru wa yuku / marie" went on sale March 25 and sold 30,732 copies in its first week. The single reached No.

SEVENTEEN's "Fallin' Flower" blasts in at No. 1 on this week's Billboard Japan Hot 100, dated March 30 to April 5, selling 425,873 copies in its first week. The 13-member K-pop boy band leads physical sales and radio airplay, while also coming in at No. 3 for look-ups, No. 7 for Twitter mentions, No. 25 for downloads, and No. 63 for streaming.

By Jill Goldsmith

By Tom Grater

Nogizaka46's 25th single, "Shiawase no hogoshoku," shoots to No. 1 on the latest Billboard Japan Hot 100, dated March 23 to 29, selling over a million copies in its first week following last week's chart-topper by AKB48.

Japan’s entertainment and technology giant Sony has unveiled a $100 million fund to support people around the world affected by the coronavirus.

Korean-made war film “Battle of Jangsari,” which features Megan Fox in a key role as a front line reporter, is set to play in multiple European and Asian territories.

The 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan have officially been postponed until July 2021 and new dates have been revealed.

AKB48's 57th single, "Shitsuren, arigato," blasts in at No. 1 on this week's Billboard Japan Hot 100, dated March 16 to 22, with a record-setting 1,414,077 copies sold, making them 2020's first act to sell over a million copies in its first week.

The 2020 Summer Olympics, which were originally scheduled to kick off on July 24 in Tokyo, Japan, have been officially postponed one year.

The upcoming Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, will not go on as planned, an International Olympic Committee member has revealed to . Dick Pound said that “on the basis of the information the IOC has, postponement has been decided.” It’s believed that the global sporting competition will be pushed back to 2021 as a result of the coronavirus outbreak that has affected 195 countries.