This article's factual accuracy may be compromised due to out-of-date information. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(January 2011)
January 22 –
Voice actressNana Mizuki reached #1 on the
Oricon single charts with her single "
Phantom Minds", making her the first voice actress in charting history to have a #1 single (she broke this record for the album charts in 2009 with Ultimate Diamond).[4]
January 23 – The mother of
Hello! Project/
Avex musician
Maki Goto, Tokiko Goto, falls from her home and dies. The resulting funeral on January 28 is heavily publicised, with many Hello! Project-associated people attending the funeral.[5][6]
January 29 – R&B singer
Double announces her return to musical activities, after last year going on hiatus due to illness.[7]
February 3 –
One Ok Rock release their first single since their hiatus, "Kanzen Kankaku Dreamer." The band went on hiatus in May 2009 due to guitarist Alex's arrest for assault, who is now no longer a member of the band.[10][11]
February 10 – Rapper
You the Rock was arrested for
cannabis possession, after 2mgs of dried cannabis, along with related cannabis paraphernalia such as a pipe, were found at his home in
Meguro, Tokyo.[13]
February 15 – R&B singer
Shion has her trial for possession/use of the drug
ketamine. She pleaded guilty, and was given a one-year sentence,
suspended for three years.[14]
February 22 –
Mika Nakashima's song "
Always" is the first song released in 2010 to receive a digital certification. It was certified gold by the
RIAJ for
Chaku-Uta Full (cellphone digital downloads) for the January 2010 period.[15]
February 23 – Korean boy band
Tohoshinki's first greatest hits album, Best Selection 2010, sells 413,000 copies in its first week. This gives the band their first #1 album, as well as breaking the record for the highest first week sales by a foreign group. The previous record holder was
Bon Jovi's These Days in 1995, with 379,000 copies.[18]
February 24 – The 24th
Japan Gold Disc Awards are held in Tokyo.
Arashi wins the domestic Artist of the Year award, making them the first
Johnny's boyband to win this award.
Hilcrhyme wins the New Artist of the Year award.[19]
March 7 – Idol group
Idoling!!! announces five new members to their line-up, after auditions were held on March 6. The new members are Kaoru Gotō (後藤郁), Yūna Itō (伊藤祐奈), Ruka Kurata (倉田瑠夏), Manami Nomoto (野元愛) and Chika Ojima (尾島知佳), all between 13 and 15 years of age. Approximately 5,000 girls auditioned for the group.[20]
March 9 – Boy band
Arashi's "
Troublemaker" sells 542,000 copies in its first week, making it the current #1 single of the year.[21]
March 9 –
Kōichi Nakamura (中村耕一), vocalist of the 1980s rock band Jaywalk, was arrested for illegal
stimulant possession. The band was put into hiatus, with their 30th anniversary releases/events cancelled and their contract with
Warner Music Japan nulled.[22]
March 20 –
Shonen Knife's drummer
Etsuko Nakanishi retires from the band after five years, during the band's 13th Fandango concert (十三ファンダンゴ) in
Osaka.[25]
March 24 – Hiro, leader of R&B group
Exile, became the centre of a tax enquiry after failing to report approximately ¥300,000,000 in earnings at his entertainment production company
LDH. Hiro later stated the discrepancy was unintentional.[28][29]
March 25 – Hip-hop/reggae group
Spontania add singer
Kaori Natori as a permanent female vocalist to their line-up. The band's first release as a three-member group was a digital single, "Now or Never," released 8 days earlier without any indication of the line-up change.[30][31]
March 29 – Soh of the band
Greeeen passes his National Dentistry Examination exam, making all members of the group certified dentists. Bandmates Hide and 92 passed the exam in 2008, while Navi passed it in 2009.[32]
March 30 –
Akira Akasaka, former member of
Johnny's idol group
Hikaru Genji, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for using illegal
stimulants. His prison sentence was increased to a period of three years, however, due to his previous
suspended sentence for possession of stimulants in November 2007.[33]
April 3 –
Avex Management announce the hiatus of Korean boyband
Tohoshinki's activities in Japan. The band's solo activities continued, with the
Jejung starring drama
Sunao ni Narenakute airing in mid April, and
Junsu's solo debut single announced for release in May.[35][36][37]
April 16 – Japanese media begin levelling accusations against the public relations theme song for Shanghai
Expo 2010, "
Ėrlíngyīlíng Děng Nǐ Lái" (2010 等你来 2010 Right Here Waiting for You), as being plagiarised from a 1997 song by
Mayo Okamoto, "Sono Mama no Kimi de Ite." The executive committee for the event later admitted the song had been plagiarised by the songwriter Miao Senshi (繆森氏), and Okamoto gave permission for the rights for her song to be used.[42][43]
April 17 – The music video is from
Uverworld's single, "
Gold," is premiered today, making it the first 3D music video released by a Japanese artist.[44][45][46]
April 20 –
Kana Nishino's song "
Best Friend" becomes the first song released in 2010 to receive a double platinum digital certification. The song had been downloaded over 500,000 times as a ringtone (Chaku-Uta) since its release in late February.[47]
April 27 –
Kazumasa Oda's greatest hits album Jiko Best charts for its 400th week, since its release in 2002. As of 2010, no other album has charted long enough to reach this milestone.[48]
May 4 – The second theme songs for the anime
K-On!, "
Go! Go! Maniac" and "
Listen!!" (performed by the fictional band
Ho-kago Tea Time) reached #1 and #2 respectively on
Oricon's single charts. This is the first time that a release credited to anime characters has topped the singles charts.[51]
May 10 –
The Brilliant Green announces at their official sit the leaving of guitarist
Ryo Matsui from the band's line-up. The band plans to continue on as a duo.[54]
May 21 –
Kana Nishino's "
Aitakute Aitakute" reaches #1 on the
RIAJ Digital Track Chart, making this Nishino's fourth consecutive #1 song on the chart. Because of this, Nishino becomes the artist with most #1 songs on the chart, as well as becoming the artist with most weeks at #1 (with seven weeks in total).[61]
May 22 –
Erika Sawajiri returns to the music scene, with a performance at the fashion and music event
Girls Award 2010 held at the
Yoyogi National Gymnasium. She had been on hiatus for two and a half years, due to the controversy around her comments at a press conference for the film Closed Note.[62]
May 25 – Boyband
Arashi's single "
Monster" sells 543,000 copies in its first week, making it the biggest selling first week of a single in 2010. The single beat out the sales of the group's previous single, "
Troublemaker," by only 1,000 copies.[63]
June 1 – Boyband
Tohoshinki member
Xiah Junsu's single "
Xiah" sells 195,000 copies in its first week, becoming the biggest first week sales of the year by a solo artist.[67]
June 4 – July 13 –
Visual kei metal band
Versailles embark on their first world tour, with dates in South America and Europe.[68][69] The band have previously performed single concerts in the US in 2008.
June 15 –
Kaela Kimura reaches #1 on
Oricon's single charts with her song "
Ring a Ding Dong," making this the first time she has topped the single charts since she debuted in 2004.[73]
June 19–20 –
Jin Akanishi, member of the boyband
KAT-TUN, performed three concerts in Los Angeles as a part of his
You & Jin solo tour. This is the first solo performance by a
Johnny's artist in the US. Further concerts over the United States are planned for September and October.[74] Consequently, Akanishi did not attend KAT-TUN's Asian tour.[75]
June 20 – Kaela Kimura's song "Ring a Ding Dong" is certified by the RIAJ for 1,000,000 ringtone downloads between its release date, May 26, and the end of May.[76]
June 25 –
Ai Otsuka married
RIP SLYME member SU.[77] The announcement of the marriage had been released on her official website on June 26.[78]
June 28 –
Otonamode will play their final live with their current line-up. After this date, vocalist/guitarist Keita Takahashi will continue on as the band's lead, however with different members.[79]
Currently, there are four major charts for song popularity in Japan:
Oricon singles charts,
Soundscan singles charts, the BillboardJapan Hot 100 and
RIAJ digital tracks.
Oricon and
Soundscan track sales of physical single releases, though
Soundscan separates each version of the release (for example, CD+DVD and CD Only versions are tracked separately). The
Japan Hot 100 tracks song popularity based on radio airplay and physical single sales data from
Soundscan. The
RIAJ digital chart tracks the most popular songs downloaded in their entirety from cellphones (Chaku-uta full). No chart exists that tallies PC downloads as of 2010, though the RIAJ certifies PC download releases.
"—" denotes that the song was not released in that format, or it did not chart. "TBA" denotes that the song has not been released yet in this format, at the time of writing.
^"Versailles World Tour 2010". Versailles-Philharmonic Quintet's MySpace Blog. February 5, 2010.
Archived from the original on February 8, 2010. Retrieved February 16, 2010.
This article's factual accuracy may be compromised due to out-of-date information. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(January 2011)
January 22 –
Voice actressNana Mizuki reached #1 on the
Oricon single charts with her single "
Phantom Minds", making her the first voice actress in charting history to have a #1 single (she broke this record for the album charts in 2009 with Ultimate Diamond).[4]
January 23 – The mother of
Hello! Project/
Avex musician
Maki Goto, Tokiko Goto, falls from her home and dies. The resulting funeral on January 28 is heavily publicised, with many Hello! Project-associated people attending the funeral.[5][6]
January 29 – R&B singer
Double announces her return to musical activities, after last year going on hiatus due to illness.[7]
February 3 –
One Ok Rock release their first single since their hiatus, "Kanzen Kankaku Dreamer." The band went on hiatus in May 2009 due to guitarist Alex's arrest for assault, who is now no longer a member of the band.[10][11]
February 10 – Rapper
You the Rock was arrested for
cannabis possession, after 2mgs of dried cannabis, along with related cannabis paraphernalia such as a pipe, were found at his home in
Meguro, Tokyo.[13]
February 15 – R&B singer
Shion has her trial for possession/use of the drug
ketamine. She pleaded guilty, and was given a one-year sentence,
suspended for three years.[14]
February 22 –
Mika Nakashima's song "
Always" is the first song released in 2010 to receive a digital certification. It was certified gold by the
RIAJ for
Chaku-Uta Full (cellphone digital downloads) for the January 2010 period.[15]
February 23 – Korean boy band
Tohoshinki's first greatest hits album, Best Selection 2010, sells 413,000 copies in its first week. This gives the band their first #1 album, as well as breaking the record for the highest first week sales by a foreign group. The previous record holder was
Bon Jovi's These Days in 1995, with 379,000 copies.[18]
February 24 – The 24th
Japan Gold Disc Awards are held in Tokyo.
Arashi wins the domestic Artist of the Year award, making them the first
Johnny's boyband to win this award.
Hilcrhyme wins the New Artist of the Year award.[19]
March 7 – Idol group
Idoling!!! announces five new members to their line-up, after auditions were held on March 6. The new members are Kaoru Gotō (後藤郁), Yūna Itō (伊藤祐奈), Ruka Kurata (倉田瑠夏), Manami Nomoto (野元愛) and Chika Ojima (尾島知佳), all between 13 and 15 years of age. Approximately 5,000 girls auditioned for the group.[20]
March 9 – Boy band
Arashi's "
Troublemaker" sells 542,000 copies in its first week, making it the current #1 single of the year.[21]
March 9 –
Kōichi Nakamura (中村耕一), vocalist of the 1980s rock band Jaywalk, was arrested for illegal
stimulant possession. The band was put into hiatus, with their 30th anniversary releases/events cancelled and their contract with
Warner Music Japan nulled.[22]
March 20 –
Shonen Knife's drummer
Etsuko Nakanishi retires from the band after five years, during the band's 13th Fandango concert (十三ファンダンゴ) in
Osaka.[25]
March 24 – Hiro, leader of R&B group
Exile, became the centre of a tax enquiry after failing to report approximately ¥300,000,000 in earnings at his entertainment production company
LDH. Hiro later stated the discrepancy was unintentional.[28][29]
March 25 – Hip-hop/reggae group
Spontania add singer
Kaori Natori as a permanent female vocalist to their line-up. The band's first release as a three-member group was a digital single, "Now or Never," released 8 days earlier without any indication of the line-up change.[30][31]
March 29 – Soh of the band
Greeeen passes his National Dentistry Examination exam, making all members of the group certified dentists. Bandmates Hide and 92 passed the exam in 2008, while Navi passed it in 2009.[32]
March 30 –
Akira Akasaka, former member of
Johnny's idol group
Hikaru Genji, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for using illegal
stimulants. His prison sentence was increased to a period of three years, however, due to his previous
suspended sentence for possession of stimulants in November 2007.[33]
April 3 –
Avex Management announce the hiatus of Korean boyband
Tohoshinki's activities in Japan. The band's solo activities continued, with the
Jejung starring drama
Sunao ni Narenakute airing in mid April, and
Junsu's solo debut single announced for release in May.[35][36][37]
April 16 – Japanese media begin levelling accusations against the public relations theme song for Shanghai
Expo 2010, "
Ėrlíngyīlíng Děng Nǐ Lái" (2010 等你来 2010 Right Here Waiting for You), as being plagiarised from a 1997 song by
Mayo Okamoto, "Sono Mama no Kimi de Ite." The executive committee for the event later admitted the song had been plagiarised by the songwriter Miao Senshi (繆森氏), and Okamoto gave permission for the rights for her song to be used.[42][43]
April 17 – The music video is from
Uverworld's single, "
Gold," is premiered today, making it the first 3D music video released by a Japanese artist.[44][45][46]
April 20 –
Kana Nishino's song "
Best Friend" becomes the first song released in 2010 to receive a double platinum digital certification. The song had been downloaded over 500,000 times as a ringtone (Chaku-Uta) since its release in late February.[47]
April 27 –
Kazumasa Oda's greatest hits album Jiko Best charts for its 400th week, since its release in 2002. As of 2010, no other album has charted long enough to reach this milestone.[48]
May 4 – The second theme songs for the anime
K-On!, "
Go! Go! Maniac" and "
Listen!!" (performed by the fictional band
Ho-kago Tea Time) reached #1 and #2 respectively on
Oricon's single charts. This is the first time that a release credited to anime characters has topped the singles charts.[51]
May 10 –
The Brilliant Green announces at their official sit the leaving of guitarist
Ryo Matsui from the band's line-up. The band plans to continue on as a duo.[54]
May 21 –
Kana Nishino's "
Aitakute Aitakute" reaches #1 on the
RIAJ Digital Track Chart, making this Nishino's fourth consecutive #1 song on the chart. Because of this, Nishino becomes the artist with most #1 songs on the chart, as well as becoming the artist with most weeks at #1 (with seven weeks in total).[61]
May 22 –
Erika Sawajiri returns to the music scene, with a performance at the fashion and music event
Girls Award 2010 held at the
Yoyogi National Gymnasium. She had been on hiatus for two and a half years, due to the controversy around her comments at a press conference for the film Closed Note.[62]
May 25 – Boyband
Arashi's single "
Monster" sells 543,000 copies in its first week, making it the biggest selling first week of a single in 2010. The single beat out the sales of the group's previous single, "
Troublemaker," by only 1,000 copies.[63]
June 1 – Boyband
Tohoshinki member
Xiah Junsu's single "
Xiah" sells 195,000 copies in its first week, becoming the biggest first week sales of the year by a solo artist.[67]
June 4 – July 13 –
Visual kei metal band
Versailles embark on their first world tour, with dates in South America and Europe.[68][69] The band have previously performed single concerts in the US in 2008.
June 15 –
Kaela Kimura reaches #1 on
Oricon's single charts with her song "
Ring a Ding Dong," making this the first time she has topped the single charts since she debuted in 2004.[73]
June 19–20 –
Jin Akanishi, member of the boyband
KAT-TUN, performed three concerts in Los Angeles as a part of his
You & Jin solo tour. This is the first solo performance by a
Johnny's artist in the US. Further concerts over the United States are planned for September and October.[74] Consequently, Akanishi did not attend KAT-TUN's Asian tour.[75]
June 20 – Kaela Kimura's song "Ring a Ding Dong" is certified by the RIAJ for 1,000,000 ringtone downloads between its release date, May 26, and the end of May.[76]
June 25 –
Ai Otsuka married
RIP SLYME member SU.[77] The announcement of the marriage had been released on her official website on June 26.[78]
June 28 –
Otonamode will play their final live with their current line-up. After this date, vocalist/guitarist Keita Takahashi will continue on as the band's lead, however with different members.[79]
Currently, there are four major charts for song popularity in Japan:
Oricon singles charts,
Soundscan singles charts, the BillboardJapan Hot 100 and
RIAJ digital tracks.
Oricon and
Soundscan track sales of physical single releases, though
Soundscan separates each version of the release (for example, CD+DVD and CD Only versions are tracked separately). The
Japan Hot 100 tracks song popularity based on radio airplay and physical single sales data from
Soundscan. The
RIAJ digital chart tracks the most popular songs downloaded in their entirety from cellphones (Chaku-uta full). No chart exists that tallies PC downloads as of 2010, though the RIAJ certifies PC download releases.
"—" denotes that the song was not released in that format, or it did not chart. "TBA" denotes that the song has not been released yet in this format, at the time of writing.
^"Versailles World Tour 2010". Versailles-Philharmonic Quintet's MySpace Blog. February 5, 2010.
Archived from the original on February 8, 2010. Retrieved February 16, 2010.