Yoasobi's presence at the White House state dinner catapults the duo to a new strata. It also says a lot about what sound currently rules Japanese music. jtim.es/3UhZIHm

The Tokyo Idol Festival (TIF) have started to announce their first groups for 2024. These include FRUITS ZIPPER, Devil ANTHEM., Dempagumi.inc, Niji no Conquistador, NEO JAPONISM, PIGGS, and WASUTA. The event runs from August 2nd to 4th. official.idolfes.com/s/tif2024/news…

After 13 years, Nogizaka46 have dropped the phrase 'An idol group formed as the official rival of AKB48' from their X (formerly Twitter) profile. twitter.com/nogizaka46

Sashihara Rino and Akimoto Yasushi discuss Miyawaki Sakura's decision to re-debut on the KPOP stage with LESSERAFIM was 'wise'.

Sashihara Rino: 'She is so busy. I don't even know where she is most of the time. She says she is going to US one day or she goes somewhere else…

Idol group 'Mirai Surprise', who suspended activities in December, have announced the re-start of activities at the end of April under a new name, 'Mira Sup!'. Only Kaera Amane remains from the original line-up, and she is joined by 6 new members.

Hana Matsuoka, captain of HKT48's KIV Team has announced her graduation. After almost 10 years the 24-year-old will graduate in the Autumn. hkt48.jp/news/2024/04/9…

IIIIIIIDIOM will disband after a concert on June 27th. The idol group, whose song titles are all four character ideograms, made their debut in December 2022.

Hinatazaka46 held a three-day concert in Yokohama, April 5th-7th, including Kyoko Saito's graduation concert, and two days of '5th Hina Birthday Festival'. Kyoko's graduation concert also included songs from their days as part of Keyakizaka46. natalie.mu/music/news/568…

The BBC's version of the Johnny Kitagawa story is an interesting report and worth a listen, but possibly not giving enough credit to the brave reporters from the Shūkan Bunshun who suffered legal challenges after originally breaking the story.
bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3…

Yuhane Yamazaki has announced her graduation from BEYOOOOONDS to learn music in a new environment, challenge various genres, and expand her possibilities. The 21-year-old's final concert will be at Toyosu PIT on June 27th. helloproject.com/news/17190/

MISIA has cancelled her performance on April 4th in Taiwan, following a major earthquake there. She said 'right now, we just pray that everyone is safe and that the damage does not get any worse. I hope for a speedy recovery', and promised to return there. misia.jp/news/15704

Karaoke company JOYSOUND are holding auditions for new members of 'Aicong', an idol group who will have their lyrics and composition produced by AI. The group will make their major debut in the Autumn. joysound.com/web/s/campaign…

Former Morning Musume member Sayaka Ichii has ruled out a return to politics after it was revealed that Genki Sudo (leader of group 'WORLD ORDER') may resign his Upper House seat to contest a Lower House election. As Sayaka finished just behind him in the 2019 election…

A new idol group of 'tall idols', produced by former Yumemiru Adolescence member Chihiro Sakurano, has been formed with the aim of becoming a Japanese version of Girls' Generation. Including Chihiro there are 3 debut members of 'Tenku Premo', and they are still auditioning.

On April 1st PLANCK STARS announced that they would leave their current agency and be active under Heroines, as 'Prank Stars' with all the members changing their names. COMMENT: Remember the date :)

BiS announced that they have changed their management structure on April 1st, starting afresh as 'self-sufficient idols', looking after their own management (e.g. distributing flyers, event booking), though they are still part of WACK and Tsubasa Records. brandnewidolsociety.tokyo/posts/52578418