Sayonara Ponytail — Magical Box
Let’s not get into the project’s longevity or the collaborative spirit propelling it forward or even into how the ever-mysterious collective predicted the contemporary shape of J-pop over a decade ago. That was all touched on in the 2025 Sayonara Ponytail report. Instead, let’s zero in on just how catchy the group’s music can get.
Two weeks ago I was at Miyashita Park. I was killing time and simply wandering around. The complex’s PA system started playing a minimal groove, one teasing bossa but never getting that relaxed about how it unfolded. A woman’s voice meandered over it, adding a touch of longing to this stroll of a song. A horn eventually breezed in.
“What’s this? It’s really good,” my wife asked. It took a second but then it clicked…this was “Hako” by Sayonara Ponytail, the second song on Magical Box and an absolute Sunday-morning delight…tested out just then.
The latest full-length from the group balances pure pop delights with variety. They certainly go in surprising directions — opener “Magical Ra Pa Pa” teases sugary vocal harmonizing before letting a muted Jersey Club beat propel it forward — but always guide it towards something sticky. There’s acoustic-blip pop via the chipper “Photography,” melancholy indie-pop leading to a hummable center on “Ame No Melody,” and Local-Visions-ready keyboard grooves on “Teito.” Every number touches on different musical territory, but features some of the most memorable melodies from the project ever.
It’s just a really great J-pop album, one providing some of the best sonic ideas from the idol side of the industry in 2026 while also being apt for ginormous shopping establishment’s BGM. That’s not an easy tightrope to walk, in a corner of music that often feels split between “crowd pleasing” and “experimental / weird.” Magical Box shows how to do it with aplomb. Listen above.
Stones Taro — Physics
Let’s keep with the theme of “listening to music in shopping centers” shall we. I had time to kill before a work-related concert this weekend, so I went to a mall in Chiba. It was packed, primarily with people trying to avoid the rain outside, and I was simply walking around to run down the clock. Kyoto producer Stones Taro’s new EP Physics felt like an apt soundtrack for this, featuring some of his most after-last-train cuts in a minutes. Here, I was transported from LaLaport to a night out, zig-zagging around folks while Taro laid down skittering dub (“Doorkeeper”) or garage-inspired swagger on “Hold On, Math.” Taro explores a lot of territory, but this is concentrated club energy in four tracks…perfect for Shibuya at midnight or a crowded commercial plaza. Get it here, or listen above.
80KIDZ — LOON EP
Dang, how much heat did these two have in the chamber this summer?
Only a few weeks after releasing a triumphant bit of raging-into-mid-life, 80KIDZ share even more new music, this time via TREKKIE TRAX. These three tracks feel like an expansion pack for CUT OUT, with a greater emphasis on club energy via hypnotic construction and general rowdiness (with a little bit of silliness put in…the title track features something approaching squawking, LOON-y indeed). Bonus points for remixes, including an always welcome Guchon flip. Get it here, or listen above.
kiki vivi lily — TOU.
I’m kinda surprised to find out indie-pop polyglot kiki vivi lily hadn’t released an EP or album in three years. She’s offered a drip of new songs in that span — appearing here, on TOU. — all of which are tied together by a relative laid-back energy. Yet it’s the new songs on this EP that really grab attention, whether because of the giddiness underlining them (the deceptively breezy “Love Affair,” which boasts a strolling funk arrangement but hides a lot of longing via a hook of “take me somewhere / to a love affair / a place beyond compare”) or the total huh-what of “Koi Ga Repeat,” a tofubeats-produced trampoline of a song featuring Bose of Scha Dara Parr adding some veteran rhymes to lily’s sunny sound. Listen above.
Plastic Girl in Closet — moon room
Plastic Girl in Closet have been together for HOW LONG??? That’s not any kind of slight at the Iwate-Prefecture-based band, but rather surprise at seeing just how long a group I distinctly remember encountering via MySpace in 2009. See, I wrote about them in February 2010, with a very “duhhhhh shoegaze and Japan, ya know” post. Newest release moon room underlines what has always made them interesting, indeed leaning into the distortion-assisted hallmarks of shoegaze but supplementing it with electronic touches that add a levity to it all. Their best moments, like this EP’s twinkling “One Star,” make the most of that combo. Listen above.
Koyasuko — Shojo No Uta
Osaka’s Koyasuko deserves praise on their latest EP for managing to make a Vocaloid sound like it is screaming at you from down an empty school hallway. That experience emerges on song two, but the entirety of Shojo No Uta is disorienting pop delivered via singing-synthesizer unease, the rare Vocaloid release that sounds haunted. Which makes it a must listen around these parts. Get it here, or listen above.
Ichigo Rinahamu And MARiMARi — “Caramel Kiss (U)”
A sweet bit of electro-pop that wastes no time getting to the rush. This is the kind of exhilaration Rinahamu’s duo BPM15Q does on their best music, and something she can share with others…such as MARiMARI, who fits in well to the blast. Listen above.
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Oricon Trail For The Week Of Sept. 7, 2026 To Sept. 13, 2026
Back in the day, the Oricon Music Charts were the go-to path to music stardom in Japan. Acts of all sorts traversed these lands, trying to sell as many CDs as possible in order to land a good ranking on a chart choosing to only count physical sales, even as the Internet came to be and the number of versions offered for sale got ridiculous. Today, with the country finally in on digital, these roads are more barren and only looked at by the most fanatic of supporters needing something to celebrate. Yet every week, a new song sells enough plastic to take the top spot. So let’s take a trip down…the Oricon Trail.
SixTONES — “Dance Forever / My Only” (436,087 Copies Sold)
It’s telling about how far the J-pop industry at large has come that the numbers associated with a STARTO release making me double take are the YouTube ones, not the physical sales.
What’s going on with the view counts for these two SixTONES songs, both uploaded two months ago? The pair — both filmed in Croatia, is that it, people really want to see the beauty of Eastern Europe? — boast what to me are really, really high numbers. The whizz-bang bounce of “Dance Forever” has over 37 million, while the more swelling ballad “My Only” records 54 million at time of writing. That’s significantly more than other SixTONES’ videos as of late…and also a higher figure / pace than Snow Man, who are the biggest male idols in this space going, in theory at least.
Something seems weird here, but I’ll also give at least “My Only” the benefit of the doubt — it serves as the theme song to a drama that SixTONES member Hokuto Matsumura stars in, and it’s totally possible that has been a solid hit directing fans towards the video. And hey, maybe they wanted to check out “Dance Forever” too while they were online. Yet beyond that possibility I just…don’t get why these numbers seem to be doing so well on YouTube? There’s nothing special about the music to warrant extra attention, and every video from STARTO is basically “look at these men doing things together.” Am I missing something? Or is this just a newer mutation of how fandom and data intersect to create weird moments where play counts go crazy?
News And Views
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Police arrested Shuto Inomata of STARTO group timelesz over the weekend after allegedly assaulting a woman, who claimed she was the boyfriend of the assailant. He has (expectedly) been suspended from activities as a result too.
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As I write this week’s newsletter, Japan is experiencing a typhoon…another one! The sun…what’s that? Monday was expected to be a particularly bad day, resulting in many events cancelling, including the holiday…errr day of the ROCK IN JAPAN music festival. I think it’s the right move owing to potential transportation issues…but I also think it’s worth noting that, given how much scrutiny summer fests have come under due to higher temperatures owing to global warming, the solution of moving them later in the year might not work either if unpredictable storms and sustained bad weather (as the Kanto region has experienced all September).
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The Weeknd was in town for two shows at Belluna Dome in Saitama Prefecture! Lots to go over here…starting with a playlist of Japanese songs he likes, shared with radio station interFM. It includes Zutomayo, Haru Nemuri, Midori and many more.
The question I’ve had a few people pose to me since it dropped…how many of these does he really like? I’m not cynical enough to question The Weeknd’s Japanophile tendencies — click here for the best artist photo of the century — but I think it’s fair to be a little skeptical of this, especially given the ummmmm how do you say, Rate Your Music-ness of it all. But both sides are interesting, as it is either an interesting look into what he likes OR a snapshot of what Japanese music is viewed as “cool” enough to share as a signifier.
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Anyway, I’m sure everyone who went to his shows this weekend could care less, as they just enjoyed a big ol’ performance featuring a new song called “Tokyo” featuring a sample of “A Cruel Angel’s Thesis” which was backed up by a bunch of Evangelion footage. And also Yoko Takahashi just performed the theme too, I think Sunday???
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Perfume to release a new compilation called Favorites (Selected by Perfume), a project they say started before “cold sleep” which finds each member selecting personal faves from across their discography.
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Speaking of, all three members got together for A-chan’s wedding ceremony.
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Ado linking up with Kuromi, the dark-and-sassy Sanrio character.
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Eitaro Shibasaki appointed Executive Vice President and Chief Business Officer of Warner Music Japan.
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News: Japan won’t participate in Eurovision Song Contest Asia 2026, the not-Euro-at-all edition of the European singing competition. Views: Good, this sounds very stupid, why does Asia need this? I was told the Asian pop music scene was going strong, why stoop to a contest that pushed Jedward towards the world? Salute to J-pop for having self respect.
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Time Out named Tokyo’s Koenji neighborhood — a hotbed for music and other indie art activities — as the ninth coolest in the world. Hurry before Time Out readers make that not true!
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Luna Nakagawa of FRUITS ZIPPER announced her solo efforts via THE FIRST TAKE.
Written by Patrick St. Michel (patrickstmichel@gmail.com)
Twitter — @mbmelodies
Check out the Best Of 2026 Spotify Playlist here!
