EXILE’s sister group FLOWER has announced that they will be releasing their second single, “SAKURA Regret“, on February 29th!

“SAKURA Regret” will be produced by Matsuo Kiyoshi, who was also in charge of the group’s debut single, “Still“. The limited edition will come with a DVD and photo book.

Stay tuned for more details on this upcoming release. In the meantime, check out the jacket covers and track list below!

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<Limited Edition>

<Regular Edition>

<Track List>

DVD:
01. SAKURA Regret
02. be with you
03. Just a Little Bit
04. SAKURA Regret (instrumental)

DVD:
01. SAKURA Regret (Music Video)
02. SAKURA Regret (Music Video Making)

WOWOW recently updated the official site of the upcoming action-suspense drama, ‘Strangers 6‘, with a new teaser!

‘Strangers 6′ is a joint production between Japan, South Korea, and China. It aims to reach new heights in terms of pace and sheer scale for a TV drama, by utilizing production skills and acting prowess from all three countries. WOWOW will broadcast the drama in Japan, and aside from South Korea and China, ‘Strangers 6′ will also air in a total of ten countries.

Speaking of acting prowess, the main cast consists of Karasawa Toshiaki, Oh Ji Ho, Kim Hyo Jin, Kikawada Masaya, Bowie Lam, and Liu Xuan as the six protagonists.

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As for the plot, “Strangers 6″ is set in the near future and centers around the fictional Chinese city of ‘Haiwan’, a huge economical hub without any national boundaries for companies from South Korea, Japan, and China. However, the city is doomed to collapse under a gigantic earthquake predicted to hit the city within the next three months. There’s a chance to prevent the disaster by installing a special device underneath the city, but this would require cutting-edge technology and an unimaginable sum of money from all three countries.

Believing that this is the only way to protect their economy, the countries are quick to agree on this joint-operation and hasten their efforts in order to complete the device as soon as possible. However, somebody is trying to interfere with the project and attempts to assassinate the people involved. In order to protect the project and to find out who is behind the assassination plot, the three countries form a top-secret group, ‘Strangers 6′, which is made up of their best experts and agents.

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Japanese musician and guitarist Hotei Tomoyasu has written the main theme, “Strangers 6 Theme“, and an insert song, “Dancing With Strangers“, for the drama. South Korean boy group SHINee provides the theme song, “Stranger“, from their album “SHINee JAPAN 1ST ALBUM「THE FIRST“, while the South Korean girl group KARA sweetens up the suspense with various insert songs, such as “Sweetune” and “My Prayer“.

WOWOW will air the first of fifteen episodes in Japan on January 27th.

Check out the trailer below!

On January 20th, idol group C-ute’s “Hitorijime Shitakatta Dake na no ni” and “Shiawase no Tochuu” played throughout radio stations in Japan.

The two songs can be found on C-ute’s upcoming album, “Dai Nana Sho 「Utsukushikutte gomen ne」“, which will drop on February 8th.

Check out them out below, and let us know what you think!

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<Hitorijime Shitakatta Dake na no ni>

<Shiawase no Tochuu>

In memory of the tragic Tohoku Earthquake that shook Japan last March, NHK will be holding a live concert called “Shinsai Kara 1nen ‘Ashita e’ Concert” (1 Year After the Earthquake ‘For Tomorrow’ Concert).

The concert will be held on March 10th at Makuhari Messe Event Hall in Chiba and Sukagawa City Cultural Center in Fukushima simultaneously. It will feature a gorgeous line-up of artists to deliver a message to the disaster-stricken areas through the power of music. This concert will also broadcast live as a 6-hour program with SMAP’s Nakai Masahiro as the host.

The artists that will be performing at Makuhari Messe are SMAP, AKB48, and Perfume. Meanwhile, Sukagawa City Cultural Center will feature performances by Kitajima Saburo, Sakamoto Fuyumi, Hitoto Yo, and Hirahara Ayaka. More artists will be added to the line-up at a later date.

NHK’s official website is currently accepting applications to attend the concert at Makuhari Messe. At the same time, NHK will be collecting return postcards to attend the concert at Sukagawa City Cultural Center.

On the January 21st episode of CDTV, group Ikimonogakari and singer JuJu took the stage.

First up, JuJu with her new single “Sign“.  After her Ikimonogakari wowed with “Itsudatte Bokura wa“.

< JuJu – ‘Sign’ >

< Ikimonogakari – ‘Itsudatte Bokura wa’ >

“Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol” was dethroned by a charming human robot, “Robo-G“. Following on third place, the South Korean production “My Way” knew to impress the moviegoers with its stunning visuals and great Asian cast.

The new chart topper, “Robo-G” is directed by Yaguchi Shinobu (“Water Boys”, “Swing Girls”, “Happy Flight”) and stars Mickey Curtis (alias Igarashi Shinjiro), Yoshitaka Yuriko, and Hamada Gaku among others.

Over the two days, it mobilized 164,694 people, resulting in a decent opening-weekend-revenue of 202,340,100 Yen (2.63 million USD). The final goal will be 1,500,000,000 Yen (19.5 million USD) or even 2,000,000,000 Yen if the positive reviews spark a powerful word-of-mouth advertising.

Surveys show that most people (27.9%) went for the laughs, while 18.2% were attracted by the director and 16.2% by the actual story and theme. Some people (8.7%) also revealed that they went due to their interest in robots and at least 6.9% simply went because of the actress, Yoshitaka Yuriko.

On second place, “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol” already reached a cumulative revenue of 4,442,435,590 Yen (57.84 million USD).

As mentioned above, “My Way“, starring Japanese actor Odagiri Joe and South Korean actor Jang Dong Gun, opened on three. The epic war drama, directed by Kang Je Gyu (“Shiri”, “Taegukgi – Brotherhood”), opened on more screens than “Robo-G”, but only sold 71,664 tickets. It recorded a revenue of 85,266,600 Yen (1.11 million USD) for its first weekend.

“Inazuma Eleven GO” reached a cumulative revenue of 1 billion Yen (13 million USD), “Kaibutsu-kun” 3 billion Yen (39 million USD), and “K-On!” 1.5 billion Yen (19.53 million USD).

The award-winning “Himizu“, starring Sometani Shota and Nikaido Fumi, that impressed on various international movie festivals last year, didn’t manage to claim a spot in the top ten. However, it was incredibly successful in all major cities of Japan. If we were to count the results of only those cities, then it would actually be on fourth place.

“Gekkou no Kamen“, starring Itao Itsuji (also the director), Asano Tadanobu, and Ishihara Satomi, also didn’t make it into the top ten.

Next week the top movies will have to defend their spots against “ALWAYS San-chome no Yuhi ‘64” and “Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger vs. Space Sheriff Gavan: The Movie“, only to name a few.

As usual, you can check out all the trailers of the new Japanese movies below the box office ranking!

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	Rank/Last		Title	Weeks
	01 (00)		Robo-G	01
	02 (01)		Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol	05
	03 (00)		My Way	01
	04 (03)		Magic Tree House	02
	05 (02)		Rengou Kantai Shireichoukan Yamamoto Isoroku	04
	06 (04)		friends Mononoke Jima no Naki	05
	07 (05)		Gekijouban Inazuma Eleven GO: Kyuukyoku no Kizuna Gryphon	04
	08 (06)		Eiga Kaibutsu-kun	08
	09 (07)		Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider Fourze & OOO: Movie War Mega Max	06
	10 (09)		Genji Monogatari Sennen no Nazo	06

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> “Robo-G” [Comedy]
Cast: Mickey Curtis (alias Igarashi Shinjiro), Yoshitaka Yuriko, Hamada Gaku, Kawai Shogo and more

> “My Way” [War Drama] * South Korean movie
Cast: Odagiri Joe, Jang Dong Gun, Fan Bingbing, Kim In-Kwon, and more

> “Himizu” [Human Drama]
Cast: Sometani Shota, Nikaido Fumi, Watanabe Tetsu, Fukikoshi Mitsuru, and more

> “Gekkou no Kamen” [Human Drama]
Cast: Itao Itsuji, Asano Tadanobu, Ishihara Satomi, Maeda Gin, and more

> “Hasami” [Youth Drama]
Cast: Ikewaki Chizuru, Tokunaga Eri, Kubota Masataka, Nancy, and more

> “BUNRAKU” [Action] * American movie
Cast: Josh Hartnett, Woody Harrelson, Gackt, Kevin McKidd, and more

Korean girl group KARA has announced that they will be releasing their first photo book, “Je t’aime, KARA“, on February 14th. Additionally, they have revealed that they will be holding their first Japanese tour, “KARASIA“, starting this spring.

Shot in Paris, France, “Je t’aime, Kara” features photos of the girls with a relaxed look as they leave behind their busy lives in Korea and Japan. It will also come with a DVD containing making-of footage and a slide show.

Meanwhile, for their first Japanese tour, KARA will hold two performances each in 5 cities including Yokohama, Nagoya, Osaka, Fukuoka, and Tokyo.

Check out the tour dates below!

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<KARASIA>

April 14th – Yokohama Arena (Kanagawa)
April 15th –  Yokohama Arena (Kanagawa)
April 18th – Nippon Gaishi Hall (Aichi)
April 19th – Nippon Gaishi Hall (Aichi)
April 27th – Osaka-jo Hall (Osaka)
April 28th – Osaka-jo Hall (Osaka)
April 30th – Marine Messe Fukuoka (Fukuoka)
May 1st – Marine Messe Fukuoka (Fukuoka)
May 16th – Yoyogi National Gymnasium (Tokyo)
May 17th – Yoyogi National Gymnasium (Tokyo)

Source & Image: natalie

AKB48 has announced that they will be holding concerts in all 47 prefectures in Japan!

This was announced on the 2nd night of AKB48’s annual event, “AKB48 Request Hour Set List Best 100 2012“, at TOKYO DOME CITY HALL. During the encore, Takahashi Minami revealed that the group will be holding their first nationwide tour saying, “We will go where you live to meet you!“.

Additionally, AKB48 announced that they will be holding their first live in Jakarta, Indonesia on February 25th. They will be appearing in the cultural exchange event, “Nihon Pop Culture Festival“. When Kashiwagi Yuki stated, “We will take the stage with JKT48,” the members of JKT48 replied in Japanese, “Everyone, please come to Jakarta!”

Further details on AKB48’s nationwide tour will be revealed at a later date, so stay tuned!

Source & Image: Oricon