sakanaction to appear on Kouhaku Utagassen for the first time!!

5-member mixed rock band sakanaction will be appearing on New Year's Eve music show Kouhaku Utagassen for the very first time.

sakanaction was formed 2005 and major debuted in 2007. With their unique sound which mixes rock, pop, techno, dance music and other genres together well, and being the representative of a new era rock band, they've gathered up popularity, especially among those in their 20s. The lyrics written by vocalist Yamaguchi Ichiro (33) are also creative, leading to him also writing for SMAP and getting high praise within the music industry. It is also known that there are many firmly-rooted fans who are celebrities, such as actor Tsumabuki Satoshi who has been listening to the band even before their break came.

As their popularity continues to permeate, the number of big-scale tie-ups with CMs and dramas have also increased. "Boku to Hana" which was released last year in May was used as the theme song for Kusanagi Tsuyoshi's drama "37sai de Isha ni Natta Boku ~Kenshuui Junjou Monogatari", and "Music" which was released January this year was used as the theme song for Eguchi Yousuke's drama "dinner".

One of the conditions which led to the Kouhaku participation is their big contribution to television broadcaster NHK (the station that produces Kouhaku). "Aoi" which was included in the self-titled album "sakanaction", released this year in March, was appointed as the theme of NHK's soccer broadcasts. There may be a high possibility that they will perform "Aoi" at Kouhaku.

"sakanaction", released March this year, achieved 1st place on the Oricon charts, the first release from the band to do so. With the Kouhaku appearance included now, the band looks to round out their 2013 activities with a bang.

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**For those who may not get why Kouhaku is a big deal - it's the most watched music television show of the year in Japan, every year. Artists have to be invited to appear on the show, and many long to perform on it. 
The artists are separated into White (male) and Red (female) teams to compete for viewers' votes. For sakanaction, they will be in the White team as they have more males than females (general Kouhaku rule).

New song titled "Eureka" is a movie theme song tie-up!

It has been revealed that sakanaction will be doing both the theme song and ending theme of the movie, "Judge!" (ジャッジ！) which will open in cinemas on 11th January 2014.

The theme song of the movie will be the fan favourite "Identity", which was previously released as a single in August 2010. The ending theme song will be a new song, titled "Eureka" (ユリイカ yuriika). The release for this song has not been decided.

"Judge!" is a movie starring Tsumabuki Satoshi, and directed by Nagai Satoshi who is also known for his work on commercials. Besides Tsumabuki, the movie cast also includes Kitagawa Keiko, Hamano Kenta, Agata Morio which are all very individualistic actors. The luxurious cast is also attracting attention.

Billboard Japan First Half of Year Charts 2013

Billboard Japan has released its First Half of Year Charts, which counts from 19 November 2012 to 26 May 2013.

sakanaction showed impressive results on the charts, ranking in 4 categories. Each category only shows the top 20 charters.

At a glance...

Billboard Japan Hot 100 Overall Singles Chart
#6 - Music / sakanaction
(#1 - Sayonara Crawl / AKB48, #2 - Calling / Arashi, #3 - So long! / AKB48)

Top Albums
#14 - sakanaction / sakanaction
(#1 - [an imitation)blood orange] / Mr.Children, #2 - Nihon no Koi to, Yuumin to. / Matsutoya Yumi, #3 - EXILE BEST HITS -LOVE SIDE/SOUL SIDE- / EXILE)

Hot Top Airplay
#3 - Music / sakanaction
(#1 - Suit and Tie / Justin Timberlake, #2 - Spectrum / Zedd)
**sakanaction were the only Japanese artist in the Top 5.

Adult Contemporary Airplay
#2 - Music / sakanaction
(#1 - Suit and Tie / Justin Timberlake, #3 - Because We Can / Bon Jovi)
**sakanaction were the only Japanese artist in the Top 9.

You may view the full charts here.

Voting for Billboard Japan Top Pop Artist 2013

sakanaction has been nominated for Billboard JAPAN's Top Pop Artist 2013 award!

There are a total of 83 artists nominated, and the winner is awarded based on votes. The full list can be seen here, and among the list there are many idols like Johnnys boybands and the AKB48 groups. This means that the odds are pretty low that sakanaction will actually take home the award, but it still means that they have enough mainstream recognition. 

Even though they might not win, we can always give voting a shot. At the very least it might show Billboard Japan that they deserved that nomination and be considered again next year. So here I've written out the instructions on how to vote.