Tokyo International News Agency

A surprise collaboration between Stardust Promotion's male artist collective EBiDAN and the popular Japanese comedy variety show Ariyoshi no Kabe (Nippon TV) was filmed at the site of "EBiDAN THE LIVE 2026" (commonly known as Ebirai), creating a massive buzz across social media. According to a post on X (formerly Twitter) by the show's producer, this special collaboration was arranged to celebrate EBiDAN's 15th anniversary. Filmed right before rehearsals on the first day of the four-day concert series at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium First Gymnasium, members from various EBiDAN groups joined forces with top comedians to deliver hilarious skits. Following the news of this star-studded shoot, fans flooded social media with excited reactions, expressing disbelief and delight with comments such as "Seeing my two favorites together makes me so happy," "This is a dream crossover," and "I can't wait for the broadcast!" This highly antic...

Fans of the popular TBS morning variety show Love It! are in for a treat, as the show’s highly anticipated summer music festival, "Love It! Rock 2026," has been officially announced for Saturday, August 22nd. Once again, the massive celebration will take over the Yoyogi National Gymnasium First Gymnasium in Tokyo. Ticket presales are scheduled to begin in late June, with the lineup of performers to be revealed progressively during the show’s live morning broadcasts. Following the long-awaited announcement, social media erupted with excitement and relief. Some fans admitted they had been worried about whether the festival would return this year, citing recent rumors about budget cuts and production changes. However, the official green light has dispelled those fears, sparking enthusiastic comments such as "I'm so incredibly happy!" and "This year, I’m definitely going in person!" Dedicated viewers also highlighted the event’s strong track record, point...

Kazunari Ninomiya of the legendary group Arashi recently took social media by storm following a hilarious appearance on a variety program alongside his junior group, SixTONES. In particular, Ninomiya’s 'polite speech trap'—a technique where he tricked the younger idols into using formal language—and the subsequent chaos it caused have left fans in stitches, with many calling his performance 'absolute genius.' During the program, a special segment was held where the SixTONES members were challenged to abandon traditional Japanese etiquette and speak to their senior, Ninomiya, using only informal language (tame-guchi). However, Ninomiya played the role of a master strategist, asking subtle, leading questions that caused the members to reflexively slip back into polite speech (keigo). The moment a polite word escaped their lips, Ninomiya would ruthlessly press a 'shock button,' much to the delight of the audience. Viewers flooded social media with comments like, ...

SixTONES member Juri Tanaka appeared on the popular TBS variety show *Banana Sand* on the 21st, participating in the ‘Harmony Resistance Game.’ His performance, where he was completely thrown off by the background harmony, has become a major topic of conversation on social media. Vowing to redeem himself from past failures, Tanaka took on Shiina Ringo's ‘Marunouchi Sadistic’ and Hideaki Tokunaga's ‘Rainy Blue.’ While he sang with cool precision and demonstrated his natural vocal talent until the chorus, his skills as the ‘King of Getting Thrown Off’ were fully displayed the moment the harmony singers joined in, causing his pitch to go wildly astray. Viewers flooded social media with praise, with comments like, ‘He's so cool until the chorus, then he becomes hilariously funny,’ and ‘I love the gap in his performance.’ As a result, he achieved his third consecutive ‘Harmony Resistance Grand Prize,’ solidifying his status as the undisputed champion of the segment. Beyond his s...