iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

ryo @sneek.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

i wanted to scream when satsuki turned her back against ume to start “influencer,” wanted to bawl when as ume sang 過去がどんなに眩しくても未来はもっと眩しいかもしれない as the stage raised her atop the rest of the group for “kaerimichiwa”

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ryo @sneek.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

6 favorites from the umezawa minami grad, in setlist order “boku wa boku wo sukininaru” “fundeshimatta” “hodokyo” “time limit kataomoi” “influencer” “kaerimichi wa toomawarishitakunaru”

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ryo @sneek.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

sorry forgot to tag you but glad you’re seeing it! glad to have you be a part of this

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ryo @sneek.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

This Side of Japan's Best of 2020-2025: The Friend's List Wrapping up, we invite back our friends and contributors from over the years for their list of favorite Japanese songs from this decade so far! Enjoy our friends picks - nearly 300 songs! thissidejapan.substack.com/p/friends-li...

thissidejapan.substack.com

This Side of Japan's Best of 2020-2025: The Friends List

Wrapping our big 100th issue with our friends and their picks for the best of the decade

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ryo @sneek.bsky.social · 17/05/2026

thanks! glad to have you be a part of it!

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ryo @sneek.bsky.social · 17/05/2026

This Side of Japan's 100th issue - Top 100 Japanese Songs of 2020-2025 We look back at the decade so far through the era's best songs from Ado, Pasocom Music Club, PAS TASTA and many more! thissidejapan.substack.com/p/issue-100-...

thissidejapan.substack.com

Issue #100: This Side of Japan's Top 100 Songs of 2020-2025

For the big 100, let's look back from the very beginning and check out the best from this current decade in Japanese music

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ryo @sneek.bsky.social · 10/05/2026

oomfs who i asked for stuff for tsoj 100: sorry it took so long but it is finally coming and your stuff will be up later this month

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ryo @sneek.bsky.social · 10/05/2026

Idol Watch presents… Top 100 Idol Songs of 2020-2025! Ahead of This Side of Japan issue #100, we look back a decade in idol so far with our favorite songs from iLiFE, FRUITS ZIPPER, RAY and many more! thissidejapan.substack.com/p/idol-watch...

thissidejapan.substack.com

Idol Watch #27: Top 100 Idol Songs of 2020-2025

We look back at this decade in idol so far through songs by iLiFE, FRUIT ZIPPER, RAY and many more

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ryo @sneek.bsky.social · 24/02/2026

gonna karaoke next weekend, gotta start brainstorming what song to sing

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ryo @sneek.bsky.social · 24/02/2026

feb 23: sayuri ishikawa - 365 nichi hanamoyo - hana kuyo (1976) record collector mag put “tsugaru kaikyo fuyugeshiki” in their best 70s idol songs list, which i was taken back by, until this album which actually felt closer in style to an idol album of its day - amazing youth pop album overall #mwe

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ryo @sneek.bsky.social · 21/02/2026

something in me says this is their moment of putting a peg on it, of cementing the 2nd gen’s legacy of building the foundation of this new iteration, and we’re already slowly seeing the fadeaway with inori and now chuke’s graduation.. if this is the start of a certain end, it’s gonna really hurt me

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ryo @sneek.bsky.social · 21/02/2026

nobody’s fault was a very uncertain time, with the name change, and these three as we know now has been instrumental as centers to define sakurazaka as we know them now, i just feel all the years and all the efforts hit

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ryo @sneek.bsky.social · 21/02/2026

this is a group who, in my own idea of them anyway, always looked forward and every look back has been very purposeful, so it messes me up seeing them reflect in their own legacy like this

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ryo @sneek.bsky.social · 21/02/2026

been emotional all day at sakurazaka referencing the cover art of their own first single for the promo photo of their 5th anniversary show

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ryo @sneek.bsky.social · 21/02/2026

feb 20: the hated - every song (1989) emo at its embryonic stage, oomf took apart its influences, r.e.m and rites of spring, and he was on point. hearing the style just about to cohere was great #mwe

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ryo @sneek.bsky.social · 21/02/2026

feb 18: yukihiro takahashi - tomorrow’s just another day (1983) a loving ode to the new romantics like the last but those influences also solidify more here as his own, a blast of a pop record #mwe

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ryo @sneek.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

feb 16: yukiko okada - jyugatsu no ningyo (1985) a step into maturation from the seiko-esque idol mold of her first two, even before the more overt makeover album after, which i’m very excited to dig into after this one #mwe

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ryo @sneek.bsky.social · 15/02/2026

nothing but the hits there

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ryo @sneek.bsky.social · 15/02/2026

honestly this is how I aspire to write

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ryo @sneek.bsky.social · 15/02/2026

idk stuff like this give me joy and hope of idol as a vehicle to spread good as much as my beloved hello project www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOPu...

youtube.com

【MV】TEAM KAWAII LAB.『CHU CHU CHU研究中！』

YouTube video by KAWAII LAB.

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ryo @sneek.bsky.social · 15/02/2026

it irks me seeing "reiwa idol" (which is mostly a stand in for kawaii lab) as being self centered and transactional when they're inclusive and have a "we're all in this life together" mentality as much as morning musume does

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ryo @sneek.bsky.social · 15/02/2026

hello project hitting spotify got people reminiscing and appreciating the hits but i've seen a few also holding up the morning musume discog to do some "heisei idol vs reiwa idol" argument with the former being better messaged and... it just makes my kawaii lab defense go way up again

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ryo @sneek.bsky.social · 15/02/2026

@jackwannan.bsky.social hey! sent you a dm not long ago but idk if it ever went through..

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ryo @sneek.bsky.social · 15/02/2026

@kimonobeat.bsky.social hi! sent you a dm not long ago but not sure if it ever went through

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ryo @sneek.bsky.social · 14/02/2026

i know murasaki was front of my mind bc you wrote about a song from it for tsoj!

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ryo @sneek.bsky.social · 14/02/2026

if you want something dreamy like akina’s mid 80s albums like fushigi, i recommend PAVANE! or if you want more traditional, NEXT DOOR, fully made with the same arranger who’d work with kudo shizuka. neither are on streaming, unfortunately, Sou from 1991 is streaming and i recommend it too

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ryo @sneek.bsky.social · 14/02/2026

idol albums I checked out from nov ‘24 to Dec ‘25

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ryo @sneek.bsky.social · 14/02/2026

not that it was for nothing! koizumi kyoko’s is another all timer, got obsessed with hiroko yakushimaru and harada tomoyo, and got more love for the kazama sisters, to name a few i loved

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ryo @sneek.bsky.social · 14/02/2026

spent the past year digging into a dozen discographies of ‘80s idols to step out of akina only for it to reaffirm that akina is my absolute favorite

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ryo @sneek.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

tho i can understand rap needed to work for acceptance in japan, it’s also difficult for me to imagine a music industry relatively untouched by hip hop bc it’s been so informed by hip hop ever since i knew of music

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ryo @sneek.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

it’s hard to hear a record like this, along with the rest of its peers, that’s so indebted to New York hip hop of its time as music that needs legitimizing when it feels so definitive to the point its descendants are still so stuck on it as the genre’s core if not superior sound

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ryo @sneek.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

feb 13: microphone pager - don’t stop the light (1995) great entry in the j-rap canon, more perfecting a form than innovating, tho need to listen again closer to pick upon on more proof of its reputation as a record proving legitimacy of its own genre #mwe

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ryo @sneek.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

feb 11: jacks - vacant world (1968) heard this was more psych rock than group sounds which piqued my ear, and it was right, the psych touches made it more palatable for my ear which hardly ever touch music before the 80s #mwe

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ryo @sneek.bsky.social · 10/02/2026

writing about kpop this week for this annual tradition, first i go a bit on nmixx

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ryo @sneek.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

this week chose new songs by Chanmina, Kimiga shikakuku narumaeni and PASSEPIED

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ryo @sneek.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

might have my totals mixed up but i’ll give 4 a listen too

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ryo @sneek.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

feb 9: various artists - kompakt: total 3 (2001) as an intro to kompakt, works fine, if a bit surprised to find it more pop than expected, but need more context on why this particular installment is the one that gets praised, i take it it’s from “so weit wie noch nie”?

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ryo @sneek.bsky.social · 06/02/2026

feb 6: dj clue - the professional (1998) great 98 time capsule but can’t help imagining how it must’ve felt at the time to hear a fresh clue tape like this drop, a “got to be there” feeling that mixtapes have over capital-A albums and their more pointed focus on posterity

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ryo @sneek.bsky.social · 04/02/2026

i’m starting to understand!

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ryo @sneek.bsky.social · 04/02/2026

feb 4: fukada kyoko - moon (2000) fits the definition of an early 90s idol album in that we got hot arrangers of 98 jpop (kameda seiji! chokkaku!) propping up a young actress into pop music act; always loved the shiina ringo cosplay that kicks this album off #mwe

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ryo @sneek.bsky.social · 04/02/2026

feb 2: brandy - afrodisiac (2004) associated brandy with the futurist late 90s r&b like aaliyah, destinys child, janet, but surprised at how 2004 this was (04 timbaland sounds timestamped forever more than his late 90s output) #mwe

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ryo @sneek.bsky.social · 04/02/2026

i’ll do a slightly shortened version of #mwe posting mon, wed and friday instead of everyday just so i can poke my head back here on the bluesky

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ryo @sneek.bsky.social · 04/02/2026

if seiko and akina is blur vs oasis, is kyonkyon the answer equivalent to pulp

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ryo @sneek.bsky.social · 31/01/2026

since 2016 nostalgia is in, i’m looking back at my 2016 in music mix and, marveling from me sequencing demi lovato into godflesh in a span of 7 songs

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ryo @sneek.bsky.social · 31/01/2026

for our first ever guest Bonus Beats picks, @citygamepop.substack.com goes deep on Kyoko Koizumi’s 90s discography—really loved the selections and the overview thissidejapan.substack.com/p/monthly-li...

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ryo @sneek.bsky.social · 31/01/2026

our first Monthly Listening is out for the new year! A round-up of new Japanese releases I enjoyed from January, ft. REBEL REBEL, House of the Blood Choir, Magnolia Cacophony & more also our first guest Bonus Beats, curated by @citygamepop.substack.com ! thissidejapan.substack.com/p/monthly-li...

thissidejapan.substack.com

Monthly Listening: January 2026

A round-up of favorite new releases by REBEL REBEL, The House of Burning Choir and more; plus our first guest Bonus Beats selection!

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ryo @sneek.bsky.social · 27/01/2026

this week chose new songs by CYNHN, IM DENPA.wav and Postmodernhippie & Hana Miketa

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