2025's Top 10 most desired female celebrities who you want as a girlfriend (Oricon)

Oricon conducts an annual survey on 1,000 men in their teens to 50s about which female celebrity they would like to have as their girlfriend and releases the results on White Day (14 March). Yoshioka Riho who has been No.1 for 4 consecutive years, is on her way to entering the Hall of Fame for this ranking, following the footsteps of Aragaki Yui who got No.1 for 5 years in a row. 

The numbers in the brackets indicate their rankings in 2024 while dashes indicate that they were outside of the top 10 for last year. Those who were in the 2024 ranking but does not appear in this year's edition include Hashimoto Kanna (No.4), Hirose Suzu (No.8) and Nukumi Meru (No.9).

1) Yoshioka Riho (1)

2) Hamabe Minami (3)

3) Imada Mio (2) / Koshiba Fuuka (6) / Nagano Mei (10)

6) Ayase Haruka (5)

7) Fukuhara Haruka (6)

8) Arimura Kasumi (-)

9) Nagasawa Masami (-)

10) Ashida Mana (-) / Honda Tsubasa (-)

"KING OF SING" Top 20 singers with the best singing abilities rankings as voted by vocalists (2025)

TBS music program "KING OF SING" released its rankings of top singers with the best singing abilities as voted by 122 vocalists during its broadcast on 20 February 2025. There were two rankings in terms of age groups i.e. 30s and below and 40s and above. 

Check out the lists below to see if your favourites have been included in this ranking!

Top 20 singers in their 30s and below

1) Oomori Motoki (Mrs. GREEN APPLE)

2) Ado

3) Iguchi Satoru (King Gnu)

4) Yamazaki Ikusaburo

5) Ikuta Rira

6) Fujihara Satoshi (Official Hige Dandism)

7) Yonezu Kenshi

8) Takahata Mitsuki

9) Taka (ONE OK ROCK)

10) Shimizu Miisha

11) Fujii Kaze

12) May J.

13) LiSA

14) Ayaka

15) Miura Daichi

16) Kamishiraishi Mone

17) Shirota Yu

18) Nagaya Haruko (Ryokuoushoku Shakai)

19) Aimyon

20) Ikuta Erika

Top 20 singers in their 40s and above

1) MISIA

2) Tamaki Koji

3) Niizuma Seiko

4) Oda Kazumasa

5) Utada Hikaru

6) Shimazu Aya

7) Yoshida Miwa (DREAMS COME TRUE)

8) Fuse Akira

9) Nakajima Miyuki

10) Inaba Koshi (B'z)

11) Superfly

12) Kubota Toshinobu

13) Hirahara Ayaka

14) Yamadera Koichi

15) Kuwata Keisuke (Southern All Stars)

16) Hirose Koumi

17) Hikawa Kiyoshi

18) Hirai Ken

19) Matsu Takako

20) Ishikawa Sayuri

Observations from Video Research's Top 10 celebrities' TV CM Exposure Ranking 2024 & TV CM Deals Ranking 2024

As seen from the results below, there are some interesting observations which can offer food for thought on determining who's popular with advertisers vs. who's actually seen on TV more frequently:

• While Ayase Haruka (10) has less than half of Kawaguchi Haruna's number of CM deals (24), the total number of times which her CMs were shown and the total running time were 17% and 35% higher than the latter's figures respectively. Her total exposure time in 2024 also increased by about 4% from 2023's total of 329,115 seconds.
• Despite the fact that Kawaguchi has been the CM queen for three years in a row based on total number of CM deals, she was actually not in the top 10 for the total CM exposure ranking last year.
• Most of the celebrities in the 2023 Top 10 for the CM exposure ranking were also in the 2024 version but Kawaguchi and Yokozawa Natsuko were the only ones who came from outside 2023's top 10. On the other hand, Yoshioka Riho and Koike Eiko who were in the 2023 Top 10, did not make it to this year's ranking.
• Although some celebrities have a high number of CM deals, the actual exposure they got did not allow them to make it into the top 10 ranking in terms of total CM running time - Hashimoto Kanna, Imada Mio, Yoshioka Riho, Ootani Shohei, Hamabe Minami, IKKO, Ooizumi Yo, Suzuki Ryohei, Nagasawa Masami, Nagano Mei & Yamada Yuuki.
• On the reverse, while some celebrities may not have that many CM deals, they got a lot more exposure on TV - Degawa Tetsuro, Takito Kenichi, Suda Masaki, Yokozawa and Nakajo Ayami.
• In terms of regional differences, Ayase was gaining the most exposure in all three surveyed regions i.e. Kanto, Kansai and Nagoya. On the other hand, while Kaku Kento was No.2 in Kanto and Kansai, Ashida Mana was No.2 in Nagoya. 
• The gap in total running time was relatively consistent and small between Kaku and Ashida in all three regions but if compared to Ayase, the largest difference between No.1 and No.2 was observed in the Kanto region (62,680 seconds) as compared to the Kansai (17,400 seconds) and Nagoya (22,245 seconds) regions.
• The number of times which the CMs were aired could be dependent more on the advertisers' CM budgets, size of the companies, the length of the CM and the timeslot which the CMs were aired rather than a direct reflection of the celebrity's brand power or name value. More information is probably needed to determine if the total running time is mainly made up of shorter version CMs (15-sec ones) or those which run for at least 30-secs and higher. In addition, advertising budgets for a domestic company vs. an international enterprise could be vastly different too. Moreover, depending on the timeslot when the CM is aired, the rates could differ a lot. For example, playing shorter CMs for a higher number of times during off peak hours could actually be cheaper than running longer CMs for a smaller number of times during primetime slots. 

Top 10 celebrities with the highest CM exposure in 2024 (based on total running time of CMs) - Kanto region

Numbers behind the names reflect the number of times the celebrity's CM was aired on TV and the total running time of these CMs.

Numbers in brackets indicate the position which the celebrity got in the 2023 ranking:

1) Ayase Haruka - 18,536 times / 341,310 secs (1)

2) Kaku Kento - 15,741 times / 278,630 secs (2)

3) Ashida Mana - 16,195 times / 260,715 secs (4)

4) Kawaguchi Haruna - 15,834 times / 253,410 secs (11)

5) Degawa Tetsuro - 15,809 times / 243,070 secs (6)

6) Takito Kenichi - 12,145 times / 236,090 secs (10)

7) Suda Masaki - 12,673 times / 215,985 secs (3)

8) Yokozawa Natsuko - 10,728 times / 213,005 secs (16)

9) Nakajo Ayami - 12,546 times / 205,125 secs (9)

10) Hirose Suzu - 10,018 times / 197,025 secs (7)

Top 10 celebrities with the highest number of CM deals in 2024

Numbers in brackets indicate the number of CM deals which the celebrity had:

1) Kawaguchi Haruna (24)

2) Kaku Kento (18)

3) Ashida Mana (16)

4) Hashimoto Kanna (14)

5) Imada Mio / Hirose Suzu / Yoshioka Riho (12)

8) Ootani Shohei / Hamabe Minami (11)

10) Ayase Haruka / IKKO / Ooizumi Yo / Suzuki Ryohei / Nagasawa Masami / Nagano Mei / Yamada Yuuki (10)

2025's Top 10 ranking of male celebrities who you want as a boyfriend (Oricon)

Oricon conducted its annual Valentine's Day survey on 500 female respondents in their teens to 50s between 9 January and 20 January 2025 where they selected the male celebrity who they wished to have as their boyfriend. 

Some observations from this ranking:

• This is the first time that Matsushita Kouhei grabbed the No.1 spot in this ranking. He was No.2 last year.
• This year marks the first time that Meguro Ren entered the top 3 in this ranking. He was No.4 last year.
• Takenouchi Yutaka is the oldest celebrity (54 years old) in this ranking for this year and last year.
• Meguro Ren is the youngest celebrity (27 years old) in this year's ranking. He will turn 28 in 2 days' time.
• Nakamura Tomoya is the only married celebrity in this year's top 10 ranking.
• Yamada Ryosuke and Matsumura Hokuto are tied at No.4 this year.
• Yamada Ryosuke, Matsumura Hokuto, Yokohama Ryuusei, Nakamura Tomoya & Sato Takeru were outside of the top 10 last year.
• Last year's No.1 Ohtani Shohei is not in this year's top 10 probably because he announced his marriage in Feb 2024 and the survey was done in Jan 2024.
• Similarly, Yamada Yuuki who was No.5 last year, did not make it to this year's ranking. He announced his marriage to Nishino Nanase in Mar 2024.
• Yoshizawa Ryo who was No.7 last year, did not make it to this year's top 10. His drunk-trespassing incident late last year probably had a part to play in this.
• Michieda Shunsuke and Nagase Ren who were in last year's ranking, did not appear in this year's top 10 list.

The numbers in the brackets indicate their rankings last year. Dashes indicate that they were not in the top 10 in 2024:

1) Matsushita Kouhei (2)

2) Meguro Ren (4)

3) Hirano Sho (3)

4) Yamada Ryosuke (-) / Matsumura Hokuto (-)

6) Sakaguchi Kentaro (7)

7) Takenouchi Yutaka (6)

8) Yokohama Ryuusei (-)

9) Nakamura Tomoya (-)

10) Sato Takeru (-)

Top 10 actors and actresses expected to make a breakthrough in 2025 (Oricon)

The following survey was done by Oricon Monitor Research on 1,000 respondents from their teens to 50s between 8 January and 15 January 2025 where they chose which actor and actress they felt would likely make a breakthrough in 2025:

Top 10 actors expected to make a breakthrough in 2025

1) Kido Taisei

2) Oohashi Kazuya

3) Yagi Yuusei

4) Sakurai Kaito

5) Kubozuka Airu

6) Nishihata Daigo

7) Ichinose Hayate

8) Sugou Araki

9) Tsuna Keito

10) Sano Masaya

Top 10 actresses expected to make a breakthrough in 2025

1) Takaishi Akari

2) Touma Ami

3) Ono Karin

4) Shiraishi Sei

5) Nagao Yuno

6) Saito Nagisa

7) Kageyama Yuuka

8) Kumada Rinka

9) Doi Shiori

10) Yokota Mayu

Top 10 actors and actresses who made a breakthrough in 2024 (Oricon)

The following survey was done by Oricon Monitor Research on 1,000 respondents from their teens to 50s between 19 November and 22 November 2024 where they chose which actor and actress they felt had made a breakthrough in 2022:

Top 10 actors who made a breakthrough in 2024 

1) Matsuda Genta

2) Suzuka Ouji

3) Bandou Ryouta

4) Akiyama Ryuuji

5) Itagaki Rihito

6) Matsumura Hokuto

7) Miyase Ryuubi

8) Nagase Ren

9) Mizukami Koushi

10) Shiono Akihisa

Top 10 actresses who made a breakthrough in 2024

1) Matsumoto Wakana

2) Kawai Yumi

3) Ano

4) Shuri

5) First Summer Uika

6) Deguchi Natsuki

7) Mikami Ai

8) Hata Mei

9) Yamashita Mizuki

10) Yuriyan Retriever

Top 10 bestselling music artists in 2024 (Oricon)

As seen from the rankings below, it seems like physical music media still accounts for the bulk of sales for music artists in Japan even though digital releases and online streaming are increasingly becoming the preferred medium for music releases by some artists and consumers who do not or buy less physical music media. There are also clear distinctions between the top 10 rankings for both types of media with idol groups featuring more prominently in the physical music media top 10 while bands and solo singers seem to be doing better in terms of digital media. 

However, other than this being solely due to music preferences by consumers of both types of media, one important thing to keep in mind is which medium the artists choose to release their works through. For example, STARTO Entertainment's artists tend not to release their new music on digital platforms except when it comes to releasing them on streaming portals but that's largely restricted to older works. And not every group in their agency makes their music available online so fans can only get their hands on these works through buying CDs and DVDs. On the other hand, some artists choose to release their music exclusively on or largely in digital media formats so that's why they aren't seen in the physical media top 10. Yonezu Kenshi is probably one of the few who is an "all-rounder" to manage both realms equally well because about 56% of his sales come from physical media while the remaining is from digital media. Comparatively, Mrs.GREEN APPLE saw about 76% of their sales from the digital world so that's why they are overall No.2 but nowhere to be seen in the top 10 for physical media.

South Korean boybands seem to be doing really well too as seen from SEVENTEEN and Stray Kids outdoing every group from STARTO other than Snow Man and SixTONES. Looks like they are giving the local idol groups a serious run for their money while 2022's champion BTS is taking a break in the meantime due to military service. However, both groups are not appearing on the upcoming Kouhaku on NHK which is supposedly a reflection of who are popular in the past year - apparently not so for at least the last 2 decades, I think. The absence of female idol groups is also somewhat surprising even though groups like New Jeans and TWICE seem to be featured pretty frequently on TV and the Japanese media but they don't seem to be raking in the bucks through music releases. Maybe it's the concerts and their merchandise which are bringing in the dough rather than through music releases?

* Numbers in brackets indicate the estimated total sales figure in JPY:

Overall top 10 bestselling music artists in 2024

1) Snow Man (JPY 15.42 billion)

2) Mrs.GREEN APPLE (JPY 9.59 billion)

3) SixTONES (JPY 6.47 billion)

4) SEVENTEEN (JPY 6.38 billion)

5) Stray Kids (JPY 6.05 billion)

6) Yonezu Kenshi (JPY 5.84 billion)

7) Ado (JPY 4.61 billion)

8) YOASOBI (JPY 4.37 billion)

9) WEST. (JPY 4.28 billion)

10) INI (JPY 4.12 billion)

Top 10 bestselling artists in 2024 - music releases in physical formats

1) Snow Man (JPY 14.92 billion)

2) SixTONES (JPY 6.35 billion)

3) SEVENTEEN (JPY 5.2 billion)

4) Stray Kids (JPY 4.9 billion)

5) WEST. (JPY 4.28 billion)

6) Naniwa Danshi (JPY 3.79 billion)

7) INI (JPY 3.67 billion)

8) Nogizaka46 (JPY 3.41 billion)

9) Sakurazaka46 (JPY 3.37 billion)

10) Yonezu Kenshi (JPY 3.27 billion)

Top 10 bestselling music artists in 2024 - digital sales and streaming

1) Mrs.GREEN APPLE (JPY 7.3 billion)

2) back number (JPY 3.68 billion)

3) YOASOBI (JPY 3.61 billion)

4) Vaundy (JPY 3.23 billion)

5) Official Hige Dandism (JPY 2.89 billion)

6) Ado (JPY 2.87 billion)

7) Yonezu Kenshi (JPY 2.57 billion)

8) Creepy Nuts (JPY 2.36 billion)

9) King Gnu (JPY 2.29 billion)

10) Aimyon (JPY 2.09 billion)

Winners of Yahoo! Japan Search Awards 2024

Here are the winners of Yahoo! Japan Search Awards 2024 in selected categories:

For the full list and winners in other categories, please refer to here.

Top 5 Most Searched Dramas

1) Tora ni tsubasa

2) Hikaru kimi e

3) Umi no hajimari

4) Futekisetsu nimo hodo ga aru!

5) Black Pean Season 2

Top 5 Most Searched Movies

1) Gekijouban Haikyu!! Gomisuteba no kessen

2) Kingdom Daishougun no kikan

3) Last Mile

4) Inside Out 2

5) Hen na ie

Top 5 Most Searched Actors

1) Kawai Yumi

2) Chae Jong-hyeop

3) Deguchi Natsuki

4) Wakaba Ryuuya

5) Matsumoto Wakana

Top 5 Most Searched Musicians

1) Number_i

2) Mrs. GREEN APPLE

3) NewJeans

4) WEST.

5) ME:I

Winners of the ViVi National Treasure Handsome Men Ranking (First half of 2023)

Note that the names in brackets indicate the groups they belong to.

Source: Oricon

NOW Category (those who are between 23 and 29 years old)

1) Meguro Ren (Snow Man)

2) Yagi Yuusei (FANTASTICS)

3) Kyomoto Taiga (SixTONES)

4) Takahashi Fumiya

5) Michieda Shunsuke (Naniwa Danshi)

6) Kawanishi Takumi (JO1)

7) Takasugi Mahiro

8) Takahashi Kaito (King & Prince)

9) Yoshino Hokuto (THE RAMPAGE)

10) Hagiwara Riku 

11) Ozaki Takumi (INI)

12) RYOKI (BE:FIRST)

13) K (& TEAM)

14) Shiroiwa Ruki (JO1)

15) Kusakawa Takuya (Choutokkyuu)

NEXT Category (those who are 22 years old and below)

1) Nagao Kento (Naniwa Danshi)

2) Matsuda Jin (INI)

3) Miyase Ryuubi

4) Nishimura Takuya (Lil Kansai)

5) Itagaki Rihito

6) Mamehara Issei (JO1)

7) Sano Masaya (Ae! group)

8) Yamashita Kouki

9) Mokudai Kazuto (Genin wa jibun ni aru)

10) RAN (MAZZEL)

ADULT Category (those who are 30 years old and above)

1) Sakaguchi Kentaro

2) Yamada Ryosuke (Hey! Say! JUMP)
3) SKY-HI

4) Watanabe Shota (Snow Man)

5) Suzuki Ryohei

6) Nakamura Tomoya

7) Matsushita Kouhei

8) Fukazawa Tatsuya (Snow Man)

9) Iwata Takanori (Sandaime J Soul Brothers)

10) Tamamori Yuuta (Kis-My-Ft2)

Top 10 most anticipated "new adults" in 2023 (Oricon)

Oricon released its annual top 10 most anticipated "new adults" ranking on Seijin no Hi (Coming-of-age Day) i.e. today where 1,000 survey respondents from their teens to 50s chose the celebrity that they most expect to do well after becoming an adult legally. Ashida Mana who turned 18 in June last year is the winner across all age groups while Michieda Shunsuke was the No.2 choice for those in their teens and 20s and shogi player Fujii Souta was the No.2 for those 30 and above.

Those who were born between 2 April 2002 and 1 April 2025 are considered to be adults from today onwards after Japan lowered its coming-of-age criteria from 20 years old to 18 years old from 1 April 2022.

Overall Top 10

1) Ashida Mana (actress)

2) Fujii Souta (shogi player)

3) Suzuki Fuku (actor)

4) Michieda Shunsuke (idol - Naniwa Danshi)

5) Raul (idol - Snow Man)

6) Honda Miyu (actress)

7) Harimoto Tomokazu (table tennis player)

8) Kosaka Nao (idol - Hinatazaka 46)

9) Sakurada Hiyori (actress)

10) Koki, (model)

Top 10 as selected by those in their teens and 20s

1) Ashida Mana

2) Michieda Shunsuke

3) Suzuki Fuku

4) Fujii Souta

5) Raul

Top 10 as selected by those in their 30s

1) Ashida Mana

2) Fujii Souta

3) Suzuki Fuku

4) Michieda Shunsuke

5) Raul

Top 10 as selected by those in their 40s

1) Ashida Mana

2) Fujii Souta

3) Suzuki Fuku

4) Raul

5) Harimoto Tomokazu

Top 10 as selected by those in their 50s

1) Ashida Mana

2) Fujii Souta

3) Suzuki Fuku

4) Harimoto Tomokazu

5) Honda Miyu

For those who want to see a more comprehensive list of the new adults for this year, Modelpress has a listing along with photos so you can check it out.

Top 10 actors who made a breakthrough in 2022 (Oricon)

The following survey was done by Oricon Monitor Research on 1,000 respondents from their teens to 50s between 10 November and 18 November where they chose which actor they felt had made a breakthrough in 2022. Meguro Ren was the top pick for those in their teens to 30s while those in their 40s chose Matsushita Kouhei and those in their 50s chose Nakagawa Taishi.

1) Meguro Ren

2) Suzuka Ouji

3) Matsushita Kouhei

4) Akaso Eiji

5) Nakagawa Taishi

6) Mamiya Shotaro

7) Takahashi Fumiya

8) Matsumura Hokuto

9) Oideyasu Oda

10) Michieda Shunsuke

Source: Oricon

Top 10 actresses who made a breakthrough in 2022 (Oricon)

The following survey was done by Oricon Monitor Research on 1,000 respondents from their teens to 50s between 10 November and 18 November where they chose which actress they felt had made a breakthrough in 2022. Fukuhara Haruka swept through all age groups as their top pick while Nukumi Meru was the second favourite among teens and those in 30s and Nao was favoured by those in their 40s and 50s.

1) Fukuhara Haruka

2) Nukumi Meru

3) Nao

4) Ikeda Elaiza

5) Kuroshima Yuina

6) Hirate Yurina

7) Kamishiraishi Moka

8) Yamashita Mizuki

9) Fukumoto Riko

10) Yoshikawa Ai

Source: Oricon

Billboard Japan's Top 20 artists in 2022

For the top 100 list, please refer to here.

Note that the ranking is based on the total score derived from physical CD sales, downloads, streaming portals, radio plays on all AM/FM stations nationwide, CD plays on computers, tweets, YouTube views and karaoke requests. You can see the artists' positions for each category here.

In addition, please note that as some artists release their music exclusively on physical CDs or online via streaming and downloading portals, there are dashes reflected in the categories where the artists' music are not available in. For example, Snow Man and King & Prince who are from Johnny's Jimusho do not have their songs available online for streaming or download, have dashes in these two categories

1) Ado

2) YOASOBI

3) Official Hige Dandism

4) Yuri

5) BTS

6) King Gnu

7) Vaundy

8) back number

9) Aimyon

10) Saucy Dog

11) Mrs.GREEN APPLE

12) Snow Man

13) Yonezu Kenshi

14) Aimer

15) TWICE

16) Macaroni Enpitsu

17) Fujii Kaze

18) SEVENTEEN

19) Tani Yuuki

20) King & Prince

Google's Year in Search 2022 - Japan

Google announced its Year in Search 2022 i.e. the most searched keywords, individuals, dramas and movies etc. for various countries and here are the results for Japan. For the full list, please refer to here.

As compared to the winners at Yahoo Japan's search awards, it does seem like the users of both search engines have differing interest areas. Have you searched online for any of the individuals/dramas/movies listed here or in Yahoo's list?

Individuals (general)

1) Abe Shinzo

2) Ueshima Ryuuhei

3) Watanabe Hiroyuki

4) Yamagami Tetsuya

5) Kobayashi Maya

6) Hirano Ayumu

7) Hanyu Yuzuru

8) Kagawa Teruyuki

9) Queen Elizabeth

10) Nakamoto Kouji

Dramas

1) Mystery to iu nakare

2) Roppongi Class

3) My Family

4) silent

5) Kamakuradono no 13 nin

6) Shinhannin Flag Shinsouhen

7) Chimudondon

8) Fight Song

9) Shinainaru boku e satsui wo komete

10) Kurosagi

Movies

1) Suzume no tojimari

2) ONE PIECE FILM RED

3) Shin Ultraman

4) Top Gun Maverick

5) Jurassic World Dominion

6) Yomei 10 nen

7) Spiderman No Way Home

8) Confidence Man JP Eiyuuhen

9) Drive My Car

10) Karadasagashi

The No.1 actresses representing the 47 prefectures in Japan as chosen by locals (Smart FLASH)

Smart FLASH conducted a survey on more than 3,600 men nationwide where they chose the No.1 actress representing their hometown prefectures. The infographics provide the top 2 for most prefectures but for those with more candidates / a larger population, they would go down all the way to the top 5 and beyond. Note that the sample size is relatively small and there are some prefectures where No.1 and No.2 are only separated by a single vote so don't be disappointed if your favourites are not named here. Besides, the poll is meant to choose the actress who the respondents felt best represents their hometowns so it's not so much to do with acting abilities or popularity.

Here are the No.1s chosen in the 47 prefectures as grouped according to regions: 

Hokkaido, Tohoku & Kanto

Hokkaido: Abe Natsumi

Aomori: Ou Rin (Ringo Musume)

Akita: Sasaki Nozomi

Iwate: Fukuda Moe

Miyagi: Suzuki Kyoka

Yamagata: Hashimoto Manami

Niigata: Higuchi Kanako / Baba Fumika

Fukushima: Ito Misaki

Tochigi: Ooshima Yuko

Gunma: Shinohara Ryoko

Ibaraki: Hada Michiko

Chiba: Maeda Atsuko / Maki Youko / Kiritani Mirei

Saitama: Kanno Miho

Kanagawa: Yonekura Ryoko / Shida Mirai

Tokyo: Ishihara Satomi

Hokuriku, Chubu, Tokai & Kinki

Toyama: Muroi Shigeru

Ishikawa: Hamabe Minami

Nagano: Takizawa Saori

Gifu: Okada Nana

Yamanashi: Komatsu Nana

Shizuoka: Nagasawa Masami

Aichi: Takei Emi

Fukui: Takahashi Ai

Shiga: Takahashi Hikaru

Mie: Abe Shizue

Nara: Ono Machiko

Wakayama: Okamoto Rei

Kyoto: Yoshioka Riho

Osaka: Sawaguchi Yasuko

Hyogo: Kitagawa Keiko

Chugoku, Shikoku, Kyushu & Okinawa

Tottori: Takimoto Miori

Shimane: Tanaka Misako

Yamaguchi: Nishimura Tomomi

Fukuoka: Kuroki Hitomi

Saga: Nakagoshi Noriko

Oita: Sashihara Rino

Nagasaki: Kawaguchi Haruna

Kumamoto: Kurashina Kana

Kagoshima: Kamishiraishi Mone

Okayama: Sakurai Hinako

Kagawa: Mizuno Miki

Hiroshima: Ayase Haruka

Tokushima: Yamashita Rio

Kochi: Hirosue Ryoko

Ehime: Tomochika

Okinawa: Aragaki Yui

2020's ranking of celebrities with the most CM deals (Nihon Monitor)

This ranking released by Nihon Monitor list the top celebrities with the most CM deals between 1 January 2020 and 30 November 2020. The number of CM deals held by each celebrity is presented within the brackets:

Top 10 actresses who made a breakthrough in 2019 (Oricon)

The following survey was done by Oricon Monitor Research on 1,000 respondents from their teens to 50s between 15 November and 25 November where they chose which actress they felt had made a breakthrough in 2019. Kiyohara Kaya was the top pick for those in their teens, 30s and 50s while Nao was favoured by those in their 20s and Hamabe Minami was chosen by those in their 40s.

1) Kiyohara Kaya

2) Hamabe Minami

3) Imada Mio

4) Araki Yuuko

5) Nao

6) Nakajo Ayami

7) Fukuhara Haruka

8) Seino Nana

9) Tomita Miu

10) Matsumoto Marika

Source: Oricon

Top 10 actors who made a breakthrough in 2019 (Oricon)

The following survey was done by Oricon Monitor Research on 1,000 respondents from their teens to 50s between 15 November and 25 November where they chose which actor they felt had made a breakthrough in 2019. Yokohama Ryuusei was the top pick across all age groups except for those in their 50s who chose Kaku Kento:

1) Yokohama Ryuusei

2) Kaku Kento

3) Yoshizawa Ryo

4) Nakamura Tomoya

5) Nakagawa Taishi

6) Hirano Sho

7) Mamiya Shotaro

8) Arata Mackenyu

9) Ito Kentaro

10) Yoshida Kotaro

Source: Oricon

Top 20 male and female celebrities with the highest CM exposure in the first half of 2019

Here is the top 20 male and female celebrities with the highest CM exposure (number of times their CMs were shown on TV in the Tokyo area) in the first half of 2019 (1 January to 30 June):

Note that the first number behind the name refers to the number of times the CMs were shown on TV while the second number in brackets represents the number of seconds the CMs lasted:

Top 20 male celebrities
1) Suda Masaki - 6,217 times (103,845 secs)
2) Kiritani Kenta - 5,889 times (96,540 secs)
3) Hamada Gaku - 5,791 times (95,550 secs)
4) Sakurai Sho - 5,334 times (109,020 secs)
5) Kamiki Ryuunosuke - 5,287 times (104,055 secs)
6) Saito Takumi - 4,784 times (73,635 secs)
7) Okada Junichi - 4,742 times (84,285 secs)
8) Matsuda Shota - 4,620 times (77,505 secs)
9) Kitamura Takumi - 3,913 times (74,805 secs)
10) Takeuchi Ryoma - 3,901 times (62,865 secs)
11) Aiba Masaki - 3,713 times (61,875 secs)
12) Yagira Yuuya - 3,648 times (59,385 secs)
13) Daigo (Chidori) - 3,552 times (54,315 secs)
14) Tanaka Kei - 3,492 times (81,225 secs)
15) Suzuki Ryohei - 3,433 times (59,850 secs)
16) Nishijima Hidetoshi - 3,422 times (79,305 secs)
17) Nobu (Chidori) - 3,263 times (51,150 secs)
18) Kagawa Teruyuki - 3,154 times (66,405 secs)
19) Katori Shingo - 3,002 times (48,930 secs)
20) Hoshino Gen - 2,988 times (46,980 secs)

Top 20 female celebrities
1) Tsuchiya Tao - 7,748 times (129,900 secs)
2) Watanabe Naomi - 6,373 times (146,760 secs)
3) Shiraishi Mai - 6,261 times (103,455 secs)
4) Ayase Haruka - 5,772 times (100,455 secs)
5) Yoshioka Riho - 5,753 times (94,095 secs)
6) Arimura Kasumi - 5,635 times (93,825 secs)
7) Nakajo Ayami - 5,159 times (78,270 secs)
8) Yonekura Ryoko - 5,109 times (77,475 secs)
9) Fukada Kyoko - 5,100 times (84,945 secs)
10) Yoshida Yo - 4,447 times (75,885 secs)
11) Hirose Suzu - 4,423 times (83,415 secs)
12) Kawaei Rina - 4,111 times (66,615 secs)
13) Ashida Mana - 3,895 times (68,670 secs)
14) Nagano Mei - 3,795 times (63,465 secs)
15) Takahata Mitsuki - 3,764 times (60,510 secs)
16) Hamabe Minami - 3,591 times (56,730 secs)
17) Saito Asuka - 3,414 times (51,300 secs)
18) Hirose Arisu - 3,380 times (68,950 secs)
19) Seino Nana - 3,289 times (51,930 secs)
20) Tabe Mikako - 3,250 times (51,345 secs)

Source: Oricon

Top 10 best couples from the Spring 2019 drama season (Crank-In)

Crank-in conducted a survey on 10,429 respondents from their teens to 60s where they chose the best couples from the Spring 2019 drama season. Here are the top 10 couples with the names of the actors/actresses in brackets:

1) Kakei Shirou & Yabuki Kenji - "Kinou nani tabeta" (Nishijima Hidetoshi & Uchino Seiyo)

2) Higashiyama Yui & Taneda Kotaro - "Watashi, teiji de kaerimasu." (Yoshitaka Yuriko & Mukai Osamu)

3) Ayukawa Itsuki & Kawana Tsugumi - "Perfect World" (Matsuzaka Toori & Yamamoto Mizuki)

4) Igarashi Iori & Amakasu An - "Radiation House" (Kubota Masataka & Honda Tsubasa)

5) Kataoka Hiroshi & Kataoka Kaori - "Shuudan Sasen!!" (Fukuyama Masaharu & Yagi Akiko)

6) Mihara Natsumi & Honjo Akiyuki - "Hakui no Senshi" (Mizukawa Asami & Sawamura Ikki)

7) Himekawa Reiko & Kikuta Kazuo - "Strawberry Night Saga" (Nikaidou Fumi & Kamenashi Kazuya)

8) Tachibana Haruka & Saitou Hikaru - "Hakui no Senshi" (Nakajo Ayami & Kotaki Nozomu)

9) Higashiyama Yui & Suwa Takumi - "Watashi, teiji de kaerimasu." (Yoshitaka Yuriko & Nakamaru Yuichi)

10) Tezuka Nana & Tezuka Shota - "Anata no ban desu" (Harada Tomoyo & Tanaka Kei)

Source: Crank-In