‘Asian Grammy Awards’ to be Launched Next Year; Event Aims to Share Appeal of Japanese, Asian Music to Worldwide Audience

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:35 JST, October 22, 2024

A new international music awards ceremony that is being dubbed the Asian version of the Grammy Awards will be launched next year.

Five music organizations, including the Recording Industry Association of Japan, on Monday announced the establishment of Music Awards Japan. The event will hold its first awards ceremony in Kyoto next May.

Shunichi Tokura, the commissioner of the Cultural Affairs Agency, proposed the idea, which is aimed at sharing the music of Japan and other Asian countries to the world.

For the inaugural awards, about 5,000 people who are in the music industry will be able to vote for songs and artists that appeared in the Japanese charts between Jan. 29 this year and Jan. 26 next year. There will be six main categories, including best song and best album. There will also be awards for Japanese songs that have become worldwide hits as well as for songs that are popular in Asia. Sixty or more awards will be handed out, including for various genres such as hip-hop, enka and kayokyoku.

“I’d like to make the awards a festivity to share potentials of music with the world,” said Tatsuya Nomura, the president of the Federation of Music Producers Japan, who serves as the head of the awards’ organizing committee.