In 2026, Universal Music Japan‘s president and CEO, Naoshi Fujikura, was chosen for inclusion in Billboard‘s Global Power Players list for a sixth consecutive time, making this his seventh appearance. In this year’s interview, he talked to Billboard JAPAN about Japan’s unique superfan culture and the challenges Japan faces in its overseas expansion.
In 2025, Mrs. GREEN APPLE did extremely well in the charts. They took first place on both the Hot 100 and the Artist 100 Billboard Japan annual charts, and 13th place in IFPI’s Global Artist Chart.
Naoshi Fujikura: I think in 2025, Mrs. GREEN APPLE was really trying to share their music with all their fans in Japan, across generations . Thanks to those efforts, they took 13th place in a chart with global artists such as Taylor Swift or Lady Gaga, which I think is amazing. Japan has the world’s second largest music market, and I think this chart placement has helped share the strength and appeal of our market. Right now, Mrs. GREEN APPLE is mainly focused on their activities in Japan, but I’m really looking forward to seeing how their scope widens in the future.
IFPI announced that in 2025 the global market grew 6.4% year on year, but Japan grew even more, at 8.9%. The number of people who pay for streaming is rising worldwide, which is one factor affecting global growth, but the recovery of the physical media market in Japan is also having a big global impact.
