Stray Kids Sweep 4 Wins at Japan Gold Disc Awards

Stray Kids have emerged as the biggest winners at the 40th Japan Gold Disc Awards, claiming an impressive four trophies as K-pop acts dominated nearly every Asian category at one of Japan's most prestigious music ceremonies. The Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) officially announced the winners on March 11, confirming what many fans had anticipated — that the Korean wave's grip on the Japanese music market shows no signs of loosening.

The JYP Entertainment group took home Album of the Year in the Asia division for their album Hollow, Artist of the Year (Asia), Music Video of the Year (Asia), and a spot among the Best 3 Albums (Asia). Their commanding sweep makes them the undisputed top honorees of this year's ceremony, reinforcing the eight-member group's status as one of K-pop's most formidable forces in the world's second-largest music market.

A Wall of K-Pop Trophies Across the Asian Categories

The 40th Japan Gold Disc Awards painted a striking picture of K-pop's dominance in the Japanese music landscape. Beyond Stray Kids' four-win haul, a parade of Korean acts filled the winners' podium across multiple categories, demonstrating the genre's deep and widening footprint in a market that was once considered notoriously difficult for foreign artists to penetrate.

TOMORROW X TOGETHER joined Stray Kids in the Best 3 Albums (Asia) category with their third Japanese full-length album Starkissed. The album had already proven its commercial might upon release last year, topping both Oricon's Weekly Combined Album Ranking and Weekly Album Ranking. TXT's Japanese momentum is further reflected in the album surpassing 500,000 cumulative shipments, earning coveted Double Platinum certification from the RIAJ — a benchmark that places Starkissed among the most successful K-pop releases in Japanese history. The group is now gearing up for a milestone moment of their own, with an eight-show 7th anniversary special concert series planned across four Japanese cities — Aichi, Chiba, Fukuoka, and Hyogo — in May and June 2026.

SEVENTEEN rounded out the Best 3 Albums (Asia) lineup with Happy Burstday, ensuring that all three albums recognized in the category came from K-pop groups. The 13-member self-producing powerhouse under Pledis Entertainment continues to be one of the most reliable performers in the Japanese market, with their releases consistently charting at the top of Oricon rankings year after year.

TWS Captures Top Rookie Honor as All Three New Artist Slots Go to K-Pop

In what may be the ceremony's most telling result, every single winner in the Asian new artist categories was a K-pop act. TWS, the Pledis Entertainment boy group that made their Japanese debut in July 2025, captured both New Artist of the Year (Asia) and Best 3 New Artists (Asia), earning a double crown in the rookie categories that cemented their breakout status.

The group's Japanese debut single "Nice to See You Again" made an immediate impact upon release, ranking high on major weekly charts from both Oricon and Billboard Japan during its first week. The single went on to record 250,000 cumulative shipments, earning Platinum certification from the RIAJ — a remarkable achievement for a debut release in a foreign market. TWS expressed deep gratitude for the recognition, stating they were honored to receive such a prestigious award and pledging to continue giving their best efforts throughout the year ahead.

Joining TWS in the Best 3 New Artists (Asia) category were ILLIT, the BELIFT LAB girl group that debuted in 2024 and has quickly established themselves as one of K-pop's fifth-generation frontrunners, and PLAVE, the groundbreaking virtual idol group under VLAST that continues to shatter expectations for what avatar-based artists can achieve. The fact that all three recognized rookies in the Asian category hail from K-pop speaks volumes about the genre's relentless pipeline of talent flowing into the Japanese market, with each generation seemingly stronger than the last.

Jennie Crosses Into Western Category While K-Pop Demon Hunters Breaks New Ground

BLACKPINK's Jennie achieved a notable crossover win, taking home Song of the Year by Download in the Western category with "Like Jennie," the title track from her first solo full-length album. The award places Jennie in the rare position of a K-pop artist recognized not in the Asian category but alongside Western global acts — a reflection of her truly international appeal and the global positioning of her solo career under Odd Atelier and Columbia Records. It is a distinction that few K-pop artists have managed to earn at the Japan Gold Disc Awards, underscoring just how far Jennie's brand transcends regional boundaries.

In a unique highlight that blurred the lines between music and multimedia entertainment, the Netflix animated series K-Pop Demon Hunters also left its mark on the ceremony. The OST track "Golden," credited to HUNTR/X, EJAE, AUDREY NUNA, REI AMI, and the KPop Demon Hunters Cast, swept both Song of the Year by Download (Asia) and Song of the Year by Streaming (Asia), claiming the two biggest single-track categories in the Asian division. The win underscores how K-pop's cultural influence is now extending well beyond traditional album and single releases into the broader entertainment ecosystem.

HYBE's Multi-Label Strategy Pays Off Across Categories

&TEAM, the HYBE Labels Japan boy group formed through the &Audition - The Howling survival show, secured two wins in the Japanese domestic music category — Best Five Albums and Best Five Singles. The nine-member group's achievement is particularly notable because they competed and won within the Japanese category rather than the Asian one, reflecting their unique identity as a Japan-based group with K-pop DNA. With all of their 2025 releases becoming award-winning works, &TEAM has cemented their status as a rising force in the market they call home. The group is set to embark on their 2026 &TEAM CONCERT TOUR "BLAZE THE WAY" starting May 13 in Yokohama, bringing their increasingly polished performances directly to Japanese fans.

Meanwhile, KATSEYE, the global girl group born from HYBE and Geffen Records' joint Dream Academy project, claimed New Artist of the Year (Western) and Best 2 New Artists (Western). Their recognition in the Western category — alongside Jennie's win — highlights how the Korean entertainment industry's multi-label strategy is producing results across geographic and categorical boundaries at the very same ceremony. From TXT and TWS under HYBE labels to &TEAM in the Japanese category and KATSEYE in the Western one, the conglomerate's reach at this year's Japan Gold Disc Awards was unmatched.

An Irreversible Shift in Japan's Music Market

The 40th Japan Gold Disc Awards results read like a comprehensive map of K-pop's current grip on the Japanese music industry. From established fourth-generation powerhouses like Stray Kids to emerging fifth-generation forces like TWS and ILLIT, from traditional idols to virtual performers like PLAVE, and from the Asian category to the Western one with Jennie's crossover win — Korean entertainment's reach in Japan has never been more expansive or diverse.

Japan remains the most critical international market for K-pop, and the RIAJ's recognition carries significant weight across the industry. For Stray Kids, the four-trophy haul adds another chapter to a career that has seen them consistently break records and push boundaries since their self-titled debut in 2018. Their album Hollow, which earned Album of the Year honors, represents the group's continued artistic evolution — a blend of genre-bending production and raw energy that has become their signature.

For fans tracking K-pop's global expansion, these results are more than just trophies on a shelf. They are data points confirming an irreversible trend in the world's second-largest music market. The question is no longer whether K-pop can compete in Japan, but how much further it can extend its already dominant position.