Music Awards Japan 2026: Full K-pop nominations list, voting schedule, and more as BTS’ Jin, Jimin, Jungkook, BLACKPINK, Stray Kids’ Felix lead

The Music Awards Japan 2026 is set to anchor a six-day industry event, the Music Awards Japan Week. This entire affair is scheduled to run from June 8 through June 13, 2026. The central event (the awards show) is arranged for the last day.

For 2026, a major change is the location. The MAJ will relocate to the nation’s economic and media hub: Tokyo. The chosen venue is the TOYOTA ARENA TOKYO. Notably, this year the celebration was held at the Rohm Theater in Kyoto. The official voting timeline for the event is here, which is split into two phases: primary and final voting.

• Entry Announcement: March 19, 2026 (Thursday)
• Primary Voting Period: March 19 to April 8, 2026
• Nomination Announcement: April 30, 2026 (Thursday)
• Final Voting Period: April 30 to May 20, 2026

Voters must select a minimum of two and a maximum of five entries/artists. All voting will be conducted online through the authorized MUSIC AWARDS JAPAN voting portal.

All K-pop nominations in the Music Awards Japan 2026 so far

Several K-pop acts earned spots in Music Awards Japan 2026’s top six categories.

Song of the Year in Music Awards Japan 2026

• BOYNEXTDOOR - Count to Love
• aespa - Dirty Work
• IVE - Rebel Heart
• IVE - ATTITUDE
• LE SSERAFIM - HOT
• Jin - Don’t Say You Love Me
• BLACKPINK - JUMP
• ILLIT - Almond Chocolate
• ENHYPEN - Shine On Me
• TWICE - THIS IS FOR
• HUNTR/X - GOLDEN
• Jennie - like JENNIE
• SEVENTEEN - THUNDER
• TWS - はじめまして (Nice to see you again)

Artist of The Year in Music Awards Japan 2026

• Stray Kids
• SEVENTEEN
• TWICE
• TOMORROW X TOGETHER
• LE SSERAFIM
• ZEROBASEONE
• NiziU
• ENHYPEN
• aespa
• Rosé & Bruno Mars
• ILLIT
• BABYMONSTER
• Jin
• IVE
• BLACKPINK
• Jennie
• TREASURE
• BOYNEXTDOOR
• NewJeans

Album of The Year in Music Awards Japan 2026

• SEVENTEEN - HAPPY BURSTDAY
• Stray Kids - Hollow
• TOMORROW X TOGETHER - The Star Chapter: TOGETHER
• ENHYPEN - DESIRE:UNLEASH
• TWICE - THIS IS FOR TWICE
• NiziU - AWAKE
• ZEROBASEONE - PREZENT
• JIN - Echo
• LE SSERAFIM - HOT
• RIIZE - ODYSSEY
• IVE - IVE EMPATHY
• ILLIT - bomb
• BOYNEXTDOOR - No Genre
• TWICE - Enemy
• NCT DREAM - Go Back To The Future
• TWS - TRY WITH US
• G-DRAGON - Übermensch
• NEXZ - One Bite
• NCT WISH - poppop
• ZEROBASEONE - BLUE PARADISE
• PLAVE - Caligo Pt.1
• ZEROBASEONE - NEVER SAY NEVER
• IVE - IVE SECRET
• Lisa - Alter Ego
• Stray Kids - Mixtape : dominATE

Best Anime Song in Music Awards Japan 2026

• GOLDEN from KPop Demon Hunters - HUNTR/X
• Soda Pop from KPop Demon Hunters - Saja Boys
• ReawakeR ft. FELIX - LiSA

Best K-pop Song in Japan in Music Awards Japan 2026

• BLACKPINK - JUMP
• ILLIT - Almond Chocolate
• LE SSERAFIM - DIFFERENT
• ENHYPEN - Shine On Me
• TWICE - THIS IS FOR TWICE
• HUNTR/X - Golden
• Jennie - like JENNIE
• BOYNEXTDOOR - Count To Love
• Jin - Don't Say You Love Me
• SEVENTEEN - THUNDER
• aespa - Dirty Work
• IVE - ATTITUDE
• IVE - REBEL HEART
• LE SSERAFIM - HOT
• TWS - はじめまして
• BOYNEXTDOOR - IF I SAY, I LOVE YOU
• PLAVE - かくれんぼ
• LE SSERAFIM - Come Over
• TOMORROW X TOGETHER - Beautiful Strangers
• ILLIT - Billyeoon Goyangi (Do the Dance)
• ILLIT - jellyous
• Stray Kids - Hollow
• TREASURE - YELLOW
• ILLIT - Toki Yo Tomare
• TOMORROW X TOGETHER - Love Language
• TWICE - Enemy
• Saja Boys - Soda Pop
• Stray Kids - CEREMONY
• Hearts2Hearts -
• ZEROBASEONE - SLAM DUNK
• HOSHI X WOOZI (SEVENTEEN) - PINOCCHIO (feat. So!YoON!)
• IVE - XOXZ
• ZEROBASEONE - BLUE
• IVE - Be Alright
• TREASURE - PARADISE
• MEOVV - HANDS UP
• BABYMONSTER - HOT SAUCE
• BOYNEXTDOOR - The Chase
• I Feel Good - BOYNEXTDOOR
• ALLDAY PROJECT - Famous
• j-hope - Killin' It Girl (feat. GloRilla)
• TWICE - Like 1
• LE SSERAFIM - Kawaii
• Lisa - BORN AGAIN feat. Doja Cat & RAYE
• RIIZE - Fly Up
• Beomgyu - Panic
• izna - SIGN
• j-hope - Sweet Dreams (feat. Miguel)
• ENHYPEN - Bad Desire (With or Without You)

Best K-pop Artist in Music Awards Japan 2026

• Stray Kids
• SEVENTEEN
• TWICE
• TOMORROW X TOGETHER
• LE SSERAFIM
• ZEROBASEONE
• ENHYPEN
• aespa
• ILLIT
• BABYMONSTER
• Jin
• IVE
• BLACKPINK
• Jennie
• Rosé
• TREASURE
• BOYNEXTDOOR
• NewJeans
• RIIZE
• HUNTR/X
• Jimin
• BTS
• TWS
• NEXZ
• BIGBANG
• G-DRAGON
• NCT DREAM
• PLAVE
• NCT WISH
• Jungkook
• Kep1er
• MARK
• Lisa
• HOSHI and WOOZI
• MEOVV
• j-hope
• Karina
• i-dle
• Seo In-guk
• Beomgyu
• SF9
• Jisoo
• xikers
• Doyoung

These are provisional nominations. The final lineup will be confirmed next year, based on song and artist performance from now through the first-round voting period, similar to last year.

Edited by Shreya Jha