The Japan Record Awards, which will hold its 68th edition in 2026, face scrutiny not over a single rogue judge but over a system that appears to reward pay-to-play, Shukan Bunshun has reported in a series of articles.
The awards are run by the Japan Composer's Association and broadcast by TBS. Shukan Bunshun has reported on a ¥100m buyout of the prize, a ¥10m-per-vote sales pitch by a judging committee member, and a sudden expansion of the newcomer award's shortlist.
A ¥10m vote and a sales deck
A judging committee member's company pitched tie-ups to record companies at ¥10m a vote, according to a proposal document Shukan Bunshun obtained. The magazine described the offer as a "shocking tie-up sales" operation.
The pitch ties prize money to advertising and promotion spending rather than to music. That is the structure the reporting points to: a vote is something a company can buy, and the buying is dressed up as marketing.
The ¥100m buyout
Shukan Bunshun first reported in 2016 that the top prize had been bought for ¥100m, backing the claim with an invoice. The magazine said the money was traced to a figure it called the "don of the entertainment world."
That figure is Burning Production's Kazuo Surō, 83. Shukan Bunshun reported that Surō was confronted directly over the payment. The magazine also asked his eldest son and heir, Shōgo, 49, whether his father was retiring.
The newcomer slot that grew
In a later edition, the newcomer award's shortlist expanded from four to five, Shukan Bunshun reported. The extra place went to a singer TBS was pushing hard, and the magazine named the singer.
TBS has denied interfering in judging. In a commentary program, however, the veteran producer Yoshitaka Ochiai explained why he had pushed a well-known singer at the 2024 awards.
“TBS side intervened in the judging...”Yoshitaka Ochiai, producer, in a commentary program
Taken together, the reports describe an awards body where a vote has a price, a prize has a buyer, and a broadcaster can widen a category. Each case was reported separately. The pattern is what the magazine's coverage has assembled.