Stray Kids secured four major awards at the 40th Japan Gold Disc Awards, announced on March 11 by the Recording Industry Association of Japan. The group took home Album of the Year, Artist of the Year, Music Video of the Year, and Best 3 Albums, marking the highest number of wins at the ceremony. Other K-pop acts like TWS and TXT also received recognition, underscoring the genre's growing influence in Japan.
The 40th Japan Gold Disc Awards, hosted annually by the Recording Industry Association of Japan, honored artists based on album and music video sales, as well as streaming and download figures from the past year. Stray Kids led the winners with four trophies, including Album of the Year, Artist of the Year, Music Video of the Year, and a spot in the Best 3 Albums category alongside Seventeen's Happy Burstday and TXT's Starkissed.
This success aligns with Stray Kids' recent achievements, such as eight consecutive No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 and ranking as the top K-pop act on the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry's annual global chart. The group's dominance at the awards was widely anticipated given their strong performance metrics.
TWS earned New Artist of the Year and was named one of the Best 3 New Artists, alongside ILLIT and PLAVE—all K-pop groups topping the rookie category in Asia. TWS debuted in Japan last July with their single “Nice to See You Again,” which achieved high rankings on Oricon and Billboard Japan weekly charts, 250,000 cumulative shipments for Platinum certification, and No. 2 among overseas artists on Oricon's 2025 Rookie Ranking.
TXT's third Japanese full-length album, Starkissed, released in October, secured a place in the Best 3 Albums. It topped Oricon’s Weekly Combined Album Ranking and Weekly Album Ranking, surpassing 500,000 shipments for Double Platinum status by November.
Additional K-pop highlights included the Netflix animated series 'K-Pop: Demon Hunters' OST track “Golden” winning Song of the Year by Download and Song of the Year by Streaming. Jennie from BLACKPINK took Song of the Year by Download in the Western category for “Like Jennie” from her solo album. KATSEYE won New Artist of the Year and Best 2 New Artists, following their performance at Summer Sonic 2025 in Tokyo. &Team claimed Best 5 Albums for Back to Life and Best 5 Singles for “Go in Blind,” building on prior accolades like the Special International Music Award at the Japan Record Awards and a spot at NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen.
The event further demonstrated K-pop's expanding footprint in the Japanese music industry.
