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The first-ever Billboard Japan Music Awards will be held January 31 in Tokyo and broadcast live on Next Fuji, a cable channel of Fuji Television.

The inaugural event will honor the top artists in Japan for 2009 based on the Billboard Japan charts and votes from music fans. The charts include the Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart, which ranks songs based on retail and airplay data. The chart was launched by Japan-based Hanshin Contents Link (HCL) and Billboard in 2008.

The Billboard Japan Music Awards and the Billboard Japan charts are part of a master licensing agreement that was entered into by Billboard publisher, Nielsen Business Media and HCL in 2006.