Five-piece Filipino band Cup of Joe was honored with the Philippine Popular Music Special Award for “Multo” during the Premiere Ceremony of Music Awards Japan 2026, held June 13 at SGC Hall Ariake in Tokyo.
The recognition slots their breakout single into a regional bracket that the Japanese awards body uses to spotlight standout acts from individual Asian countries. Hindia of Indonesia received the equivalent honor for his nation with “everything u are,” Thailand’s prize went to YOUNGOHM for “My Heart Follows You,” and Vietnam’s was claimed by Hòa Minzy for “Bắc Bling,” according to Bandwagon Asia.
The category sits under what organizers call the International Special Award, a set of honors handed out in partnership with leading music awards across South Korea, China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. Last year, in the program’s debut edition, the Philippine honor went to Lola Amour for “Raining in Manila.”
The Premiere Ceremony preceded the larger Grand Ceremony staged hours later at Toyota Arena Tokyo, where the bulk of the evening’s winners were revealed. This year’s edition expanded to 78 categories after the addition of 14 new awards, with results decided by more than 5,000 music industry professionals worldwide alongside an optional round of public voting.
Separately, “Multo” is a finalist in the marquee Best Song Asia category — one of the ceremony’s borderline cross-country races — where it competes against HUNTR/X’s “Golden,” WOODZ’s “Drowning” and PLAVE’s “Dash,” all from South Korea, plus “Tabola Bale” by Indonesia’s Silet Open Up. The song earned its place after an internal shortlist that had also weighed two other OPM entries: Dionela’s “Marilag” and Earl Agustin’s “Tibok.”
Ahead of the award announcements, Cup of Joe performed “Multo” at the Premiere Ceremony, sharing the international slate with Hindia. The band had also appeared days earlier at the Shibuya Sound Scramble showcase on June 11, part of the awards-week programming that brought together performers from Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia and the Philippines.
The track has been a chart force well beyond this ceremony. “Multo” became the first song by a Filipino act to land on the Billboard Global 200, peaking at No. 80, and it held the summit of Billboard Philippines’ Hot 100 for 27 straight weeks — the longest reign in that chart’s history.
Music Awards Japan launched in 2025 under the Japan Culture and Entertainment Industry Promotion Association, an alliance of five major Japanese music industry organizations formed to push cross-border collaboration and raise the profile of Asian music globally.
