Early years The company was founded as PolyGram Co., Ltd. in 1990 with Koike Kazuhiko serving as president and CEO. In 1999, the company was restructured and renamed as Universal Music Co., Ltd., following
Seagram's acquisition of PolyGram, and its subsequent integration into
Universal Studios.
2009–2013: Renaming to Universal Music LLC In 2009, the company was renamed as Universal Music LLC. Kazuhiko stepped down as CEO and
Keiichi Ishizaka became CEO and president of the company.
2013–2014: Restructure following EMI purchase In 2011, EMI agreed to sell its recorded music operations to Universal Music Group for £1.2 billion ($1.9 billion) and its music publishing operations to a
Sony-led consortium for $2.2 billion. Among the other companies that had competed for the recorded music business was
Warner Music Group which was reported to have made a $2 billion bid. Universal Music Group completed their acquisition of
EMI on September 28, 2012. In 2012, Ishizaka became CEO of
EMI Music Japan while Universal Japan was scheduled to hold a corporate swap in response of the merger. EMI Music Japan officially was absorbed into Universal Japan, became defunct as a company with
EMI Records Japan as a successor to the EMI Music Japan label. Nine months after the merger, Ishizaka stepped down from his position of CEO from Universal Japan, and became a non-executive chairman. His successor, Naoshi Fujikura was appointed in 2014.
2015–2022: New business model, push for streaming and worldwide distribution In December 2015, Fujikura announced that Universal Japan "is a new business" and that the company would adopt a new business model to strengthen business. These changes were effective as of January 1, 2016. In August 2016,
Radwimps released the
soundtrack for the 2016 Japanese animated film
Your Name. The album was a commercial success in Japan and in a rare feat, charted in the United States in 2017. In December of the same year, Universal Japan acquired , a music management agency (founded in 1992), and made it a fully owned subsidiary; as a result, the latter's "Augusta Records" label became an affiliated label of Universal Japan. In December 2017, Universal Japan announced they suspended the contract of
Hilcrhyme member DJ Katsu following his arrest of possession of marijuana. He subsequently left the group following his arrest and the group lost their recording contract. In June 2018, Universal Japan announced an exclusive license agreement with
Disney Music Group. In 2019, Universal Japan suspended the sales of
Junnosuke Taguchi's discography and removed his releases from digital stores following his arrest of possession of marijuana. In 2020, Universal Japan updated their corporate logo to match the same logo used by the main Universal Music Group company. In that same year, Universal launched the Virgin Music Label and Artist Services. The service was launched in many Universal subsidiaries, including Universal Japan. In 2021, Yoshimoto Music signed a distribution deal with Universal Japan for future releases. In July 2021, CEO and president Fujikura was listed on ''Billboard's
International Power Players list. In an interview with Billboard Japan'', Fujikura shared about his measures on increasing streaming revenue and strategies to have Universal Japan artists chart overseas. Universal Japan has since released previous releases of former and current artists under their labels worldwide digitally, including
Hikaru Utada,
Crystal Kay, Radwimps,
Mrs. Green Apple,
Che'Nelle and
Ai.
2022–present: Company restructure, acquirement of A-Sketch, relaunch of Polydor and Capitol Records In 2022, Fujikura was listed on ''Billboard's
International Power Players list for a second year in a row. Fujikura became the first Japanese executive to appear on the list three times, including his first recognition in 2019. In an interview, Fujikura discussed plans for creating new marketplaces in Japan and developing them overseas, particularly in the United States. In October 2022, following the success of Uta's Songs: One Piece Film Red'',
Ado signed a record deal with
Geffen Records alongside her current record deal with Virgin Music. In December 2022, Universal Japan announced an organization change, effective on January 1, 2023. Universal J, which was founded in 2002, was split into two labels, UJ and
Polydor Records. Imprints from Universal J including
Johnny's Universe and Top J Records were transferred to UJ. In July 2023, Universal Japan announced a new imprint label under EMI, Holo-n, in partnership with Japanese virtual YouTuber agency
Hololive Production. In January 2024, Universal Japan announced personnel changes for Virgin Music and Office Augusta. DRC LLC was renamed to Universal Music Creative LLC following an organizational change. In May, Fujikura was listed on the
Billboard International Power Players list for a fourth consecutive year. Including his initial listing in 2019, Fujikura became the first Japanese CEO to appear on the Power Players list five times total. In February 2025, Universal Japan acquired
A-Sketch from
Amuse Inc. for an undisclosed amount. Later in July, the company launched an English education platform, UM English Lab. In November 2025, an unknown amount of personal data was leaked from the Universal Music Store, an online store operated by Universal Japan. Following an organizational change in January 2026, Universal Japan relaunched
Capitol Records as an imprint of Virgin Music, more than ten years after the original label went defunct following EMI Japan's absorption into Universal Japan. In April 2026, Universal Japan announced the launch of the company Nine by Nine, a
joint venture with
Sony Music Entertainment Japan. == Labels ==