 J-Pop's
Definition and History
What is J-Pop (jpop)?
J-pop is an abbreviation of Japanese pop. It refers to Western-influenced
Japanese popular music. The term J-pop was coined by J-Wave, an FM radio
station, to denote what was once called "New Music." The term
is widely used in Japan to describe many different musical genres including
pop, rock, dance, rap, and soul.
History of J-pop (jpop)
J-pop can be traced to the jazz music which became popular during the
early Sho-wa period. Jazz reintroduced many musical instruments, previously
used only to perform classical music and military marches, to bars and
clubs. It also added an element of "fun" to the Japanese music
scene. As a result "Ongaku Kissa" (lit. music cafe) became a
very popular venue for live jazz music.
Under pressure from the Imperial Army during World War II the performance
of jazz music was temporarily halted. After the war ended the United States
soldiers and the Far East Network - who were occupying Japan at the time
- introduced a number of new musical styles to the country. Boogie-woogie,
Mambo, Blues, and Country music were performed by Japanese musicians for
the American troops. Songs like Shizuko Kasagi's "Tokyo Boogie-Woogie"
(1948), Eri Chiemi's "Tennessee Waltz" (1951), Misora Hibari's
"Omatsuri Mambo", and Izumi Yukimura's "Omoide no Waltz"
became popular. Foreign musicians and groups including JATP and Louis
Armstrong visited Japan to perform. 1952 was declared the "Year of
the Jazz Boom" but the genre itself demanded a high level of technical
proficiency and was difficult to play. As a result many amateur Japanese
musicians turned to country music which was far easier to learn and perform.
This in turn led to a proliferation of country-based music.
In 1956 the rock-and-roll craze began thanks to a country music group
known as Kosaka Kazuya and the Wagon Masters and their rendition of Elvis
Presley's Heartbreak Hotel. The rock-and-roll movement would reach its
peak in 1959 with the release of a movie featuring performances by a number
of Japanese rock-and-roll bands. However, the demise of rock-and-roll
in the United States was quickly followed by its downfall in Japan due
to the fact that many groups were heavily influenced by their American
counterparts. Some performers attempted to merge traditional Japanese
pop music with rock-and-roll. One of few musicians to be successful in
this effort was Sakamoto Kyu- with the song "Ue wo Muite Aruko-"
(lit. "Let's Look Up and Walk"), known in other parts of the
world as "Sukiyaki". Other performers decided instead to play
the music and translate the lyrics of popular American songs resulting
in the birth of "cover pop." The popularity of these individuals
faded though as radio and television gave every household the opportunity
to watch real musicians perform. However the concept of karaoke and its
subsequent popularity can arguably be attributed to the cover pop phenomenon.
During the period from the early 70s to the mid 80s the emphasis shifted
from simple songs with a single guitar accompaniment to more complex musical
arrangements known as New Music. Instead of social messages the songs
focused on love and other personal events. Takuro Yoshida and Yosui Inoue
are two notable New Music artists.
In the 80s the term City Pop came to describe a type of popular music
with a big city theme. Tokyo in particular inspired many songs of this
form. It is difficult to draw a distinction between City Pop and New Music
and many songs fall under both categories. Wasei Pop (lit. Japan-made
pop) quickly became a common word to describe both City Pop and New Music.
By the 1990s, J-pop became the common term to describe most popular songs.
The late 1980s saw the emergence of one of Japan's most famous rock groups
of all time, Chage & Aska. A massively popular male singer/songwriter
duo consisting of Chage (Shuji Shibata) and Ryo Aska (Shigeaki Miyazaki),
they released a string of consecutive monster hits throughout the 1980s
and 1990s, establishing themselves as Asia's most popular rock group.
Their "Asian Tour II / Mission Impossible" tour was the single
largest concert tour ever put on by a Japanese group - the tickets for
all 61 concerts in Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan sold out on
the first day. Ryo Aska is widely considered today to be one of Japan's
greatest songwriters. However, with the advent of the Japanese dance-pop
music pioneered by Namie
Amuro and Tetsuya Komuro in the mid- to late-1990s, the popularity
of rock groups like Chage & Aska has declined.
R&B got popular in Japan in the late 90's, when young singer-songwriter
Utada Hikaru
debuted with her 1st single Automatic/time will tell. Her 1st album, First
Love sold around 7 500 000 copies, making it the best selling Japanese
album of all time, and the best selling debut album ever in the country.
While she sold millions with her R&B sounds, pop music was still popular
in Japan with solo female singers such as Hamasaki
Ayumi, Kuraki Mai and Ami Suzuki, and female pop groups like SPEED
and Morning Musume sold millions of records with their pop-techno sounds.
Now in the early 00's, R&B and Hip Hop influences in Japanese music
are stronger than ever. J-Hiphop/rock bands such as ORANGE RANGE and Ketsumeishi
are at the top of the Oricon charts, with some older pop/rock groups like
Mr.Children, B'z and Southern All Stars. The current charts are mainly
ruled by male only bands and solo male singers, female pop has declined
a lot since the 90's but pop singers like Hamasaki
Ayumi and Otsuka Ai still get to #1 with most of their releases.
Be sure to check out our featured Japanese
celebrities for information on the best Jpop's artists.
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