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The Start of J-Pop: Jazz and Ryuukouka
J-Pop can be traced back to the Taisho Period (1912-1926). J-Pop started because of the modernization of Western instruments that were commonly used to perform music. Jazz and Ryuukouka were big music genres during this period as of the Pacific War era where Western soldiers would be entertained by music performances. -
Inspiration and True Origin of J-Pop: Kayoukyoka
Kayoukyoka refers to the fusion of both Japanese music and Western music. Japanese compositions would be mixed with elements from Western music, which is considered to be the origin of modern day j-pop. During this time period, rock and roll (enka) was introduced, which also has greatly affected modern j-pop today. -
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The Rise of J-Pop Stars and Songwriters
During this time period, the amount of inspired singers and songwriters sharply rose. Most of j-pop at the time was Japanese covers of Western music, especially rock and roll, or the incorporation of popular and simple universal messages. There were many singers who stayed on top of the charts for months in a row, like Yosui Inoue, and women started to become idolized in the music industry. -
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Big Part of Japan's Economy
The 90s was a huge turning point for j-pop. The official term, j-pop, was created because of the rising popularity j-pop had in America, labelling them as the second best and largest music industry in America. Because of their music, they were able to profit so much from just incorporating their music with commercials, movies, dramas, videogames, anime, and much more. Albums and singles from popular artists were breaking new sales records every year. -
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Idols! Women and the Music Industry
Thanks to Tetsuya Komuro, the most successful producer in Japanese history to make big electronic hits with female singers, idols became popularized in the late 90's to early 00's. However, there were very few women who could make it to be considered as idols. A notable idol, who is still one of the most popular today, is Hikaru Utada. She was raised in America, so her music is heavily affected to sound very RnB. Women began to win over the music industry and majority of Japan's music lovers. -
J-Pop Hip-Hop and RnB
Hip-Hop and RnB became a sub-genre of J-pop because of artists like Zeebra and DOUBLE who had been performing Japanese flavored hip-hop. Utada's American-based RnB music had played a huge part in popularizing RnB in Japan. -
Bringing It Back: Folk, Shibuya and Seiyuu
Similar to Americans bringing back certain trends like denim jackets and hig-waisted jeans, J-pop's "dead" music styles returned to make huge hits in the late 00's. Japanese folk had a new twist when fused with modern sounds and electronic music. Shibuya, being fully electronic music, also made a come back because of artists like Nakata Yasutaka. Seiyuu, being anime voice actors or anime music made hits when mainstream and modern anime had catchy and popularized opening themes to their shows. -
J-Pop Today!
Although the Japanese music industry has been dominated by k-pop music (Korean pop music), Japan still successfully profits from j-pop through anime, idols, vocaloids (fictional characters as idols), and dramas. Some popular musicians write music for marketing reasons, like Hikaru Utada, mentioned before as one of the most popular Japanese idols of all time. Utada has made a comeback this year in writing and singing the main theme of the long awaited game coming soon, Kingdom Hearts 3!
