LEARNING TO LOVE: JPOP (JAPANESE POP) | FLY

So why haven't we heard of these great songs over here? Really, I don't know. England seems to be closed to the music of other countries yet places like Japan love our music, some have even named their kids after Noel and Liam Gallagher. Even if you could say you've heard a Japanese song, it will most likely have been a traditional piece from a world music collection and doesn't reflect the current pop sensation that has taken the country by storm.

If you've heard a game soundtrack with words on some of the songs, it is most likely that the original song was Japanese and they've asked the artist to re-record the same song with English words

I have to say I like Japanese pop music better than any English pop song that this country or America can produce.

You may have heard music by JPop singers without even realising it. I broadened my knowledge of singers by playing computer games. As you know the majority of our games come from Japan. If you've heard a game soundtrack with words on some of the songs, it is most likely that the original song was Japanese and they've asked the artist to re-record the same song with English words.

Squaresoft is a good example of this. The soundtrack to their Final Fantasy games was all Japanese and they converted their songs into English. It was this way I heard about my second favourite singer. Kingdom Hearts was my favourite game when it was released onto the Playstation 2. Throughout the game and then at the end credits they played a song called 'Simple and Clean' by Utada Hikaru or 'Hikki' as she is more popularly known. I loved this song so much I had to seek it out so I looked into the artist on the internet. When I searched for the song I came across it but at the same time I found a track called 'Hikari' (which is the Japanese word for light). This was the song that was on the original Japan release of the game. When I listened to this I liked it so much better than its English version so I searched around and found Utada Hikaru was one of the best selling JPop artists in Japan. I started listening to her music more and more and this got me into the whole JPop phenomenon.

Around the same time, I came across an artist called Ayumi Hamasaki or 'Ayu'. This was simply because you couldn't mention the word JPop without floods of information coming back about this pop princess. She is the number 1 selling artist with all 34 of her singles going straight to the top of the charts as well as her album. She is also the face of a lot of advertisement and merchandise and even has her own fashion label. After listening to several of her tracks I was so gripped I had to buy one of her albums. When I realised the songs I liked were spread over several albums, I had to buy them all! And there isn't a single track on any of them that I don't like. Some of my favourites are 'No Way To Say', 'Because of You', 'Ever Free', 'Dearest', 'A Song for XX' and 'Hanabi'.

Slowly my Mp3 player filled up more and more with JPop until not a single English song remained. The music is so much better than our pop music I find it criminal that it is so sparsely known over here. It was listening to JPop that got me into learning the Japanese language and studying their culture. I am yet to visit the country but it is my dream to go on holiday to Japan and see Ayumi Hamasaki in concert.

Other famous names to look out for are Do As Infinity, BoA, Every Little Thing, Morning Musume and Hitomi Yaida. Obviously there are hundreds of other fantastic artists out there so the best thing to do is dive head first into the JPop phenomenon and start listening!

dude.. where were u in the 21st century..jap music has EVOLVED since ‘sakura’ & ‘sukiyaki’… people like fantastic plastic machine, pizzicato five, cornelius were making waves for a looong time..

ayumi is just wat u described..pop… the essence of jap music goes beyond the cheesy ‘dos of Morning Musume..

there’s truth dat jPOP sounds a tat better than britney spears and watever bon jovi can offer (utada was a gd recommendation..).. but your pls intro to your anglo audience there’re more substance and artists alive from the land of the rising sun..

whoa! Jpop has been around 4 eva!! da best person iz BoA she iz talented at both Korean, Japanese, English and iz now perfection Chinese. She started her STAR lyfe at da age of 11 and iz VERY good at dancing and singing!!

Mr Baston, I agree with you, contrary to the comments of our two JPop experts above, a mainstream UK audience (myself included) is unlikely to hear about stuff like this unless someone like you introduces it to us in an accessible way without making us feel stupid for not being familiar with it in the first place, thus inspiring people to try something different. Lovely review :)

Yeah! Japanese Pop is actually wider than the definitive, well, pop music. Just try to listen to cool acts like that whole Shibuya Kei stuffs (Pizzicato Five, Kahimie Karie, Cornelius) or the hip hop experimentalists like Cibo Matto or Buffalo Daughter. They made intellegence-yet-catchy sounds like they never happened before.

Personally, i prefer the jazzier side of Japanese Pop. Mondo Grosso, United Future Organizations, Monday Michiru (not quite a Japanese tough) and the great Casiopea (miss ‘em!).

And don’t forget Orange Pekoe. A sophisti-pop revivalist (i think) whose stylish but modest approaches differ them from any other acts in J Pop world today.

By the way, i need more infos about this band considering the limited sources i have. Where can i download their free mp3s?

Another good news, the new album of Utada Hikaru the Christina for Britney’s Ayumi Hamasaki; often rivaled to her in term of popularity confidently entered the US Billboard Album Charts!

Listen to FREE Jpop music via internet Broadcast Radio by Live365, and LemonadeJoe’s J-MUSIC Station. Hear artist like: Ayumi Hamasaki, Utada, BoA, Ken Hirai, Amuro Namie, B’z, and so many more… We invite you to listen at: www.live365.com/stations/lemonadejoe

Great job! so happy your into J-pop. And it is so much more filling that English music. And its a lot deeper too when you look at the english translations. I say go look into T.M.Revolution’s songs. He’s one of the best male artists in Japan and wideley popular. My favourite. First time i got hooked on J-pop was by V6, T.M.Revolution and yes Ayumi-san

Anyway glad you see things the way i do

sayonara

Yes, I agree. I know very few people who are into Japanese music here in England.

I was first introduced to JPop from Kingdom Hearts too -I was so in love with that song that I bought the soundtrack for the game, and I just love it.

I’d really like to listen to more, so thank you for everyone’s recommendations. Excellent review :)

Great to see theres another J-pop fan out there! I love J-pop myself, including Morning Musume, and the like. I could care less if people consider some of it cheesy light hearted stuff! I prefer high energy upbeat music, which Morning Musume fits quite nicely. If you haven’t seen their Hello! Morning show, I highly recommend it! :)

I can’t stand the fact hip-hop/rap is taking over the US. I personally find that music distasteful in the extreme. Yeah it sounds good, but the lyrics are horrific. J-pop forever! :)

I was in Japan for the worldcup in 2002 and was listening to something I really liked where I stayed. Didn’t know who till a year or so later by some freak accident a friend of mine had Morning Musume tracks on his PC, that was it. I’ve been hooked since. I noticed their members change though? But who cares, their songs are good if you like TUNEFUL music. I’ve liked many others. Jpop has very strong melody, for my taste they have some of the worlds best song writers/composers, honestly. Their idea of harmony is so different.

I am a jpop fan as well. I think more people need to be exposed to it. There are so many differnet kinds of japanese music, jrock, jpunk, etc.

I am slowly introducing my friends to jpop. I showed them a Titan Go Kings anime jpop video on http://www.sister.co.jp/Titan/index_e.html and they loved the animation as well as the song! each jpop fan needs to do their part in spreading the word.

If you enjoy J-Pop, you should try your hand at J-Rock. You hear English pop and say ‘bleh’—well, the same can be said about English rock.. and rap, even. Don’t limit yourselves to J-pop; make sure to take a taste of everything to fully grasp the sheer force and variety contained in the Japanese music industry. A few J-Rock bands/artists would be Gackt, Glay, Dir en Grey, Hyde, L’arc~En~Ciel, among hundreds of others. =)

Against Yume-Chan, I wouldnt Class Gackt as j-rock, Hes j-pop.

But I agree with every other comment, Japanese music is fantastic, though unexplored by other people because of the simple fact, its no commercialised in england.

My cousins introduced me to jpop and it seems to me now that no other english song can amount to a japanese one.My playlist is also all japanese. I think the reason I like jpop so much is that I guess the music is more interesting and upbeat, not all similar like it is in America.

Heyo! Jpop is the bomb!! Listen to Gackt Camui, he is so cute and has a great voice. Ayumi Hamasaki is adorable and I have all her music. I’ve listened to Utada, though she’s not my favorite, and I came across this site while searching for Morning Musume lyrics!!

I started listening to Jpop when I heard Sailor Moon’s opening theme. Go to www.kawaii-radio.net for good jpop, jrock and anime music!! If you like Korean Music, or Chinese, I reccomend Tasha (One of the asian music queens!) and Faye Wong! (Good review.)

Hi everybody _, I just want to let everybody know that i just looove Japanese Music ^^. I only listen to JPOP and nothing else, i really fell in love with it _

is listening to Color Me Blood Red of Malice Mizer _

Greets from Belgium ___

Ayumi Hamasaki, Gackt, Malice Mizer addict ___

J-pop is awasome, I hadn’t heard of it until recently, My penpal in japan asked if I like j-pop I didn’t know what it was, so I lookedit up on the internet, its like nothing I’ve ever heard before, Ayumi Hamasaki has a voice of an angel, I want to buy all her cd’s, my favourite song is Still alone. I just don’t know where to buy it as I live in Australia.

“I also Love Ayu I really wish that Ayu could be more Famous in this country but this really stupid country does not know true talent even if it got shoved in their faces” LOL!!! hahahhaha

you sir are clearly on the edge.

“It hears your estupida know-it-all that you sign velp, Morning musume is a lot of a lot but a lot but of what your believe, darn anglohablante that the cars they know about eating pellets?”
i rest my case…

ayumi hamasaki, hikaru utada, plastic tree, dir en grey, rentrer en soi, blood, l’arc en ciel, puffy amiyumi, hide, xjapan, boa, koda kumi, janne da arc, kuroyume,malice mizer, miyavi, kagrra, moi dix mois, psycho le cemu, zone, mai kuraki, namie amuro, nanase aikawa, kana, luna sea, B’z, despairs ray, duel jewel, hitomi, hyde,gackt, hyde, pierrot, shiina ringo, glay

LOVE IT!!

EVERYONE should buy Exodus the album by Hikaru Utada thats ben released in UK. and start requesting they play jmusic on MTV because beleive it or not, J pop/J rock/Visual Kei has more fans that ANY other genre in the world as Asia has the most people in it and japanese music is popular in practically every Asian country (think of the fact that 1 in 5 people are Chinese)
also there is quite a big following in USA too!

HELLOOOOO…..!!!!!

I just wanna say that..I was one of the J-POP fans too…

I would like to dedicate this song to Tami..who was one of the SMAP fans…

(J-POP)SMAP:Sekai ni hitotsu dake no hana(The one and only flower in the world)

soo sa bokura wa
sekai ni hototsu dake no hana
hitori hitori chigau tane wo motsu
sono hana wo sakaseru koto dake ni
isshookenmei ni nareba ii…

Bye2…LOVED J-POP & YOU ALL…..!!!!!

souma_natrah@yahoo.com

Theres a little something that ppl are getting into…its called JMETAL.

I <3 Jmetal! woot woot

Malace Mizer, L`Arc en Ciel (HyDe hYdE _), Namie Amuro, Gackt, Hyde, Nami Tamaki, V-6, Yellow Generation, X-Japan, Kat-Tun, Sowelu, BoA, Every Little Thing, Day By Day, T.M.Revolution, Dir en Grey, MIYAVI!!!!!!I LOVE YOU!!!!!!MIYAVImiyaviMIYAVImiyaviMIYAVImiyaviMIYAVImiyaviMIYAVImiyaviMIYAVI!!!!!!! (yes, i kno im a Miyavi freak…and im proud of it!) MIYAVI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I totally love AYUMI!!! James Baston, your article at the top is exactly what happened to me… my WMPlayer Library has got about 3 gigs of 100% AYUMI!!! Except for that one part you mentioned, about the “Final Fantasy” thing. I didn’t get to know JPop from Final Fantasy, I have a japanese friend who introduced me. The first Ayu songs he gave me were ‘Is This Love?’ ‘STEP You’ and ‘Carols’. Ayu, I love you! I’m so looking forward to many, many years of success and beautiful music. Well Done!
Adrian V
adrianvdv@gmail.com

Well Im quite a newbie in the world of J-pop as well. J-rock got me sooo…hooked for such a long time I felt great reluctance to check out any other genre.
As opposed to many of the guys here, the first artist that introduced me into J-pop is Koda Kumi. First, the main reason I didnt like J-pop was the nasal voice of most female singers, I couldnt stand it. But she struck me dumb the minute she opened her mouth. She’s got a smooth jazzy quality to her voice with an awesome low range. It was through her I began to check out other j-pop artist.
Warning: she’s also known for the slutty image (plus dirrrrty dancing), but don’t mind that. U should work ur way past that by listening to her albums. U should judge her by her music instead of appearance.
Hirai Ken is one of the respected figures in J-pop. But his music is more into R&Bish and Soul. If u didnt check him out, u’re definitely missing out a GEM.
Also, have u ever heard about ZONE? Its too bad they disbanded. This 4 piece-girl band was awesome. Their single “HANABI-Kimi ga Ita Natsu” is a must heard, Im not exaggerating.
I strongly recommend you to listen to J-rock. Trust me, u’ll love it. L’Arc~en~Ciel is my gateway to j-rock and still my all time favorite. They experiment with wide variety of music u can’t pick just one song to decribe L’Arc music, since everyone in the band put in their 5 cents. Hyde-san is definitely one of the best vocalist and lyricist out there. I’ve never heard anyone singing like that before. He can switch from an ultimate RAW emotive cry to a moving, sweet sounding voice flawlessly. U should pay special attention on how he hits those high notes, awesome! Oh and one more thing, if u happened to hear a low to mid range of guitar riffs in their songs, it is most likely to come from a bass. Yes, Tetsu-sama is the greatest bassist EVER.
In addition to L’Arc, I also listen to Shiina Ringo& Tokyo Jihen, Psycho le Cemu, Dir en Grey, Glay, the Pillow, La Cryma Christie, Janne da Arc, and a bit of Miyavi.
Sorry for the long rant, I just wanted to share my thoughts.

go to http://www.jpopmusic.com/forums/index.php for extensive collection of j-music. I’ll see ya there

jpop n jrock rules i hardly listen 2 english music ne more its boring lol the only time i will listen 2 english music is if it is from an jpop n jrock singer hehe n i think korean n italian music is cool 2 _

ja mata minna
tash -from australia

Ok I see that you posted alot of J-pop but some seem to think they mean pop as in Britney,Justin & so on.It actualy means japanese popular music.So jpop is actually any popular japanese music.(or at least that how I have read. I live in New York,USA.
But you can’t forget
Def-tech,Heartsdales, L-vokal,DJ.Hasebe,Hi-Timez,Miss Monday,Sphere of Influence,SOUL’d OUT,Chemistry,Benni K,mic banditz,m-flo,Crystal Kay,Ozrosaurus,Rappagariya,Syza,Beat Crusaders,Bonnie Pink,SoulHead,Rhymester,Dragon Ash,Double,Jamosa,K,Lisa,EMYLI,Whee Sung,Super Car,Kenji,AFRA,Mika Nakashima,Misia,Sakura,Sugar Soul,3-Nation,Utada Hikari. Just to name a few but the best place to find out about who’s hot now in the Jpop scene check out the Sony Music Japan website & also mtvjapan.com. & for jpop good’s,toy’s,books & japanese language learning aids go to jlist.com.J-pop rocks!

It’s great to see that there is at least 1 Australian J-pop fan out there. I was introduced to Ayu through a friend of a friend and I lvoe her voice, her melodies and how even though I have to look up the English translations, you can hear the feeling put into her songs. Unfortunatly I’m finding it hard to hear other J pop as my internet is really slow. Thanks for the web radio URLs!

Great article. I recently got into not just jpop but all sorts of international music. I don’t believe there’s a such thing as a superior genre, but I believe its all about finding the right artist. I’m a huge hip hop fan for example, but I hate 90% of the rap they play on tv, its all about finding true talent.

Right now I would say Utada is my favorite jpop artist. But I first got into it with the samurai champloo album. I looked up minmi and found some more of her songs… and I actually hated them all, lol. But if I would have stopped there, I wouldn’t have found Utada :D

Its strange how many people talk about Japanese music on the internet, and yet only mention musicians that are not that popular in Japan or worldwide (Such as Gackt) There is large amounts of Japanese music in both England and Australia (where I live) it is even played on the radio. You just have to get out of the MTV culture and go find the communitys in your area. I am glad some people here mentioned some true major selling Japanese musicians such as pizzicato five. Other major Japanese musicians that sell tons of albums worldwide include the Southern All Stars, Motoharu Sano, Yosui Inoue, Blankey Jet City, Thee Michelle Gun Elephant, Spitz, RC Succession, B’z, Char and of course the legendary Yellow Magic Orchestra. Among about 40 other super names. Names like Larc~en~ciel, Glay, Ayumi Hamasaki and all the other groups that anime “nerds” seem to get into are not Japans major musicians. You go into the swanky areas of your city. The people that actually buy music and know more than what the TV tells them, will know Flippers Guitar, Pizzicato Five and many of the above bands.

All right, Bubblegum. I think I’m going to take your bombastic statements and dispute them.

L’Arc~en~Ciel, GLAY, and Hamasaki Ayumi are — big shock — numbered among “Japan’s major musicians”.

Here’s why:

Hamasaki Ayumi is HUGE in Japan, next to Utada, she’s one of the best-selling female artists in her country. She has also won the Japanese Record Taishou award (one of the most prestigious music awards in Japan) three times in a row. You don’t get that kind of recognition if you’re a minor artist.

GLAY (though not as popular now as they’ve become inactive) is also a big name. In 1999, GLAY held a concert (“GLAY EXPO 1999 SURVIVAL”) which garnered a staggering audience of 200,000, making it the largest, single concert to ever be held in Japan. GLAY is also its country’s 7th best-selling artist . Once again, not a feat easily accomplished (slight understatement) if you’re a minor artist.

L’Arc~en~Ciel’s influence is also indisputable. L’Arc has consistently topped the charts and broken industry records, including having two major albums take up the #1 and #2 slots on the Oricon charts back in 1999 and is also, inarguably almost, the most popular Japanese rock act in. Asia. Though things have quieted down for them in Japan (to say, their faces aren’t pasted all over the country), they are respected for having stayed in the industry so long AND for having produced so many F’CKING GOOD SONGS.

Another thing — big shock — I’m not an anime “nerd”. In fact, I really don’t like anime at all. So don’t go around making asinine statements like, ‘Names like Larc~en~ciel, Glay, Ayumi Hamasaki and all the other groups that anime “nerds” seem to get into are not Japans major musicians’; you just might piss someone off.

PS If you want to hear superior muscianship and GOOD vocalists (i.e. not trademark Japanese kill-me-now squeaky) belting it out, I highly recommend the following three bands: B’z, L’Arc~en~Ciel, and Dreams Come True. I could listen to them for the rest of my life and be OK with that.

nice article..and bubblegum i dont possibly care if they are not known worlwide..the thing is i like them L’Arc~en~Ciel,utada hikaru(hikki),ayumi hamasaki,namie amuro,ZONE.DO AS INFINITY,miyavi,morning musume,MARIA de night,BoA,AKFG,little by little,no regret life,FLOW,SPEed, and other j-pop/j-rock artists..hehe i love japanese music..caus im in asia..!!.

GLAY’s music is really good and mature. Takuro is regarded as a great composer/lyricist and has composed for many other singers.
They are still huge, unlike what someone said before, though overshadowed by those pretty stars of the moment. But they are still topping charts and making great music.
Not to mention that they have made incredible accomplishments along their carreer. The only other rock band that can beat them in that is B’z, whose accomplishments are even more impressive.
And no, Glay is not adored by anime nerds. Actually, most of them seem to ignore Glay’s existance, since Glay has had only two anime themes (and those anime are not that popular)

>.< l’arc broke up! ^^ if u want REAL j-rock, listen to Miyavi, or Gackt. HYDE is making his own music now, and it’s good too! ^.~ I also recommened Asian Kung-fu Geneartion, DBSK, Shinhwa, GLAY, 12012, and Yuna Ito. ^^

dude you guys didnt even mention news or kat-tun, tackey and tsubasa, tokio, or yamapi!!!! yamashita tomohisa is jpop, or like Zwei is really good or mr. children southern all stars or like alot of johnny’s entertainment agency, the number one boy band industry in japan! all those guys are like in all the jdoramas, JE’s bands are the bands that dictate almost all of japanese tv, their in commmercials, jdoramas, music stations, concerts tv show airing, and on numerous tv shows, if you watch tv in japan chances are that, if flip the channels around you will see one of JE’s boys,…I CAN GUARANTEE IT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and also they have there own tv show(everyband has there own show, and maybe JE agency even has there own channel,(i dont really know if they have their own channel, but my guess with johnny as the owner of the owner of JE would, cause hes wierd like that) anyway its called shounen club (boys club) JE, i love the bands but i dont like their boss Johnny Kitagawa, he is wierd………….

When I was younger I was always into music like Metallica, Linkin Park, Feeder etc and hadn’t heard anything of Japanese music. It happened when I was browsing a forum that I’m a member of and I came across Hikki, so I searched the internet for some of her music and found Sakura Drops, I was amazed when I listened to it, it really changed my mood and soothed me. I wanted to hear more music so I continued searching until I had listened to nearly every one of Hikki’s songs. I really listened to nothing but Hikki, then I was browsing another forum for some Hikki mp3s when I saw a thread about Ayumi Hamasaki, it contained a link to a YouTube video that showed her singing live in a concert and forgetting the lyrics to Trauma, it sounds funny that that is the way I found her, but although she forgot the lyrics to a section of the song, I really liked what I heard, it was different. I went on to listen to Moments, Evolution, Seasons and now I have heard almost all her tracks. I thought JPop was based around Hikki but I discovered that Ayu is the ‘Empress Of JPop’. I listen to JPop all the time now and I am beginning to discover other JPop artists like Morning Musume (soooo cute). I feel I have become emotionally attached to JPop, the lyrics are really touching and meaningful. I love absolutely everything about Japan. Japanese Women are beautiful, they are technologically advanced, they created Anime and Manga, they make almost all video games such as Final Fantasy (my favourite) and Kingdom Hearts. I now want to learn all about Japanese culture and fully grasp the language. When I leave high-school I definitely want to go to Japan, I now even wish I was born Japanese, I prefer their life so much compared to British life, it’s really cheery. Recently, I have been doing nothing but watch Hey! Hey! Hey! and Gaki No Tsukai episodes on the internet with Downtown (Matsumoto and Hamada), they are sooo funny. They have punishment games (Batsu Gemu) when someone wins a competition, and Hamada makes Matsumoto, Endo, Tanaka and Yamasaki sit in a classroom and watch this video of a Japanese Boy speaking English and getting everything wrong, and if anyone laughs, they are whipped across the behind with bamboo. I like the episode of Hey! Hey! Hey! where Minimoni are the guests and Kago-Chan speaks English (it’s really cute) http://www.veoh.com/videos/e107932DdfwWFfx. Well I think I’ve summed up just about everything, so I apologise for boring you. And by the way, if anyone would like a chat about anything my e-mail address is finalfantasyx_67@hotmail.com.

you are so right. i totally love japanese music too. i fell in love with male singers. their voices are WAY better then the american singers. american singers these days sing about sex and girlfriends, money and all of that. I’m asain, and i live in the u.s.a, and i plan to travel to japan one day. =) its nice to know that some people who aren’t japanese like japanese music. =) your cool.

you right James, i also believe Jpop is waaay better than american or british pop music. but most of the artists you listed or some of the other reviewers lsited, are too commercial for me (ok ok i know its jpop!)..what i mean is, jpop has been around for at elast 20 years, and all the jpop produced in the 80s and early 90s (id say up to 96) is the best…the beats, vocals, originality are all better since they have yet to grab on to all the crap britney spears, usher, and madonna have to offer…instead they seem to have put more “soul” into their music and you can tell and the songs are all more innocent in a way… i started to lsitening to jpop pretty recently, but the first time i ever heard it was 5-7 years ago when i was a kid (im now 18) in animes…i had 2 months off for xmas and one week when i got sick i decided to watch old animes cassettes (yup VHS babyyy) since i had no cable, no computer…after 2 days i was hooked! it brought back all these childhood memories i was so fond of, so i started tracking down all these themes and some of my favorites that i highly recommend you or anybody that is interested in jpop download are: Hitori Janai from Deen and Dan Dan Kokoro Hikareteku from Field of View (everybody knows where those 2 come from), also download Omoide ga Ippai from Coco and Equal Romance from Coco. also download Puratonikku Tsuranuite from Sakagami Kaori and Little Date from Ribbon (all these come from one anime i love)…get Tomorow Never Knows from Mr. Children and Yume de Aruyouni from Deen…these all are excellent songs and are all from the 80s and 90s…i encourage you to download them if you want to experience good jpop…also get anything from Deen or Zard their both excellent…enjoy!

abdul bachani, takes the mick out ayumi he ays she dirty, wat is this boy on, he must like men… were me i like a fyn woman, name being kumi koda kumi and ayumi, maybe gack in a leather thng but that would push it, lol and anyway if i ate ayumi kebab then i musta like woman

I prefer BoA Kwon, she is good in dancing & has powerful voice. She can talk in Korean (because she’s a korean), in japanese, in english and now even on chinese.

I like her because she has a (lot)talent and still working hard since she became a singer__.

She is the best. well, that’s my opinion.

sry for double but i forgot to say that ZONE is a 4-piece all girl band

consisting of:
Sakae Maiko bass
Nagase Miyu guitar
Saito Mizuho drums
Ookoshi Takayo guitar[who quit for studies] and was replaced by
Nishumura Tomoka guitar

they were all vocalists. done:)

Wow! Great post (even if it is over 2 years old lol).
As a Japanese I’d like to say thank you for taking an interest in my countries music ^^

It seems that lately we are getting some interesting foreign acts singing in Japanese also. Monkey Majik, Leah Dizon, and recently Jero (an African Enka singer).

Personally i would recommend checking out the British guy Paul Ballard.
I think his music is awesome (^_~)

http://www.myspace.com/paulballardmusic

いい夢を見るといいね
章

I totally agree with you on the whole J-pop is really good part but,you should also try listening to some J-Rock.It’s equally as good.I started out listening to japanese music when I first got into anime which was when i was 6.I’ve always enjoyed the hyper,happy beats of the songs.Then,as I got older and much more into anime,I began to notice there were alot of great rock songs in japanese.I checked them out on the computer and fell in love with the j-rocker guys hottness!Lol,I would recommend listening to Alice Nine,The GazettE,juliadoll,NightmaRe,and An Cafe.

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dollars)in a domiciliary account with a bank in Cote d’Ivoire which I
am the next of kin. Please I need your assistance in the following ways;

1) To serve as the guardian of this fund.
2) To provide a bank account where this money would be transferred.
3) To make arrangement for me to come over after this money is
transferred to complete my studies and also look for a good venture
where this money will be invested.

I am willing to offer you 10% of the total sum as compensation of your
effort and 5% for any other expenses you might made after a successful
transfer.

Thanks and God bless you

Sincerely
Ms Olga Jones.
Contact me with this E-mail olga.jones47@yahoo.com

NB: If you find it interesting to help me, kindly send me you’re full
name and address, phone/fax numbers including your ID card, after then I will tell you what to do next.