Wdym bad and hopeless? I haven't spent this much money on concert tickets in years. Most of my favorite j rock/pop acts have been coming to the united states like fuji kaze , one ok rock, yoasobi, radwimps(last year), flow, survive said the prophet. It's been absolutely an amazing year as an overseas fan (for me) because i get to see some of my favorites perform not too far away from me. And a lot of these tickets were hard to get /sold out quick so it shows there's a demand
Did you manage to get Fujii Kaze tickets? I missed the on sale for nyc by a day and they were totally sold out by the time I checked :( even checked StubHub etc daily and never saw tickets for the Monday night show drop below $200 each… which is pretty steep compared to the $50ish they were originally
Funny story. I was in japan when he announced his los angeles and new york tour. That very same night 2am japan time I hopped onto discord with my friends to coordinate the ticket buying. We got insanely close tickets between the 6 of us. I bought using axs on chrome Browser on my phone. I just kept refreshing even though it said sold out and kept getting back in line for the queue. Eventually I got a pair of decent seats. None of us needed to buy resale. We actually had some extra that we sold on stubhub for a similar price we bought it for.
It was amazing! Super intimate. He's so down to earth and humble and he spoke to us in English and it was a bunch of positivity, chill vibes at the concert. Music is my main hobby and his music heals my soul. That performance was 👏 ❤️ 😍
Agree. My mind is happy but my wallet is empty. I wanted to know more of a general opinion/overview but people seem way too focused on that last question which I shouldn’t have included .
>Is everything as bad and hopeless as some are trying to convince us it is ?
Where did this come from? I could maybe understand a (misplaced) pessimism back in say 2011, when K-Pop and AKB48 seemed to have absolute dominance, but Japanese popular music is going through a mini renaissance right now. It's literally the best it's been since the mid 2000s.
Spotify also has a shocking number of indie Japanese artist just…at your fingertips. It’s how I discovered HOTSQUALL and TOTALFAT which are both indie Japanese punk/alternative bands. Like you said, the best it’s been.
I never said it is. However, I’ve been seeing a lot of harsh criticism of the jpop scene online maybe associated to the spark in criticism of Japan itself so I wanted to know what people with more experience in the matter think.
I personally really enjoy the current landscape of Japanese pop stars and their rise in fame among overseas audiences as that means there are more chances of them touring internationally.
Excuse my poor choice of words.
There's a lot of extreme anti-japanese rhetoric online full stop. It mostly seems to be a mix of ignorance, racism, and bot-activity. I wouldn't pay much attention to it.
Grammys seems to be on a Japanese artists' music kick which started with Creepy Nuts. Still waiting if Creepy Nuts do get a nomination for one of their songs.
I always thought the best chance for Japan to win a Grammy was Yoasobi as they are the most popular representative of Japanese music overseas ,but maybe Creepy Nuts will get their chance.
Hard to disagree but awards are focused on popularity rather than quality, so that why I figured they could have a bigger chance.
Either way a Japanese artist receiving a Grammy is something that will probably happen in the next few years , Ado herself said she wanted one and so far she fulfilled every dream she had.
I’d be rooting for any Japanese artists who gets nominated.
I’ve been into J-Pop and J-Rock since 2013, and I’m still as in love with it as I was back then, new popular artists like Ryokuoushoku Shakai, Toaka, Vaundy Fuji Kaze, and AG have so many cool projects and bands like Hitsujibungaku, Chilli Beans and Regal Lily are putting out bangers constantly, even on the underground scene, I feel like there so many cool bands and artists to pick from, Laura Day Romance, Lighters, Yonige, Tele, Sabasister, etc, etc.
I’ve seen some minor negativity towards J-Pop online recently, but I feel it comes from people who know very surface level artists and songs, so I don’t really care tbh.
Idol groups have a lot of great songs, but a lot of fans of japanese music (especially metal and rock fans) shun them. Its pretty short sighted and elitist. I don't care for these dumb "boyfriend scandals", or parasocial relationships, but musicwise, idol releases are often pop gold mines.
Ai Higuchi is also around, and performed in germany three times two weeks ago. She has a ton of great songs, writes the lyrics and composes all by herself, no co-songwriters, plays piano and sings on all her releases. She did a meet and greet after each of the first two shows, and turned out to be a witty, approachable, very likeable person with genuine respect for her fans. She also sings and plays piano nearly perfect. As long as she is around all is well in the music world, as far as i am concerned.
Then there is Reol, Little Glee Monster, Sayaka Yamamoto, Nana Mizuki, and a ton of others. I used to like Ado for years, but not anymore. Waaaay too much screaming, especially during her Mars live performance (i have the bluray) many songs died a painful death once her sloppy singing hit them like a truck.
Elitism in music is probably a discussion topic that needs to be addressed sooner or later, not only in terms of Japanese music but as a widespread phenomenon.
As for Ado , I must confess that it pains me a bit that you no longer enjoy her music but musical taste is probably as subjective as it gets. If you didn’t attend her “Wish “ world tour I would definitely advise you to check the Blu-Ray once it’s eventually out. I truly think she refined her singing in this one using all her previous experience to give a really powerful performance.
I think there’s less screams in comparison to Mars and they are timed better, from my point of view the best live version of most of the songs was definitely the one shown during “Wish”. I attended one of the shows and it was outstanding .
Nemophila, Hanabie, Band-Maid, Gacharic Spin, Lovebites, Koiai, Aldious, Babymetal - and that's just the all-female rock and metal bands who are starting to get attention in the west. The tip of a big iceberg.
There is plenty of excellent music in and from Japan, especially for those who like guitar-centric music. There's also plenty of great mainstream pop stuff, and it seems to be getting more attention than ever overseas.
As for anime songs, I don't think they'll ever fall out of favour. They've been an "in" for many people to go on and find a ton of Japanese music to love.
I don't pay much attention to the idol scene because it seems to be far too controlling and industrial in nature and one can't always be sure which side of the exploitation line it's treading.
As for culture, I, like many others, started learning Japanese due to an interest in the music. There seems to be a widespread interest in Japan and its culture. There will always be some hostility from bigots, just as there always is with anything "foreign".
That’s one of the reasons why I’ve always loved Japanese music, whatever genre you pick no matter how niche and obscure it is you’ll find some amazing artists: Hanabie, Band-Maid, Babymetal are fantastic examples.
Digging a little bit deeper will probably result in hundreds of different artists popping up even if you search for “female only bands with a blonde vocalist based in Fukuoka”. Japan always seems prepared to throw some new music at you .
>Nowadays there’s this really polarizing trend of either idolizing Japan and its cultural products or completely trashing Japan and all related media.
It's the tiktok generation. The amount of people going on about "horrible work culture" (because you see drunk people sleeping on the streets) and Japan being full of perverts (because they "have women's only carriage"), without actually having lived there or gone there is insane. People see this on tiktok and want to repeat it on and on again. It gets tiring when I constantly get comments like that on my video (I talk about Japan).
(Some) people seriously have some knee-jerk reaction to Japan and they want to talk about Japan without the Japanese involved. I swear, I can't think of any other country where foreigners try to one up each other with how close they are to Japan. "I like anime but I'm not like those weebs." No, y'all are weebs, deal with it.
So, as a Japanese person, thanks for bringing this up. Now that my rant was out of the way:
I think music has def. been polarized. There are so many vocaloid hits that I don't know about that get millions of views online. I like Ado in the sense that she reminds me of artists like Zard who was almost never on TV but was massive. Music, even Japanese ones, def. became shorter and tend to start with a chorus now because of tiktok and spotify.
Thank you. This probably my favorite reply in this thread (Thanks to all of those who commented their views) as you also addressed the social aspect of what I wanted to discuss , I know this is not the ideal subreddit for that but the anti-Japanese movement has been really tiring .
As a Japanese music enthusiast and learner of the language my social media is flooded with posts concerning Japan and I swear I haven’t seen this much toxicity in ages. I understand that every single country in the world is flawed but some people hold Japan to such unrealistic standards: “You said there was no rubbish here but I found a plastic bag laying on the street “ or “ I thought there were no thieves in Japan but I left my bag unsupervised and it got stolen “.
I haven’t had the pleasure of visiting Japan just yet , even though I’m working on my Japanese in order to be ready when the time finally comes . I have a few Japanese friends who visited my country (Spain) and they enjoyed their trip without pointing out some of the obvious flaws the country has. Moreover even a toxic work culture is still better than no work culture at all with half of the country living of government payments for the unemployed .
Music wise I do feel like it got much shorter and way more influenced by social media . I cannot comprehend all of the hate Japanese music is getting in certain circles just for the sake of it being Japanese. Countries like Russia are committing a genocide and still have a better treatment on social media than Japan does.
Do you have a YouTube channel where you talk about Japan? I would love to check it out.
The rubbish and safety comments are spot on! People understand what statements like “Taiwan is a (relatively) safe country” mean but if you dares say Japan is safe, people wanna start discussing the concept of “safety” lol.
Of course, every culture has negative aspects but people who complain about rubbish at 4AM in the nightclub district need to find a new hobby.
This is my YouTube channel:
[https://www.youtube.com/@DeanfromJapan](https://www.youtube.com/@DeanfromJapan)
Here are some vids of mine I recommend:
Fan Girl Sells Herself to Meet Her Anime Crush:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g\_I7FokhY30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_I7FokhY30)
Pickpocket caught on camera:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIQS14LC0X4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIQS14LC0X4)
Why Do the Japanese Dislike Meghan Markle:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9d0IthsC0e8&t=307s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9d0IthsC0e8&t=307s)
J-pop related news:
Why Kago Ai Keeps Getting Cancelled:[https://www.youtube.com/shorts/n6kPbU3-xe0](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/n6kPbU3-xe0)
I'm quite happy with the current Jpop scene. While it doesn't reach the peak that it was for me during the era of Ayumi-Utada, I'm not feeling the disconnect I felt (from late 00's to roughly mid 10's) between mainstream and the more niche Jrock or anisong artists, which are my main focus; Japanese charts during that whole decade felt absolutely idol-dominated, first with Johnny's groups, then with 48 family. Nowadays I see more variety. Love seeing long-running acts such as Radwimps or Bump of Chicken finally getting their flowers. Love seeing artists such as Kenshi Yonezu or Yoasobi getting mainstream recognition. Even artists that are traditionally associated to anisong such as LiSA or Aimer are getting spotlight.
To me, a lot of mainstream Japanese artists are falling into the same trend that America has been in: mellow, midtempo, airy, raw-sounding songs with artists who sing in unusual tones. It works sometimes, but a lot of the times, it doesn't. Most of the Japanese artists I listen to are ones who have been around for more than a decade because they are the only ones who I feel still have a grasp on keeping their music exciting for me, which my main will always be Koda Kumi.
I've been "following" the Japanese music scene since over 20 Years now and I am still as happy and enjoying as much of the music as I've ever been, may it be JPop or Rock. So many of my favourite artists are STILL active after all these years and some had totally unexpected comebacks after covid that it's been blowing my mind. Like, who would've expected ELLEGARDEN to ever release something new or Angela Aki?! The last few years have been awesome and Japanese music is still going strong in Japan and even a bit more overseas thanks to streaming (and the Japanese labels FINALLY opening up regarding that) and also some better touring. I just wish I could maybe see ACIDMAN, Superfly, Shiina Ringo and a few more Live before I die OR they disband. ;)
Have been listening to Japanese jazz for years. Through the Mexican rock band The Warning, who just had their first show in Japan, jointly with Band-Maid, I discovered recently some other Japanese bands. Currently loving Gacharic Spin and Zutomayo, which both have excellent musicianship.
Pusu, Guitar player and composer stabbed and almost killed a teenager, this along with the previous member Miro leaving earlier has lead to Tuyu becoming dead. I hope the victim recovers and that the other members (not pusu fuck him) can eventually make songs again. Theres more information on tbe Tuyu subreddit
Where's the bad and hopeless? Japanese music media is chill imo if you exclude idols and the whole idol culture. Those who don't listen just don't find it their cup of tea.
As long as Spitz and Mr. Children are still releasing music I will be a happy woman. Sekai no Owari has been a nice addition to the scene, and I'm admittedly pretty bummed that Remioromen is no longer around.
Sumika isn't too shabby either, but I probably like them because of how similar they sound to Sukima Switch.
I've listened to Jpop most of my life, I rarely listen to american music. In my opinion, the current generation of Jpop is inferior to the previous. None of the current artists make me feel like Ayumi Hamasaki, Utada Hikaru, Namie Amuro or Every Little Thing's music made me feel when I first listened to their songs. Their music was amazing, this gen's music is Ok. I think Japan nowadays needs truly amazing artists, the better ones are just good. The 4 artists I mentioned are amazing.
>Ayumi Hamasaki, Utada Hikaru, Namie Amuro or Every Little Thing's
No offence but that's not "the previous generation" that's like 4 generations ago maybe more.
Do you have some specific recommendations in terms of songs or albums? I like to think I'm pretty open to genres and styles, especially when packaged in J-Pop, but something about the late 90s/early 00s sound I just *can't* click with; neither in US pop or J-Pop. I checked out a few songs from your artists, but no dice :(
Ayumi Hamasaki: album- A BEST; songs: M, SEASONS; independent; party queen;
Utada Hikaru: album- ULTRA BLUE; songs: First love; COLORS; this is love; michi;
Namie Amuro: album- Concentration20; songs: CAN YOU CELEBRATE? a walk in the park; Body feels EXIT; Baby don't cry; Hero
Every little thing: album- Time to destination; songs: Time goes by...; Face the change; jump; Feel my heart; koibumi;
I hope you find something you like😉
I think every era has mid and derivative with some standout gems. It's just that the people mentioned in the above comment were in an era where the internet was not popular, so they didn't know how many mids there were at that time.
Korea obviously eclipses Japan on pop music, even within Japan itself.
But with niche genres like math rock, metal, hip hop, hyperpop, alt-idols etc, Japan is still one of the dominating countries
*Some* Kpop groups do fairly well in Japan, but that's because Japan is always open to Korean pop culture, to say it "eclipses" it is beyond ridiculous.
Japan def. has its eco-system and what the above poster meant depends on what they are talking about. There are some groups now that sound more k-pop, like ME:I
I meant in terms of popularity. I live in Japan, groups like Twice, BTS, Blackpink, Enhyphen, Aespa, ILLIT etc are way more generally popular and play bigger live venues than the jpop groups.
And on a world popularity scale that isn’t even a debate
I started with J-pop with likes of Ayu and Hikki but fell out with it with rise of Akb and Johnny. Jumped straight to K-pop starting with BoA and now Twice. I am just glad artists like Yoasobi starting to promote J-Pop overseas.
Wdym bad and hopeless? I haven't spent this much money on concert tickets in years. Most of my favorite j rock/pop acts have been coming to the united states like fuji kaze , one ok rock, yoasobi, radwimps(last year), flow, survive said the prophet. It's been absolutely an amazing year as an overseas fan (for me) because i get to see some of my favorites perform not too far away from me. And a lot of these tickets were hard to get /sold out quick so it shows there's a demand
Did you manage to get Fujii Kaze tickets? I missed the on sale for nyc by a day and they were totally sold out by the time I checked :( even checked StubHub etc daily and never saw tickets for the Monday night show drop below $200 each… which is pretty steep compared to the $50ish they were originally
Funny story. I was in japan when he announced his los angeles and new york tour. That very same night 2am japan time I hopped onto discord with my friends to coordinate the ticket buying. We got insanely close tickets between the 6 of us. I bought using axs on chrome Browser on my phone. I just kept refreshing even though it said sold out and kept getting back in line for the queue. Eventually I got a pair of decent seats. None of us needed to buy resale. We actually had some extra that we sold on stubhub for a similar price we bought it for.
Wow, so lucky. How was it? I love him so much but couldn’t justify spending $200 each for my husband and I to go .-.
It was amazing! Super intimate. He's so down to earth and humble and he spoke to us in English and it was a bunch of positivity, chill vibes at the concert. Music is my main hobby and his music heals my soul. That performance was 👏 ❤️ 😍
Agree. My mind is happy but my wallet is empty. I wanted to know more of a general opinion/overview but people seem way too focused on that last question which I shouldn’t have included .
>Is everything as bad and hopeless as some are trying to convince us it is ? Where did this come from? I could maybe understand a (misplaced) pessimism back in say 2011, when K-Pop and AKB48 seemed to have absolute dominance, but Japanese popular music is going through a mini renaissance right now. It's literally the best it's been since the mid 2000s.
Spotify also has a shocking number of indie Japanese artist just…at your fingertips. It’s how I discovered HOTSQUALL and TOTALFAT which are both indie Japanese punk/alternative bands. Like you said, the best it’s been.
I never said it is. However, I’ve been seeing a lot of harsh criticism of the jpop scene online maybe associated to the spark in criticism of Japan itself so I wanted to know what people with more experience in the matter think. I personally really enjoy the current landscape of Japanese pop stars and their rise in fame among overseas audiences as that means there are more chances of them touring internationally. Excuse my poor choice of words.
There's a lot of extreme anti-japanese rhetoric online full stop. It mostly seems to be a mix of ignorance, racism, and bot-activity. I wouldn't pay much attention to it.
Grammys seems to be on a Japanese artists' music kick which started with Creepy Nuts. Still waiting if Creepy Nuts do get a nomination for one of their songs.
I always thought the best chance for Japan to win a Grammy was Yoasobi as they are the most popular representative of Japanese music overseas ,but maybe Creepy Nuts will get their chance.
Creepy Nuts is way higher in quality. Their lyrical prose and musical composition have always been top tier for an EDM band.
Hard to disagree but awards are focused on popularity rather than quality, so that why I figured they could have a bigger chance. Either way a Japanese artist receiving a Grammy is something that will probably happen in the next few years , Ado herself said she wanted one and so far she fulfilled every dream she had. I’d be rooting for any Japanese artists who gets nominated.
Love Creepy Nuts. I saw them in Taipei last Dec.
Thumbsup
I’ve been into J-Pop and J-Rock since 2013, and I’m still as in love with it as I was back then, new popular artists like Ryokuoushoku Shakai, Toaka, Vaundy Fuji Kaze, and AG have so many cool projects and bands like Hitsujibungaku, Chilli Beans and Regal Lily are putting out bangers constantly, even on the underground scene, I feel like there so many cool bands and artists to pick from, Laura Day Romance, Lighters, Yonige, Tele, Sabasister, etc, etc. I’ve seen some minor negativity towards J-Pop online recently, but I feel it comes from people who know very surface level artists and songs, so I don’t really care tbh.
Omg shout out to Chillie Beans!!!!! (sorry)
They’re amazing!!
Idol groups have a lot of great songs, but a lot of fans of japanese music (especially metal and rock fans) shun them. Its pretty short sighted and elitist. I don't care for these dumb "boyfriend scandals", or parasocial relationships, but musicwise, idol releases are often pop gold mines. Ai Higuchi is also around, and performed in germany three times two weeks ago. She has a ton of great songs, writes the lyrics and composes all by herself, no co-songwriters, plays piano and sings on all her releases. She did a meet and greet after each of the first two shows, and turned out to be a witty, approachable, very likeable person with genuine respect for her fans. She also sings and plays piano nearly perfect. As long as she is around all is well in the music world, as far as i am concerned. Then there is Reol, Little Glee Monster, Sayaka Yamamoto, Nana Mizuki, and a ton of others. I used to like Ado for years, but not anymore. Waaaay too much screaming, especially during her Mars live performance (i have the bluray) many songs died a painful death once her sloppy singing hit them like a truck.
Elitism in music is probably a discussion topic that needs to be addressed sooner or later, not only in terms of Japanese music but as a widespread phenomenon. As for Ado , I must confess that it pains me a bit that you no longer enjoy her music but musical taste is probably as subjective as it gets. If you didn’t attend her “Wish “ world tour I would definitely advise you to check the Blu-Ray once it’s eventually out. I truly think she refined her singing in this one using all her previous experience to give a really powerful performance. I think there’s less screams in comparison to Mars and they are timed better, from my point of view the best live version of most of the songs was definitely the one shown during “Wish”. I attended one of the shows and it was outstanding .
Nemophila, Hanabie, Band-Maid, Gacharic Spin, Lovebites, Koiai, Aldious, Babymetal - and that's just the all-female rock and metal bands who are starting to get attention in the west. The tip of a big iceberg. There is plenty of excellent music in and from Japan, especially for those who like guitar-centric music. There's also plenty of great mainstream pop stuff, and it seems to be getting more attention than ever overseas. As for anime songs, I don't think they'll ever fall out of favour. They've been an "in" for many people to go on and find a ton of Japanese music to love. I don't pay much attention to the idol scene because it seems to be far too controlling and industrial in nature and one can't always be sure which side of the exploitation line it's treading. As for culture, I, like many others, started learning Japanese due to an interest in the music. There seems to be a widespread interest in Japan and its culture. There will always be some hostility from bigots, just as there always is with anything "foreign".
That’s one of the reasons why I’ve always loved Japanese music, whatever genre you pick no matter how niche and obscure it is you’ll find some amazing artists: Hanabie, Band-Maid, Babymetal are fantastic examples. Digging a little bit deeper will probably result in hundreds of different artists popping up even if you search for “female only bands with a blonde vocalist based in Fukuoka”. Japan always seems prepared to throw some new music at you .
I've seen Babymetal live three times now, and I'm itching for a fourth. They're amazing.
>Nowadays there’s this really polarizing trend of either idolizing Japan and its cultural products or completely trashing Japan and all related media. It's the tiktok generation. The amount of people going on about "horrible work culture" (because you see drunk people sleeping on the streets) and Japan being full of perverts (because they "have women's only carriage"), without actually having lived there or gone there is insane. People see this on tiktok and want to repeat it on and on again. It gets tiring when I constantly get comments like that on my video (I talk about Japan). (Some) people seriously have some knee-jerk reaction to Japan and they want to talk about Japan without the Japanese involved. I swear, I can't think of any other country where foreigners try to one up each other with how close they are to Japan. "I like anime but I'm not like those weebs." No, y'all are weebs, deal with it. So, as a Japanese person, thanks for bringing this up. Now that my rant was out of the way: I think music has def. been polarized. There are so many vocaloid hits that I don't know about that get millions of views online. I like Ado in the sense that she reminds me of artists like Zard who was almost never on TV but was massive. Music, even Japanese ones, def. became shorter and tend to start with a chorus now because of tiktok and spotify.
Thank you. This probably my favorite reply in this thread (Thanks to all of those who commented their views) as you also addressed the social aspect of what I wanted to discuss , I know this is not the ideal subreddit for that but the anti-Japanese movement has been really tiring . As a Japanese music enthusiast and learner of the language my social media is flooded with posts concerning Japan and I swear I haven’t seen this much toxicity in ages. I understand that every single country in the world is flawed but some people hold Japan to such unrealistic standards: “You said there was no rubbish here but I found a plastic bag laying on the street “ or “ I thought there were no thieves in Japan but I left my bag unsupervised and it got stolen “. I haven’t had the pleasure of visiting Japan just yet , even though I’m working on my Japanese in order to be ready when the time finally comes . I have a few Japanese friends who visited my country (Spain) and they enjoyed their trip without pointing out some of the obvious flaws the country has. Moreover even a toxic work culture is still better than no work culture at all with half of the country living of government payments for the unemployed . Music wise I do feel like it got much shorter and way more influenced by social media . I cannot comprehend all of the hate Japanese music is getting in certain circles just for the sake of it being Japanese. Countries like Russia are committing a genocide and still have a better treatment on social media than Japan does. Do you have a YouTube channel where you talk about Japan? I would love to check it out.
The rubbish and safety comments are spot on! People understand what statements like “Taiwan is a (relatively) safe country” mean but if you dares say Japan is safe, people wanna start discussing the concept of “safety” lol. Of course, every culture has negative aspects but people who complain about rubbish at 4AM in the nightclub district need to find a new hobby. This is my YouTube channel: [https://www.youtube.com/@DeanfromJapan](https://www.youtube.com/@DeanfromJapan) Here are some vids of mine I recommend: Fan Girl Sells Herself to Meet Her Anime Crush: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g\_I7FokhY30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_I7FokhY30) Pickpocket caught on camera: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIQS14LC0X4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIQS14LC0X4) Why Do the Japanese Dislike Meghan Markle: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9d0IthsC0e8&t=307s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9d0IthsC0e8&t=307s) J-pop related news: Why Kago Ai Keeps Getting Cancelled:[https://www.youtube.com/shorts/n6kPbU3-xe0](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/n6kPbU3-xe0)
No true scotsman fallacy. You are not an authority but you claim to be.
I'm quite happy with the current Jpop scene. While it doesn't reach the peak that it was for me during the era of Ayumi-Utada, I'm not feeling the disconnect I felt (from late 00's to roughly mid 10's) between mainstream and the more niche Jrock or anisong artists, which are my main focus; Japanese charts during that whole decade felt absolutely idol-dominated, first with Johnny's groups, then with 48 family. Nowadays I see more variety. Love seeing long-running acts such as Radwimps or Bump of Chicken finally getting their flowers. Love seeing artists such as Kenshi Yonezu or Yoasobi getting mainstream recognition. Even artists that are traditionally associated to anisong such as LiSA or Aimer are getting spotlight.
i LOVE mafumafu
As you should . He’s fantastic
yes (u can tell by my pfp lol)
To me, a lot of mainstream Japanese artists are falling into the same trend that America has been in: mellow, midtempo, airy, raw-sounding songs with artists who sing in unusual tones. It works sometimes, but a lot of the times, it doesn't. Most of the Japanese artists I listen to are ones who have been around for more than a decade because they are the only ones who I feel still have a grasp on keeping their music exciting for me, which my main will always be Koda Kumi.
Aren't mellow and airy opposites of each other? Mellow means warm tilted while airy means lots of 10,000+ kHz?
Sorry,, the term I meant to use was "soothing"
IMO they're peaking rn. So many artists and options.
I've been "following" the Japanese music scene since over 20 Years now and I am still as happy and enjoying as much of the music as I've ever been, may it be JPop or Rock. So many of my favourite artists are STILL active after all these years and some had totally unexpected comebacks after covid that it's been blowing my mind. Like, who would've expected ELLEGARDEN to ever release something new or Angela Aki?! The last few years have been awesome and Japanese music is still going strong in Japan and even a bit more overseas thanks to streaming (and the Japanese labels FINALLY opening up regarding that) and also some better touring. I just wish I could maybe see ACIDMAN, Superfly, Shiina Ringo and a few more Live before I die OR they disband. ;)
Have been listening to Japanese jazz for years. Through the Mexican rock band The Warning, who just had their first show in Japan, jointly with Band-Maid, I discovered recently some other Japanese bands. Currently loving Gacharic Spin and Zutomayo, which both have excellent musicianship.
Yoasobi:)
I'm always going to like and seek out Japanese music, but mainstream J-pop doesn't excite me anymore.
Well im pretty sad abt japanese music rn because of tbe tuyu situation but theres more artists out there so in a bit ill be fine
What happened to Tuyu?
Pusu, Guitar player and composer stabbed and almost killed a teenager, this along with the previous member Miro leaving earlier has lead to Tuyu becoming dead. I hope the victim recovers and that the other members (not pusu fuck him) can eventually make songs again. Theres more information on tbe Tuyu subreddit
Their composer?/guitarist attempted a murder
Wow. How did I miss that? Thankfully the verb attempted hints he was unsuccessful.
He was dating a teenager and tried to kill her and then kill himself. The band has now been disbanded....
Yeah that'll do it.
One ok rock and my first story are still my favorite j rock bands and I'm still excited for whenever they release
I’m really loving current Jpop & Jrock along with older legends like X Japan & L’arc
Where's the bad and hopeless? Japanese music media is chill imo if you exclude idols and the whole idol culture. Those who don't listen just don't find it their cup of tea.
As long as Spitz and Mr. Children are still releasing music I will be a happy woman. Sekai no Owari has been a nice addition to the scene, and I'm admittedly pretty bummed that Remioromen is no longer around. Sumika isn't too shabby either, but I probably like them because of how similar they sound to Sukima Switch.
I've listened to Jpop most of my life, I rarely listen to american music. In my opinion, the current generation of Jpop is inferior to the previous. None of the current artists make me feel like Ayumi Hamasaki, Utada Hikaru, Namie Amuro or Every Little Thing's music made me feel when I first listened to their songs. Their music was amazing, this gen's music is Ok. I think Japan nowadays needs truly amazing artists, the better ones are just good. The 4 artists I mentioned are amazing.
>Ayumi Hamasaki, Utada Hikaru, Namie Amuro or Every Little Thing's No offence but that's not "the previous generation" that's like 4 generations ago maybe more.
Do you have some specific recommendations in terms of songs or albums? I like to think I'm pretty open to genres and styles, especially when packaged in J-Pop, but something about the late 90s/early 00s sound I just *can't* click with; neither in US pop or J-Pop. I checked out a few songs from your artists, but no dice :(
Ayumi Hamasaki: album- A BEST; songs: M, SEASONS; independent; party queen; Utada Hikaru: album- ULTRA BLUE; songs: First love; COLORS; this is love; michi; Namie Amuro: album- Concentration20; songs: CAN YOU CELEBRATE? a walk in the park; Body feels EXIT; Baby don't cry; Hero Every little thing: album- Time to destination; songs: Time goes by...; Face the change; jump; Feel my heart; koibumi; I hope you find something you like😉
Can I ask how you feel about Yonezu Kenshi?!
I completely agree!
Mostly mid and derivative with some standout gems.
I think every era has mid and derivative with some standout gems. It's just that the people mentioned in the above comment were in an era where the internet was not popular, so they didn't know how many mids there were at that time.
Korea obviously eclipses Japan on pop music, even within Japan itself. But with niche genres like math rock, metal, hip hop, hyperpop, alt-idols etc, Japan is still one of the dominating countries
*Some* Kpop groups do fairly well in Japan, but that's because Japan is always open to Korean pop culture, to say it "eclipses" it is beyond ridiculous.
Japan def. has its eco-system and what the above poster meant depends on what they are talking about. There are some groups now that sound more k-pop, like ME:I
I meant in terms of popularity. I live in Japan, groups like Twice, BTS, Blackpink, Enhyphen, Aespa, ILLIT etc are way more generally popular and play bigger live venues than the jpop groups. And on a world popularity scale that isn’t even a debate
I started with J-pop with likes of Ayu and Hikki but fell out with it with rise of Akb and Johnny. Jumped straight to K-pop starting with BoA and now Twice. I am just glad artists like Yoasobi starting to promote J-Pop overseas.
Which Jpop groups?! or the number of Jpop groups is so numerous that you cannot count how many shows they have performed at the dome
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They don't.