J-POP
Definition of J-POP
Yoshiaki Sato, Professor of Tokyo University, says in his book, What is J-POP？ that the
word of “J-POP” was born somewhere around 1988 in Japan. Before that time, Japanese
popular music, “Kayokyoku”, was basically a kind of poor imitation of American popular music,
of course several unusually great songs were made though. “Kayokyoku” is said to have
evolved into J-POP which has its own distinct style.
J-POP includes Japanese folk, rock, reggae, R&B, Hip Hop, and pops. Today, the young
Japanese generation is listening to J-POP with their i-pods. On the other hand, Japanese
middle-aged and elderly people are singing “Enka” (Japanese traditional popular music) at
karaoke bars. So we can say that J-POP is the music which is favored mainly by Japanese
youth.
Early Days of Japanese Pops
After the Second World War, the American Occupation Force governed Japan
temporarily. Day by day, American popular music poured into the American base camps in
Japan. Japanese boys and girls encountered American pops at the parties there. In the
meantime, some Japanese musicians started to play American pops in the 1950s.
And then they made the Japanese version of American pops; they added the Japanese
lyrics to American songs. “Kodomoja Naino” sung by Mieko Hirota, the first big hit of Japanese
pops, was based on “Don’t Treat Me Like A Child” written by J. F. Schroeder & M. E. Hawker.
Gradually, Japanese song writers came to write their own songs in their mother tongue.
“Ueo Muite Alukou” sung by Kyu Samamoto topped the Billboard, the American hit chart.
Americans loved that song calling it “Sukiyaki”
Beatlemania in Japan
The high speed of the Shinkansen symbolized the rapid economic recovery of Japan. Its
high speed gave the Japanese a feeling that their future was bright. The Tokyo Olympic
Games in 1964 was an epoch-making event which showed the world that Japan was no
longer a developing country but a developed country.
The symbolic phenomena mentioned above allowed the Japanese teenagers to buy the
Beatles’ records. That is how Japan became the one and only country in Asia which could
accept the Beatles without big delay after England.
In 1966, the Beatles came to Japan. Even though some schools prohibited students
from going to the concerts, many students enjoyed the Beatlesʼshow at the Budokan.
The Beatles taught Japanese youth to have fun, to wear flashy clothes, to dance to wild
rock 'n' roll music―to be themselves, not copies of their parents. So Japanese boys began to
form rock ’n’ roll bands as soon as they could play two or three chords. As a result, many
professional rock ’n’ roll groups were born in Japan. They were called “Group Sounds” (GS).
The Influence of the Counterculture
The counterculture in the 1960s in America reached the universities’ campuses in
Japan in the early 1970s. The campuses were filled with T-shirts and blue jeans, the uniform
of hippies, and anti-war folk music. The folk music became the main stream of the Japanese
music scene led by Takuro Yoshida and Shigeru Izumiya. College folk music with having
fewer political messages also prospered,
The rock sound and the social message of folk music were put together by Happy End,
Their sound was more sophisticated than that of GS. In addition, their lyrics were more artistic
than that of Japanese folk music. The music in the 1970s was called “New Music”.
High-quality Music
Takuro Yoshida Happy End
After breaking up, the members of Happy End made their way into various musical fields.
Takashi, Matsumoto became a songwriter for Japanese pop idols. He drastically developed
the lyrics of Japanese pops with his intelligence and sophistication. Eiichi Otaki started to
pursue his solo activities. His first solo album, A Long Vacation, had a strong impact on the
Japanese music scene. It was the cream of Japanese pops. Haruomi Hosono formed Yellow
Magic Orchestra (YMO) with Ryuichi Sakamoto, a composer of the theme song for ‘Merry
Christmas!, Mr. Laurence’ in which David Bowie stared. Shigeru Suzuki formed Tin Pan Alley
with Masataka Matsutoya. Tin Pan Alley made their own albums, but at the same time, they
played for other musicians like Yumi Arai(later called Yumin) and Tatsuro Yamashita.
Thanks to the Happy End family, the quality of Japanese pops got a lot better. Besides,
Japanese pops came to possess internationality with its high-quality sounds in the 1980s.
source:www.t-fukuya.net
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