When I first arrived in Japan I spent three days in Tokyo at an orientation for my new teaching gig. I attended a workshop about Japanese pop culture in an effort to become hip to life in Japan. Following an introduction to popular Japanese television, we came to the music portion of the lecture. The…
J-Rock stars Bump Of Chicken haven’t released a new single in two years, practically an eternity in the J-Music business. I’ve never listened to this rock group before, but the new single in question, “R.I.P./Merry Christmas,” popped up on the Internet a few days ago. This isn’t just another new release…this is the first new…
Terribly named J-Hip-Hop group Funky Monkey Babys (no, really) recently went to China to perform, and thank God some Japanese show filmed this adventure. Now I know those Funky Monkey Babys can speak a sentence or two of Chinese! [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5s299dME0AE&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1] (Via Japan Probe)
Music Station is one of the longest running music TV shows in Japan. Every week, the show counts down the top selling singles and albums of the week, while also inviting several artists on to perform their respective hits. Many American artists even pencil in appearances on this show to promote their music. In an…
I’m not ready to write up some grand thesis on the matter, but I believe one of the biggest differences between American and Japanese pop is the degree to which their audiences go along with the star’s images. In the U.S. message boards chirp with discussions about the politics of Lady GaGa and don’t question…