Three Lesser-Known Subgenres of Japanese Pop Music

Concert with japan flag
These three subgenres of Japanese pop combined Western and Japanese musical traditions to produce unique sounds that captured the spirit of their times.

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Japanese popular music, better known as J-Pop, is a mix of Japanese musical tradition and Western influence.  The largest Western influences of J-Pop is 60s pop and rock music, similar to that of the Beach Boys and The Beatles. When combined with the 12-tone Japanese musical scales, this makes for a distinctive take on popular music, often locked within a very specific time and locale.

Notable offshoots of Japanese popular music include visual kei, enka and idol music, which often serve as gateways to Japanese culture in and of itself.  Today we’ll look at three lesser-known subgenres: the optimistic and mature City Pop, the chic and indie Shibuya-kei, and the high-pitched, surrealist Denpa Song

City Pop

A fusion of easy-listening , disco and jazz, city pop is a hallmark of 1970s and 1980s Japan.  Thanks to the economy at the time, Japan experienced an unprecedented amount of wealth and electronics.  It was in the 1980s that Sony’s revolutionary Walkman made its worldwide debut, along with the car stereo, were the perfect instruments for night time cruising.  It was a time for innovation, and it showed in the music of city pop.

Konukaame

Provided to YouTube by WM Japan Konukaame · Ginji Ito Deadly Drive ℗ 1977 WARNER MUSIC JAPAN INC. Composer, Lyricist: Ginji Ito Auto-generated by YouTube.


Ito Ginji’s “Konukaame” (1977). Easy listening perfect for a night drive.

Contrary to the political messages of enka and folk music that dominated the 1970s, city pop  was much more mellow, cosmopolitan and passive. In addition, there are American, Polynesian, and Caribbean musical influences, evoking a sense of escapism to faraway destinations.  Because of its international aesthetic, city pop gives the listener a sense of “uncanny valley”, but in the most cohesive way:

I think you can hear the respect they have for American music. They can extract what’s important from American music and use that as a jumping-off point.

– Kitazawa Yosuke, producer of Light in the Attic’s Japan’s Archival Series

吉田美奈子 – Midnight Driver

Artist: Yoshida Minako Album: Monochrome Label: Alfa Year: 1980 https://www.discogs.com/artist/315098-Minako-Yoshida ★★I do not own anything in this video. All rights go to their rightful owners. If you have any problem with this video, contact me and I will take it down immediately.★★

Yoshida Minako’s “Midnight Driver” (1980). A smooth take on West Coast funk.

Though it went out of style after Japan’s economic bubble burst in the 1990s, city pop experienced a resurgence of popularity in the late 2010s through the rise of vaporwave. Takeuchi Mariya’s “Plastic Love” in particular, has gained worldwide popularity with over 30 million plays on YouTube, despite it being originally released in 1984 to moderate success.  In a recent NHK interview about this sleeper hit, Takeuchi said:

私の36年前の作品である「プラスティック・ラヴ」が、なぜか、一昨年あたりからでしょうか、海外の若者の間で人気を得るという不思議な現象が起こっておりまして、その再生回数の多さに、正直私自身が一番驚いているわけなんですけれども。20代だった私が洋楽テイストを目指して作った、この楽曲をまさに洋楽の本場にいる若者たちが今、好んで聞いてくれているというこの事実を、とても素直にうれしいと思っておりますし、個人的には自分のアルバムの中でも、アレンジも演奏も最も好きなトラックの一つだったので、今更ながら本当に作った甲斐があったなと思っております。

To be honest, I was surprised to hear about how [Plastic Love] became so popular with overseas youth, seeing as how it was a song I wrote 36 years ago.  [However], when I originally wrote it in my twenties, I intended for it to have a Western flavor, and now young people–who are at the heart of Western music–are listening to this song. Personally, it was one of my favorite songs to arrange and play, which makes it all worthwhile.

-Takeuchi Mariya, singer-songwriter

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Takeuchi Mariya’s “Plastic Love” (1984), the gateway city pop song for today’s youth.

Shibuya-kei

With the 1990s came Shibuya-kei, a form of indie pop music.  Similar to city pop, it borrowed from international genres such as 60s pop, electronic music, and chanson, but it had more of an arthouse vibe than a cosmopolitan one.  The etymology of “Shibuya-kei” comes from Tokyo’s Shibuya neighborhood, where youth culture made its mark.  Shibuya’s amalgamation of fashion boutiques, record stores and nightclubs  in particular contributed to the development of the genre.

The Quizmaster 奈落のクイズマスター / FLIPPER’S GUITAR【Official Music Video】

The Quizmaster 奈落のクイズマスター (M.V.) / FLIPPER’S GUITAR THE LOST PICTURES,ORIGINAL CLIPS & CM’S plus TESTAMENT TFG Television Service収録 2004.1.28リリース PSBR-5014 ヘッド博士の世界塔 DOCTOR HEAD’S WORLD TOWER 収録 1991.7.10リリース Lyric / Music / Arrange:DOUBLE KNOCKOUT CORPORATION Flipper’s Guitar(フリッパーズ・ギター)Profile 1987年に小山田圭吾、小沢健二らにより前身バンド”Lollipop Sonic”(ロリポップ・ソニック)を結成。’89年8月、バンド名を”The Flipper’s Guitar”(フリッパーズ・ギター)に改名し、1stアルバム『THREE CHEERS FOR OUR SIDE〜海へ行くつもりじゃなかった~』でデビュー。’89年11月より小山田と小沢の2人となり、翌年6月に2ndアルバム『CAMERA TALK』、’91年7月には『DOCTOR HEAD’S WORLD TOWER~ヘッド博士の世界塔~』を発表し同年10月に解散。後に渋谷系の中心的なアーティストと称され、さまざまな音楽シーンに影響を残す。

“Doctor Head’s World Tower” by Flipper’s Guitar (1991). Note the Beach Boys-esque layered vocals , 1960s psychedelia, and grungy guitar.

Shibuya-kei, at its core, was experimental, with hipsters as its core demographic.  This fact is more circumstantial than pejorative.  The kitsch aesthetic in particular was the name of the game, allowing artists and listeners alike to copy-and-paste what they found appealing rather than what was deemed “good”. Konishi Yasuharu, founding member of the seminal Shibuya-kei group Pizzicato Five, sums it up as follows:

Shibuya in the ’90s is just like Haight-Ashbury [hipster neighborhood in San Francisco] in the ’60s. The young people there are always thinking about how to be cool.

-Konishi Yasuharu, Shibuya-kei musician and member of Pizzicato Five

Tokyo, mon amour – Pizzicato five

Uploaded by pixel Y (Y Pixel) on 2015-06-15.

Pizzicato Five’s “Tokyo, mon amour” (Tokyo, my love) (1997). This song is much more on the lounge music side.

Because Shibuya-kei was more of a loose cultural movement than a strictly defined genre, it was only as strong as its musical collective. Thus, when the musicians moved on to other genres and/or ventures near the end of the decade, the movement ceased to exist.  Later iterations of Shibuya-kei would use electronic music as a framing device, feeding more into avant-garde futurism. Nevertheless, the songs were still radio-friendly, even with their indie sentiments.

takako minekawa

fantastic cat

Minekawa Takako’s “Fantastic Cat” (1997). Electro-pop with hypnotically repetitive lyrics and postmodern imagery.

Denpa Song

Denpa song is a form of Japanese pop music that features fast-paced electronic music and high-pitched vocals. It’s mostly popular with members of the otaku (Japanese word for “geek” or “nerd”) community, particularly those who are fans of anime. Because of this association, it is also known as Akiba-pop, as Tokyo’s Akihabara neighborhood is a notable mecca of otaku culture. However, despite its adorable vocals and hyperactive sounds, Denpa has a complex history.

High! High! High!

Provided to YouTube by NexTone Inc. High! High! High! · 民安ともえ アリスボーカルコレクション2 Released on: 2011-12-22 Auto-generated by YouTube.

“High, High, High!” by the prolific vocalist Tamiyasu Tomoe (2011). A quintessential denpa song, complete with rapid-fire lyrics and happy hardcore production.

The word “denpa” means “electromagnetic waves”, and originally became a hot topic after the Fukugawa Street Stabbings in 1981. The perpetrator had killed two housewives and two toddlers during his rampage. In court, he pleaded insanity and claimed that electromagnetic waves told him to stab people.  While the insanity plea didn’t hold up (he received a life sentence), a few other people shared his sentiments about electromagnetic waves. This gave rise to the term “denpa-kei”, which meant people who were crazed, creepy, or otherwise delusional.

In spite of its pejorative origins, denpa-kei became less about delusion and more about nonsensical, hyperactive surrealism.  Similar to Shibuya-kei, Denpa song is a subculture in and of itself, and focuses on transporting the listener to a quirky and off-beat world.

emamouse – Shitting Song

https://seum.bandcamp.com/album/tiny-orange-slicker-for-birds Track 4 from Tiny Orange Slicker for Birds 2018

Emamouse’s “Shitting Song”. (2018) It is one of her instrumental denpa tracks and borrows heavily from 8-bit videogame soundtracks, namely the chiptune genre.

Not all denpa songs have cute or banal undertones. The repetitive lyrics and melodies have an addictive quality, specifically known as doku-denpa, or “electromagnetic poisoning”.  Therefore, due to its niche demographic, it has managed to persist as a subculture over the past 20 years, with various interpretations.  Even though public opinion of denpa song is still polarizing within Japanese society, denpa song is still ripe with potential for experimentation, and an enduring fandom.

アカリがやってきたぞっ

(紲星あかりは)初投稿です。(2回目) ▼アルバム情報 この動画の楽曲はC94新作「超銀河キズユカ歌合戦」収録曲です。 作品詳細はこちら→http://www.gyari.com/content/cho-kizuyuka/ ※とらのあな・メロンブックス店舗委託しています。 ※ヴィレッジヴァンガード・Amazonでも予約受付中。 ★各種音楽配信サービスにてアルバム配信中!★ 超銀河キズユカ歌合戦 https://nex-tone.link/A00088413 収録曲同時アップ ・アカリがやってきたぞっ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyneiz9FRMw ・幾望の月 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4k9fPvw_LQ ●オフボーカル版→http://bit.ly/2zFP17P ●niconico版→http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm33897535 ★LINEクリエイターズスタンプ(※)配信:https://store.line.me/stickershop/product/9544946/ja ★音ゲーjubeat配信決定! ★カラオケDAM配信中! ★カラオケJOYSOUND配信中! ※紲星あかりの版権元であるVOCALOMAKETS様からのリリースです 前作:楽曲バトル!紲星イキリと化した後輩 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8Vs_tfm8Jc ▼ライブの告知 ※終了しました 2018.9.22~23に行われる、ボカロPが結月ゆかり曲・紲星あかり曲をバンドで生演奏するイベント「ゆかりあかりフェス!奏 2018」へ、GYARI率いるバンド「GYABAN」が出演します。 イベント詳細はこちら→https://www.vocalomakets.com/blog/archives/1160 ※この楽曲は、 ①音声素材集「紲星あかり exVOICE Vol.1」と、 ②「VOCALOID4 紲星あかり」と、 ③ボカロ版紲星あかりに付属されている「追加音声素材のexVOICE」 を使用して作成しています。 ※ボイスロイドは使用していません。 横1920×縦1080/AAC(80kbps)音質 GYARI(ココアシガレットP) mylist/6704802 Twitter – @GYARI_ www.gyari.com

Gyari’s “Akari ga Yatte Kita So” (2018). A more jazzy interpretation of denpa song, full of onomatopoeia.

Further Reading

  1. O, Safiyah. “JAPANESE ‘CITY POP [シティポップ]’: A DREAMY TRIP BACK TO JAPANS CAPITALIST FANTASY OF THE 1980S.” Beardedgentlemenmusic.com, Bearded Gentlemen Music, 23 Aug. 2017, beardedgentlemenmusic.com/2017/08/23/japanese-city-pop-1980s/.
  2. Blistein, Jon. “City Pop: Why Does the Soundtrack to Tokyo’s Tech Boom Still Resonate?” Rolling Stone, Rolling Stone, 3 May 2019, www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/japanese-city-pop-returns-light-in-the-attic-compilation-pacific-breeze-822663/.
  3. Jarvis, Stephan Jan, et al. “A Complete Guide to Shibuya-Kei: Tokyo’s ’90s Music Revival.” Tokyo Weekender, 1 Apr. 2020, www.tokyoweekender.com/2020/03/complete-guide-shibuya-kei/.
  4. Ohanesian, Liz. “Japanese Indie Pop: The Beginner’s Guide to Shibuya-Kei.” LA Weekly, 23 May 2019, www.laweekly.com/japanese-indie-pop-the-beginners-guide-to-shibuya-kei/.
  5. Tornow, Samuel. “The Uncomfortable, Mysterious Beauty of Emamouse’s Denpa Song.” Bandcamp Daily, Bandcamp, 22 Jan. 2020, daily.bandcamp.com/features/emamouse-feature.
  6. “Denpa-Kei Subculture.” Denpa-Kei Subculture, 19 Dec. 2012, web.archive.org/web/20131015154152/denpa.omaera.org/culture.html.

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