J-Pop queen Yumi Matsutoya, or Yuming, released a new album “Shinkai no Machi” on December 1st for the first time in four years. This is her 39th album, counting from “Hikoki-gumo”, which was released when she debuted in 1973 as Yumi Arai. As part of the promotion for this new album, Yuming has made several guest appearances in Japanese TV programs. We learned some interesting...
Maria Takeuchi’s concert video “souvenir the movie ~ MARIYA TAKEUCHI Theater Live ~” was recently released in Japan on November 18th. This is the first time she has ever released a video in her 41 year musical career. Fans were also delighted to see the participation of Tatsuro Yamashita in the band, as he is known to never make video appearances. The DVD/Blu-ray...
The song by Miki Matsubara, “Stay with me” (Mayonaka no Door), which any City Pop fan would be familiar with, has been played 4.6 million times over the past year on Spotify. The number of views is increasing in Thailand and Malaysia, and in Indonesia it has been played 30,000 times this recent month. I am happy to see this phenomenon, but at the...
Kyohei Tsutsumi, the composer of many hit Japanese Kayokyoku songs, has passed away. It would not be an exaggeration to say that he has created most of the hit songs that everyone in Japan has sang along to at one time, since the 1960’s to the present. I grew up listening to these songs. To distinguish this genre from “City Pop”, led by the...
Do you know Gen Hoshino? If so, you may know him as a talented actor in Japan, who has recently starred in popular TV dramas such as “MIU404” and “The full-time wife escapist”. Or, you may know him as a talented music artist, who is actively creating music and performing live shows. Why is he such a popular actor and music artist? Gen Hoshino...
When thinking about who is King of City Pop, no one is better deserving of the crown than Tatsuro Yamashita. He has many hits, including his album and single of the same name “RIDE ON TIME”, which became a smash hit upon its release in 1980 and reaching #1 in the Oricon rankings. But most notable, in my opinion, is his sixth album and...
