Known as a “pioneer of black music”, Japan’s leading soul singer Toshi Kubota has released a new song called “Boogie Ride”, which I would like to introduce. We all know Toshi’s representative song “LA LA LA LOVE SONG”, a duet with Naomi Campbell released in 1996. It became a million seller as the theme song for “Long Vacation”, a tv drama starring Takuya Kimura...
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...
Growing up, I enjoyed listening to Japanese Showa Pops as well as American and British music, and this had a huge impact on my life. As a DJ in the 80’s, I enjoyed playing Ray Parker Jr, Earth Wind and Fire, and other hot R&B and Disco music for large crowds in clubs and discos around Tokyo and Yokohama. I love the 80’s! Japan at the...
Who is Japan’s No. 1 band? My response would be “Southern All Stars”. They are a great band who has released so many hit songs since their debut in 1978. When I was 13 years old, I first heard their debut song “Katteni Sindbad” and remember getting goosebumps. It is when I heard “Itoshi no Ellie”, that I realized the profound impact that music had...
The anime film “Kimetsu no Yaiba” was recently broadcast on Japan’s Fuji Television during prime time TV for two weeks in a row. The blockbuster manga comic series ”Kimetsu no Yaiba”, published for the “Weekly Shonen Jump” magazine, concluded earlier this year in May, and boasts a cumulative circulation that exceeds 100 million. The drama behind humans and demons, the swordfighting, and the sometimes...
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...
GREAT NEWS! It was announced that ONE OK ROCK will hold its first online live <ONE OK ROCK 2020 “Field of Wonder” at Stadium Live Streaming> on October 11th. The performance will be broadcast live from ZOZO Marine Stadium to the world at the same time, and an online live performance that can only be expressed by non-audience will be held. Check this out!
There are many music genres in Japan. Some of you may be familiar with City Pop, or Japanese pop music from the 70’s and 80’s, which has become popular outside of Japan in recent years. Tatsuro Yamashita, Mariya Takeuchi, Toshiki Kadomastu, and Anri are all examples of artists from this genre, whose songs have become popular among young people in Europe, America and Asia...
