J-Pop facts for kids

J-pop an abbreviation for Japanese pop, natively also known simply as pops, is a musical genre that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1990s.

Modern J-pop has its roots in traditional Japanese music, but significantly in 1960s pop and rock music, such as The Beatles and The Beach Boys, which led to Japanese rock bands such as Happy End fusing rock with Japanese music in the early 1970s.

J-pop was further defined by new wave groups in the late 1970s, particularly electronic synth-pop band Yellow Magic Orchestra and pop rock band Southern All Stars.

At first, the term J-pop was used only for Western-style musicians in Japan, just after Japanese radio station J-Wave was established. On the other hand, it is said that J-pop was originally derived from the Eurobeat genre. However, the term became a blanket term, covering other music genres—such as the majority of Japanese rock music of the 1990s.

Eventually, J-pop replaced kayōkyoku ("Lyric Singing Music", a term for Japanese pop music from the 1920s to the 1980s) in the Japanese music scene. The term was coined by the Japanese media to distinguish Japanese music from foreign music, and now refers to most Japanese popular music.

History

Yumi Matsutoya, also known as Yuming, Yumi Arai or Karuho Kureta, is considered by many the "mother" of modern-day J-Pop. She has been one of the most successful Japanese singer-songwriters in the twentieth century in the world of pop music. Almost half of her albums reached number one at the Japanese Oricon charts, and all of her albums reached top 10 since her first album, Hikōki-gumo in 1973. She has sold over 37,800,000 copies of albums and singles.

Some Japanese pop artists are extremely popular in Japan, and some also have fanbases in other countries—especially in Asia, but also in Western countries. They influence not only music, but also fashion. As of 2016, the top five best-selling artists in the Japanese Oricon charts history are B'z, Mr. Children, Ayumi Hamasaki, Southern All Stars, and Dreams Come True. Among the five, Hamasaki holds the record for being the only solo artist.

Images for kids

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  Ichiro Fujiyama, influential ryūkōka singer

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  Nippon Budokan, legendary place for Japanese musicians

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  Shibuya-kei artist Keigo Oyamada (left) with YMO member Ryuichi Sakamoto

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  Concert of pioneer of visual kei, X Japan at Hong Kong in 2009 after their 2007 reunion

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  Mr. Children's 1994 album Atomic Heart sold over 3.4 million copies

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  Namie Amuro (center) performs at MTV Asia Aid in Bangkok, Thailand in 2005.

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  Hikaru Utada debuted in 1998

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  Ayumi Hamasaki in London, February 2010

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  Green Stage of the Fuji Rock Festival

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  AKB48 has occupied the top spot in the Oricon yearly single sales ranking every year since 2010.

See also

In Spanish: J-pop para niños