Catchier Than You Think~! -- Popular Music of Japan

In Japan, music is just as popular as it is here. Of course, they also regularly listen to American music, while Japanese music is known as J-Pop, J-Rock, etc.

Music in Japan is also tied to Anime, which have openings and endings in episodes featuring a different song by a Japanese artist, and rarely an American one (if so, it's doubtful you've heard of them; undiscovered talent, if you will). An example would be Bleach or Naruto, who've had a number of seasons, and for every new season there's a new opening and ending; each possessing a new song.

Let's start with J-Rock, just because I can think of them off the top of my head. There are a lot of popular Japanese bands like those in the States, and the same goes with other countries. Two well-known Japanese Rock bands are Nightmare and Maximum the Hormone. Nightmare is known for the opening, 'The WORLD', and ending, 'Alumina' from the Anime Death Note; and Maximum the Hormone for the opening, 'What's Up, People?!' and ending, 'Zetsubou Billy' also for Death Note. Another popular band is FLOW, known for their three contributions to the openings of the Anime Naruto and Naruto: Shippuuden, and also for the opening of the Anime Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion. In order, the songs were, 'GO!!!', 'Re:member', 'Sign', and 'COLORS'. But I think out of all of them, one of the most popular and influential of Japanese rock bands has to be L'Arc~en~Ciel ('The Rainbow' in French), shown below, who were formed in 1991. Their song, 'Ready Steady Go' was featured as the first opening to the Anime Fullmetal Alchemist, and their songs, 'Link' and, 'Lost Heaven' were the opening and ending themes to the Fullmetal Alchemist Movie.



Next is J-Pop, my second favorite J-Music genre. Dubbed, "The Empress of Pop" in Japan, is one of my favorite artists, Ayumi Hamasaki. I like to call her the Japanese Lady GaGa, because she debuted in 1998 with her Single, 'Poker Face'. Ironic, no? Regardless, she is one of the most popular Pop singers in Japan, and many of her songs have been featured in Japanese Ads and Commercials. Another popular artist, and one of my favorites, is Ai Otsuka. Her name, Ai, means Love in Japanese. She is best known for her song, 'Sakuranbo', and my personal favorites, 'Planetarium' and 'Cherish' are also well-known. The last J-Pop artist I'll talk about is a two-person band named Do As Infinity, who are known for two ending themes and an opening theme for the Anime InuYasha.

Finally there's J-Hip/Hop. A popular group of said genre is HOME MADE Kazoku (Kazoku meaning, 'family' in Japanese). This trio is best known for their song, 'Nagareboshi Shooting Star', which was also featured as the first ending theme for Naruto: Shippuuden; and their song, 'Thank You!!' used as the second ending theme for Bleach. Another Hip-Hop group from Japan is nobodyknows+, whose recent single, 'Hero's Come Back!!' was chosen as the first opening theme to Naruto: Shippuuden.

One last genre of J-Music (that I almost forgot about...) is Japanese Electronic, which I affectionately dubbed J-Tech. I can only tell you about one artist from this genre, which is Aural Vampire; seen below. It's made up of two members, and have extremely catchy songs. I recommend their songs, "Darkwave Surfer" and, "Freeeze!!" if you're a fan of Daft Punk.



Honestly, even if you don't quite understand what they're saying off the top of your head, Japanese is a great music to get into. I recommend all of the artists I wrote about above, and luckily most of them are available on iTunes.