Arashi and the Sound of an Olympic Summer
Released after Rio 2016 had ended, Arashi’s “Power of the Paradise” shows how Nippon TV could turn a pop song into the memory of a national event.
レイエップ
Pierre “Reyep” RENAUD is the founder of J-POP streaming. For more than 25 years, he has helped Japanese music travel beyond Japan, from founding the international media network JaME to serving as Content and Guest Manager for Japan Expo. Today, he listens across genres and generations, connecting new releases with the artists, scenes and stories that shaped them.
50 Japanese Albums That Defined 1986
From Seiko Matsuda and BOØWY to ambient, early rap and Dragon Quest, 50 albums that show how widely Japanese music moved in 1986.
Yours Sincerely: Haruomi Hosono in Real Time
International listeners spent years discovering Haruomi Hosono through old records. Yours Sincerely lets them meet his music at the moment it is made.
Blue Comets ’66: Twelve Songs of Their Own
On September 10, 1966, the Blue Comets followed their Beatles welcome with twelve original songs. The foreign covers had disappeared.
Chōshinsei: Masaharu Fukuyama Puts His Past to the Test
Masaharu Fukuyama surrounds Chōshinsei with 30 years of re-recorded, remixed and remastered songs. “The Latest Is the Greatest” is now a claim for listeners to test.
Nagisa: Spitz’s summer begins on September 9, 1996
Released on September 9, 1996 after missing its planned summer date, “Nagisa” reached number one for Spitz and kept travelling through commercials, broadcasts, covers and one battered VHS.
1966: Did the Beatles Change Japanese Music?
The Beatles’ Budokan concerts came to symbolize Japan’s musical revolution in 1966. Yet several futures were already taking shape when they arrived in Tokyo.
Saikō ka yo at 10: When HKT48 Wrote Fans In
Ten years ago, HKT48 built fan calls into “Saikō ka yo” and handed Hana Matsuoka her first center. The single became the group’s eighth consecutive number one.
The song that launched Ichiro Araki turns 60
Ichiro Araki’s debut single turns 60. Three minutes, 600,000 copies and the beginning of one of Japanese music’s most elusive careers.
100 Japanese singles that shaped the sound of 1996
From globe and Namie Amuro to Fishmans, LAMP EYE and enka, these 100 singles map the year Japan’s CD boom reached full force—and its musical future broke through.
PSYENCE: hide refused to choose a genre
Released on September 2, 1996, PSYENCE moved from big-band brass to industrial rock, garage punk and pop without allowing any genre to define hide.
Maki Ohguro reunites 55 BLACK and 55 RED
55 RED arrives today with 55 BLACK RETURNS. Maki Ohguro completes a two-album project conceived at 55 as her 35th-anniversary campaign begins.