Japanese pop music is crap. So say many of my friends, especially the non-Japanese ones. They reach that conclusion after noticing that the charts are full of chipmunk-voiced idols who are long on looks and short on talent -- and whose shelf lives are only slightly longer than sushi.
But if you separate the rice from the chaff, you'll find that some of the most interesting, challenging and just plain good music being made on the planet today comes from Japan. In the last decade or so, the quality of Japanese pop music (J-pop, as it's usually termed) has increased enormously, while the stylistic range has expanded to cover just about every known (and unknown) musical genre.
There's the shimmering pure pop of female duo Puffy, the mysteriously seductive vocals of singer/songwriter Ua, the brilliantly eclectic pop/rock fusion of Great 3, the dark underground sounds of DJ Krush, the passionate indie guitar-rock of Syrup16g, the infectious ethnic sounds of Okinawa's Shoukichi Kina and Champloose . . . the list is endless.