2002 was not a vintage year, to put it mildly, for the Japanese music industry. Sales of CDs were down for the fourth straight year, and just one single -- female vocalist Ayumi Hamasaki's "H" (Avex) -- topped the million-sales mark during the year, compared with five in 2001.
While the mainstream J-Pop scene produced some decent stuff last year -- for example, Ken Hirai's "Okina Furui Dokei (Grandfather's Clock)" -- the alternative/independent scene was where most of the really interesting new music was coming from. And that was reflected in the fact that while major record companies' sales headed south, Japan's independent labels saw their overall market share steadily rise.
Here, then, are my top 10 Japanese albums for 2002.