Tag - j-pop

 
 

J POP

Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 27, 2015
Sugar's Campaign come up with some sweet city pop for debut album 'Friends'
Seiho Hayakawa and Takuma Hosokawa think modern pop music is "grotesque," but that's exactly how they wanted the debut album by their band Sugar's Campaign to sound.
CULTURE / Japan Pulse
Jan 26, 2015
I wanna rock 'n' roll all night, and be kawaii, ev-er-y day
The Momoiro Clover Z + Kiss collaboration transcends generations, styles and sense.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 6, 2015
Britain's alt-j finds inspiration in Miley Cyrus and Nara
An un-Googleable delta symbol name (∆), genre-hopping, challenging sounds and esoteric lyrics inspired by Japanese deer are not the usual recipe for surefire pop success. Yet when alt-j arrives in Japan for its debut headline show — catapulted by 1 million album sales, a Mercury prize and a nomination...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE
Dec 23, 2014
Who was music being made for in 2014?
When looking back on the year in music, the big question music fans should be asking themselves is, "Who was music being made for in 2014?" Looking at the broader picture, we can find the answers writ large across the Japanese music scene.
CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE
Nov 25, 2014
Pop artifice was never better with Aya Matsuura
When a pop singer who has long faded from the limelight suddenly starts appearing in your Twitter timeline in the form of glowing, nostalgic re-evaluations, they're either gearing up for a comeback . . . or dead.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 28, 2014
Idol-pop act Necronomidol is taken to the dark side
It's a week until Necronomidol's big show and, practicing at a dance studio in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward, the four members make a decision to change one line from "We've come to bring about the Apocalypse" to "We've come to enact Armageddon." Manager Ricky Wilson agrees; another problem solved.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 14, 2014
Takeuchi sticks to what she knows on 'Trad'
Mariya Takeuchi "Trad" (Warner Music Japan)
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 11, 2014
In-debt idols send wrong message to girls
Two weeks ago a female pop group called The Margarines debuted via a Tokyo news conference. Since Japanese show business has no shortage of young women who want to sing and dance in order to "fulfill their dreams," the new ensemble needed a gimmick.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Oct 4, 2014
Manga, the Rising Sun and Abe's history problem
During his recent visit to the United Nations, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reasserted his eagerness to improve relations with Japan's East Asian neighbors, but the reaction from Beijing and Seoul was tepid.
EDITORIALS
Oct 4, 2014
Pop-idol group debuts in debt
It's not unusual for nine young women to form a new pop-idol group in Japan. Contrary to other groups, though, members of The Margarines were chosen for their personal indebtedness.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 27, 2014
New idol group The Margarines sing to pay off debts
Japan's entertainment industry has become so filled with idol groups that some call this the age of the "idol war."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Sep 24, 2014
Kyoto Experiment marries form to cutting-edge content
Kyoto Experiment, the city's monthlong international performing-arts festival that debuted in 2010 and has been growing in popularity in the vanguard of contemporary performance every year since, is now set to embark on its fifth and most radical edition.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 24, 2014
Topping the pops not as hard as it used to be
Disney's almighty Marvel Entertainment Group musters its superpowers to transform a motley collection of AM radio hits from the 1970s into the No. 1 pop music album in the U.S.
CULTURE / Music
Jul 15, 2014
Kis-My-Journey takes us down a familiar path
It's not the highest of honors, but I'd like to award awkwardly named boy band Kis-My-Ft2 as the best pop act under the Johnny & Associates umbrella.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE
Jun 24, 2014
Without a canon, Japanese pop won't blast off
Exploring the world of Japanese music can be a baffling experience for those who don't speak the language.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
Jun 9, 2014
AKB48 members deserve to get workers’ comp for saw attack
Are members of girl group AKB48 'workers' under the law and therefore eligible for industrial accident insurance? The evidence suggests so.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 3, 2014
Especia takes a road less traveled by idol acts
The eldest member of six-member idol unit Especia was born in 1989, so when I ask them about life during Japan's early '90s bubble era they can only imagine what it was like.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 26, 2014
AKB48 members not targeted by slasher
The man who attacked two AKB48 dancers and a staffer with a saw has told police he intended to kill someone — but no one in particular.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
May 13, 2014
Message themes woven into songs by J-pop's Hart
Chris Hart's appearance on "Kohaku Uta Gassen," NHK's annual New Year's Eve music extravaganza last December, "became one of the two most memorable stages (of his career) so far," he said in a recent interview.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 20, 2014
Why not teach students what's going on now?
Who do textbook publishers think it's smart to start a fourth-grade history textbook with prehistoric humans who lived 10,000 years ago? Why not begin by teaching students what's going on now?

Longform

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