When the American folk revival landed on the shores of Japan in the early '60s, it gave rise to the "modern folk" movement. Japanese musicians copied The Kingston Trio and Peter, Paul and Mary, and it was only a matter of time before students started writing songs that reflected their own situations.
Japanese folk is the wellspring of J-pop, and this week NHK will present a special four-part series, "Folk Song Anthology 2001" (BS-2, Monday-Thursday, 7:30-8:50 p.m.), that will chronicle the evolution of folk using interviews, in-studio performances and archival footage.
On Monday, the show will explain the "college folk music" movement of the '60s, wherein iconoclastic students took antiestablishment hints from the likes of Bob Dylan and created their own "message" songs. From this environment sprung Nobuyasu Okabayashi, the first underground superstar of Japanese pop. Okabayashi was shunned by major labels who felt his music was too personal and dangerous. Disillusioned by his status as "the folk god," he withdrew from the scene at the height of his popularity.