Tag - j-pop

 
 

J POP

Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 12, 2015
Cero helps radio station InterFM897 celebrate its new look
The members of Cero have just finished recording their radio show, "Night Drifter," when I meet them at the InterFM897 studios in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward. When I walk into the studio, one of the group immediately points out my T-shirt, which has an air-brushed depiction of a beach at sunset with the word...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 3, 2015
'Takashi Murakami: The 500 Arhats'
Oct. 31-March 6
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 18, 2015
'Jack' event declares: ‘Let there be J-pop!’
Over the past two years, Simon Whybray's monthly club night and online mix series “Jack” (stylized in all caps) has featured high-energy songs from around the globe, including a healthy dose of J-pop. It's surprising, then, when he reveals his gateway into Japanese music was a delicate piano number...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 8, 2015
Guitarist Tomoyasu Hotei calls on his pals for 'Strangers'
Recalling his first encounter with rocker Iggy Pop, a huge grin flashes across the face of Tomoyasu Hotei. It occurred at Berlin airport around 30 years ago when he was recording in Germany with former band Boøwy. Despite being one of the most famous musicians in Japan, the guitarist was too shy to...
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
Oct 5, 2015
Let's discuss 'idols' and marriage
Last week the media obsessed over the story about the 17-year-old girl who was sued by a talent agency for violating the terms of her contract, which stipulated that she could not be involved in any romantic relationships.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 2, 2015
m-flo's Taku Takahashi talks about Japan's music scene, K-pop and that controversial tweet
Taku Takahashi wants you to know, he's a positive person.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 25, 2015
Court ruling sparks online outcry after teen idol told to pay damages for dating
A recent Tokyo court ruling ordering a teen idol to pay damages for violating a "no dating" clause in her contract has spurred an online outcry, reigniting debate over an industry many say is rife with male-chauvinist views.
Japan Times
CULTURE / CULTURE SMASH
Aug 15, 2015
AKB48 turns to an American studio
AKB48’s  commercial success in Japan is often derided as a sign of the culture’s patriarchal infantilization of women, and the girl group’s inability to appeal to Western audiences a sign of Japan’s increasingly isolated ideas about femininity, sexuality and pop music. Put simply: outside of...
Japan Times
CULTURE / CULTURE SMASH
Jul 18, 2015
Project Anime asks the right questions
More than 90,000 attended the 24th annual Anime Expo (AX), North America's largest Japanese pop culture convention, held at the Los Angeles Convention Center from July 2 to 5. The four-day event featured a concert by idol group Momoiro Clover Z, who were joined onstage by two members of veteran American...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 5, 2015
City pop revival is literally a trend in name only
City pop is the latest trend to hit Japan's indie-music scene. Well, not the musical style, just the words.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Jul 3, 2015
J-pop star Utada gives birth to baby boy, hints at return to music
Pop star Hikaru Utada said on her official website Friday that she just gave birth to a baby boy.
Japan Times
CULTURE / CULTURE SMASH
Jun 20, 2015
Can #socialmedia boost music sales in Japan?
Last week, Line Corp.'s, the operators of Japan's most popular messaging app, launched an in-app music streaming service called Line Music. Japan is the second-largest music market in the world after the United States, but its consumers have so far been global outliers, clinging to physical products...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 7, 2015
Old Lacy Bed and a legacy left by Vivian Girls
"Share the Joy," the 2011 album by Brooklyn trio Vivian Girls, starts off with the distinctive rumble of a drone strike in progress before suddenly veering into a lollygagging eighth-note groove for beginner musicians.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 15, 2015
J-pop singer-songwriter miwa absorbs the right elements of Western pop
miwa "Oneness" (Sony Records)
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 7, 2015
Korean pop band Bigbang back with new single after three years
South Korean boy band Bigbang is back on the music scene after a three-year hiatus, with a new single delving into the stresses of daily life.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Apr 19, 2015
Historically, Japan is no stranger to blacks, nor to blackface
I am a black Japanese half. I was bullied because of my skin color in elementary school, so I have a strong complex about my skin color. If Japanese truly adored blacks, it wouldn't bother me. But do Momokuro really adore blacks? I think if you asked them if they wished they had been born black, they...
Japan Times
CULTURE / CULTURE SMASH
Apr 18, 2015
At last, Japan gets it
The Japanese entertainment industry is finally growing up, says Shin Unozawa, and he should know. Unozawa joined Bandai Entertainment back in 1981, and serves as chair of the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association (CESA), co-hosts of the Tokyo Game Show.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 9, 2015
Charli XCX hits her J-pop groove
"I've tried to immerse myself in Japanese culture," says Charli XCX, international hit maker and Britain's next big pop-star-in-waiting. Of course, that's the sort of comment you might expect the 22-year-old to make on the eve of her first headline shows in the country this week, bringing her breakthrough...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / ON: TECH
Mar 20, 2015
Portable and wearable gadgets, plus apps for anime and J-pop lovers
An appetizing battery charger
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / BLACK EYE
Mar 18, 2015
From a minstrel no-show to a black beauty queen, in a week
From preventing a blackface TV broadcast to the nation embracing a black face as the embodiment of Japanese beauty, it's been quite a week.

Longform

Akiko Trush says her experience with the neurological disorder dystonia left her feeling like she wanted to chop her own hand off.
The neurological disorder that 'kills culture'