J-Music

Japanese music genres

Johnny's Entertainment

Many women in Japan are fans of boys that belong to Johnny's Entertainment. Although you might not know all the details about Johnny's Entertainment, you might have heard of the name before. Many famous singers and actors belong to Johnny's Entertainment, such as Arashi, SMAP, NEWS, and KAT-TUN, and more on.

Why do some women become fans of the Johnny's Jr. even that they aren't famous yet? It is said to be that because they find there favorites among the Johnny's Jr. and they want to know them from the beginning, when the Jr.s debuts, the fans gets really excited and be very happy for them and want to say to other people, "I was his fan from the very beginning, before he had debut, I knew him before you", and feel a sense of superiority than other people.

Founder

Johnny Hiromu Kitagawa (ジャニー喜多川) is the founder and former president of Johnny & Associates, a production agency for numerous popular boy bands in Japan. Kitagawa assembled, produced and managed more than a dozen popular bands, including Arashi, SMAP, NEWS, and KAT-TUN. Kitagawa's influence has spread beyond music to the realms of theater and television. Regarded as one of the most powerful figures in the entertainment industry, he has held a virtual monopoly on the creation of boy bands in Japan for more than 40 years.

History

Johnnys (ジャニーズ) was a Japanese musical group created by Johnny Kitagawa before the creation of Johnny & Associates. They are considered one of the first of Japan's idol groups. For the sake of convenience in Japan, the group is often called " First Generation Johnny's " or " Founding Johnnys ". The group was formed in April of 1962 and lasted until November 20th, 1967.

Johnnys is also an abbreviation for " Johnny's Jimusho " and also for the talents signed to the agency. For those considered to be "bishounen" the term " Johnnys Type " is used. The word, despite referring to one male's looks, is not to be mistaken for the word " Ikemen ".

Artists

Debuted groups

・1962: Johnnys

・1967: Four Leaves

・1973: Go Hiromi

・1975: Johnnys Junior Special

・1981: Shibugakitai

・1983: THE GOOD-BYE

・1985: Shōnentai

・1987: Hikaru Genji

・1987: OTOKOGUMI

・1990: Ninja

・1991: SMAP (Members: Masahiro Nakai, Takuya Kimura, Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, Goro Inagaki, Shingo Katori)

・1994: TOKIO (Members: Tomoya Nagase, Masahiro Matsuoka, Taichi Kokubun, Tatsuya Yamaguchi, Shigeru Joshima)

・1995: V6 ( Members of 20th Century: Masayuki Sakamoto, Hiroshi Nagano, Yoshihiko Inohara---Members of Coming Century: Go Morita, Ken Miyake, Junichi Okada)

・1997: KinKi Kids ( Members: Koichi Domoto, Tsuyoshi Domoto)

・1999: Arashi ( Members: Masaki Aiba, Jun Matsumoto, Kazunari Ninomiya, Satoshi Ohno, Sho Sakurai)

・2002: Tackey & Tsubasa ( Members: Hideaki Takizawa, Tsubasa Imai)

・2003: NEWS ( Members: Tomohisa Yamashita, Ryo Nishikido, Keiichiro Koyama, Takahisa Masuda, Shigeaki Kato, Yuya Tegoshi )

・2004: Kanjani8

・2006: KAT-TUN

・2007: Hey! Say! JUMP

Subgroups/Temporary units

・1998: J-Friends (Members: TOKIO, KinKi Kids, V6)

・2005: Shuuji to Akira (Members: Kazuya Kamenashi, Tomohisa Yamashita)

・2005: Toraji-Haiji (Members: Tsuyoshi Domoto, Taichi Kokubun)

・2006: Kitty GYM (Members: Hiromitsu Kitayama, Kei Inoo, Shota Totsuka, Hikaru Yaotome, Golf, Tomohisa Yamashita, Mike)

・2006: Tegomass (Members: Yuya Tegoshi, Takahisa Masuda)

・2007: Trio the Shakiin (Members: Noriyuki Higashiyama, Go Morita, Kenta Suga)

・2007: Hey Say 7 (Members: Ryosuke Yamada, Yuto Nakajima, Yuuri Chinen, Daiki Arioka, Yuya Takaki)

・2008: Matchy with Question? (Members: Masahiko Kondo, Daijiro Yonemura, Yoshihiro Yodogawa, Kazuyori Fujiie, Akun Igo, Daisuke Ishigaki)

・2009: The SHIGOTONIN (Members: Noriyuki Higashiyama, Masahiro Matsuoka, Tadayoshi Ōkura)

Johnny's Jr. units

Johnny's Jr.s are trainees who have yet to debut. They would often perform their seniors' songs on variety shows such as The Shōnen Club as "training". They also serve as back up dancers for groups that have already debuted.

・A.B.C - Z ・B.A.D.Boys ・B.I. Shadow ・Hey! Say! 7 West ・Hip Hop JUMP ・Jr.BOYS ・Kis-My-Ft|Kis-My-Ft.2 ・M.A.D. ・Question? ・FIVE ・Ya-ya-yah ・Little Gangs

Famous Songs

Masahiko Kondo - "Gingiragin ni Sarigenaku" (ギンギラギンにさりげなく)

Shibugakitai - "100% SO kamone!" (100％…SOかもね!)

shonentai - "Kimi dake ni" (君だけに)

Arashi - "Hadashi no Mirai" (ハダシの未来), "WISH"

V6 - "WA ni natte Odoro" (WAになっておどろう), "Darling"

TOKIO - "Hana uta" (花唄)

KinKi Kids - "Natsu no Osama" (夏の王様), "Flower", "Boku no senaka niwa hane ga aru" (僕の背中には羽根がある)

SMAP - "Aoi Inazuma" (青いイナズマ), "Celery", "Yozora no Muko" (夜空のムコウ), "Orange", "Lion Heart", "Sekai ni Hitotsu dake no Hana" (世界に一つだけの花)

Links

Hello Project

Hello! Project (ハロー!プロジェクト) is the umbrella name for all female idol Japanese pop recording artists collective that are under contract with the Up-Front Group. The "mothership" group of Hello! Project is the supergroup Morning Musume. The main producer and songwriter is Tsunku♂, the lead singer of Sharan Q.

Founder

Tsunku♂(つんく♂)

History

In 2007, Hello! Project started the Taiwan H.P. New Star Audition; an audition aimed at recruiting new Taiwanese members to join Hello! Project.[1][2] As a result of the audition, the group Ice Creamusume (アイスクリー娘。 ?) was formed consisting of six members from the audition.[3] On October 19, 2008, Hello! Project announced that it would be graduating all its Elder Club members on March 31, 2009.[4]

On February 1, 2009, at the Yokohama Arena, Hello! Project held its largest concert ever—the "Hello Pro Award '09 ~Elder Club Sotsugyō Kinen Special~"—featuring 21 groups and 72 members. Former Morning Musume member, Nozomi Tsuji, performed in her first official event since a year and nine months after marrying actor Taiyo Sugiura in June 2007 and giving birth to her daughter, Noa, that November. During the concert, former Hello! Project leader, Yuko Nakazawa, passed her leadership position to Morning Musume member and leader Ai Takahashi.[5]

In February 2009, it was announced that Hello! Project would begin a series of auditions in South Korea.

Artists

Current line-up

・Groups

Morning Musume

Hello! Project Kids (Berryz Kobo, °C-ute, Buono!)

SI☆NA

MilkyWay

Ice Creamusume

Guardians 4

・Solo artists

Koharu Kusumi

Erina Mano

Yaguchi Mari

・Trainees

Hello Pro Egg (Tomoiki Ki o Uetai, Shugo Chara Egg!)

Former artists and groups

To graduate from Hello! Project means to leave the project. There is also the possibility of leaving a subgroup and remaining in Hello! Project as a soloist.

・Disbanded groups

Tanpopo

T&C Bomber (Miho Shinoda, Ruru Honda, Miwa Kominato)

Petitmoni

Mini Moni

Sheki Dol (Ibuki Oki, Ami Kitagami, Mami Suenaga, Saki Arai)

W (Ai Kago)

GAM

Coconuts Musume (Chelsea Ching, April Barbaran, Danielle Delaunay, Lehua Sandbo, Mika Todd, Ayaka Kimura)

Country Musume (Hiromi Yanagihara, Azusa Kobayashi, Rinne Toda, Asami Kimura, Miuna Saito, Mai Satoda)

v-u-den

Ecomoni

Ongaku Gatas

Shuffle units

・2000: The Color Groups (Akagumi 4, Kiiro 5, Aoiro 7)

・2001: Party Groups (3-nin Matsuri, 7-nin Matsuri, 10-nin Matsuri)

・2002: Happiness Groups (Happy 7, Sexy 8, Odoru 11)

・2003: Elemental Groups (SALT5, 7AIR, 11WATER)

・2004: One School Group

H.P. All Stars

・2005: Elegance Groups (Elegies, Sexy Otonajan, Puripuri Pink)

Concert units

Elder Club

Former artists

・Graduated from Morning Musume and Hello! Project

Asuka Fukuda, Aya Ishiguro, Sayaka Ichii

・Graduated from Berryz Kobo and Hello! Project

Maiha Ishimura

・Left °C-ute and Hello! Project

Megumi Murakami

・Graduated from Ongaku Gatas and Hello! Project

Mika Mutō

・Graduated from Hello Pro Egg and Hello! Project as a group

THE Possible (Yurika Akiyama, Aina Hashimoto, Kanami Morozuka, Okada Robin Shouko, Kaede Oose, Yuki Goto)

・Graduated from Hello! Project as a group

Melon Kinenbi (Hitomi Saito, Megumi Murata, Masae Ohtani, Ayumi Shibata

・Graduated from Hello! Project as a solo artist

Chinatsu Miyoshi, Michiyo Heike, Rika Ishii, Simmin (Hello! Project Foreign Student), Maki Goto, Yuko Nakazawa, Kaori Iida, Natsumi Abe, Atsuko Inaba, Aya Matsuura, Kei Yasuda, Mari Yaguchi, Nozomi Tsuji, Rika Ishikawa, Hitomi Yoshizawa, Asami Konno, Makoto Ogawa, Miki Fujimoto, Yuki Maeda, Erika Miyoshi, Yui Okada, Miki Korenaga

One-shot and special units

Gomattou

ZYX

ROMANS

Morning Musume Sakuragumi

Morning Musume Otomegumi

Aa!

Nochiura Natsumi

DEF.DIVA

Morning Musume Tanjō 10 Nen Kinentai

Kira☆Pika

Athena & Robikerottsu

High-King

Famous Songs

Morning Musume - "Love Machine", "Rennai Revolution 21" (恋愛レボリューション２１), "Koi no Dance Night" (恋のダンスサイト), "Happy Summer Wedding", "The☆Peace"

Petit Moni - "BABY Koi ni KNOCKOUT!" (BABY!恋にKNOCKOUT!), "Chokotto Love" (ちょこっとLove)

Matsuura Aya - "Momoiro no Kataomoi" (桃色の片思い), "LOVE Namidairo" (LOVE涙色), "Ne~e?" (ね～え?)

Sannin Matsuri - "Chu! Natsu Party" (チュッ！夏パーティー)

Links

Enka

History

19th century–1920s: Sōshi enka

The first enka in the Meiji and Taisho period is also called "Sōshi Enka" (壮士演歌) in distinction from modern enka. The street singers were called enka-shi. The first enka song is said to be "Dynamite bushi" (ダイナマイト節). The songs in this age includes Otojiro Kawakami's song "Oppekepe bushi". In the Taisho Period, enka-shi began to use the violin and their songs were called "Violin Enka". One of enka-shi around that time was Toshio Sakurai (桜井敏雄), who had pupil Haruo Oka.

In present Japan, Road Traffic Law regulates street performers. However, Japanese performers such as Utaji Fukuoka (福岡詩二) have still sung enka of the Taisho period. When the Great Hanshin earthquake broke out in 1995, Soul Flower Union played sōshi enka to help encourage disaster victims.

1920s–1940s: The era of ryūkōka

Haruo Oka and Hibari Misora in the poster of 1950 movie "Akogare no Hawaii kōro"

In the early Shōwa period around the late 1920s, record companies produced ryūkōka in place of street performers called "enka-shi" (演歌師). On the other hand, enka-shi began to use guitar. Haruo Oka joined ryūkōka with the 1939 song "Kokkyō no Haru" (国境の春 ,lit. "Spring at the Border"). In the early postwar Japan, jazz became popular. Japanese female singer Hibari Misora's debut song "Kappa boogie-woogie" was released in 1949. She was known for singing jazz songs in 1950s and 1960s.

1950s: Beginning of modern enka

Modern enka came into being in the postwar years of the Shōwa period. The first enka singer was said to be Hachiro Kasuga. In 1948, Kasuga got through the first contest of King Records. He entered the record label in 1949. In the King Records, Haruo Oka was Kasuga's senior. Kabuki-style song "Otomisan" (お富さん ,lit. "Miss Otomi") was originally made for Oka, but was sung by not Oka but Kasuga. In 1954, Kasuga's "Otomisan" especially hit Japanese popular music. He joined Kohaku Uta Gassen for the first time with song "Otomisan" in 1954. However, he was not completely satisfied with this song and so he also sang the song "Wakare no Ipponsugi" composed by Toru Funamura. The single was released in 1955. "Wakare no Ippon-sugi" was covered by various singers such as Michiya Mihashi, Hideo Murata, Keiko Fuji, Hibari Misora, Saburō Kitajima, Takashi Hosokawa and Hiroshi Itsuki.

Around the postwar period, rōkyoku (naniwa-bushi), which was famous during the war, became unpopular mainly because their speaking was considered too long. Enka, which became popular around that time, was said to be a short version of rōkyoku because several enka singers such as Hideo Murata and Haruo Minami were originally rōkyoku singers and enka has many themes in common with rōkyoku. One of notable rōkyoku singers who had an influence on enka was Kumoemon Tochuken, whose pupil's pupil was Murata. Murata's cover song "Jinsei Gekijō" (人生劇場 ,lit. "Drama of Life") was composed by Masao Koga.

Michiya Mihashi originally sang Japanese folk music called min'yō. In 1954, Mihashi made his debut and reportedly sold over 100 million records by 1983.

1960s–1970s: Commercial peak

The most well-known and beloved performer of enka is Hibari Misora (1937–1988), who was known as the "Queen of Enka" and "Queen of Shōwa" for the period when she lived and was popular. Misora's song "Yawara", composed by Masao Koga, won the grand prix award at the 1965 Japan Record Award.

Keiko Fuji's 1970 album "Shinjuku no Onna/'Enka no Hoshi' Fuji Keiko no Subete (新宿の女/"演歌の星" 藤圭子のすべて ,Woman in Shinjuku/'Star of Enka' All of Keiko Fuji)" established a still-standing record to top the Oricon charts for 20 "consecutive" weeks.

The best-selling enka after the Oricon charts began in 1968 is Shiro Miya and Pinkara Trio's 1972 song "Onna no Michi", which sold over 3.25 million copies, the second best-selling single behind "Oyoge! Taiyaki-kun".

Nowadays, the remaining best seller in whole Japan, neither J-pop and enka alive is Shinichi Mori, since 1968 performing, he is nowadays the recorder of more than 75 million copies sold. His famous song is "Ofukurosan" that he had performed 7 times in Japan end-year show, Kohaku Uta Gassen.

The first non-Japanese singer of enka was Sarbjit Singh Chadha from India. His first enka album was released in 1975 and became a success in Japan, selling 150,000 copies. He went back to India a few years later, but returned to Japan in 2008.

Since 1980s: Decline and maintaining minor popularity

In recent decades, enka music has declined in sales and in recognition as Western-derived J-pop music has become more popular, and enka's traditional themes are no longer appreciated among younger Japanese. However, the genre still has many adherents. Besides television, enka can be heard in many restaurants, drinking establishments, karaoke bars, and cafes.

Its popularity among younger Japanese has increased lately because of singer Kiyoshi Hikawa and the early solo releases of then-Morning Musume member Yuko Nakazawa. To the contrary, Nana Mizuki, who learned enka in her childhood, became a popular singer as seiyū.

In the United States, enka continues to remain popular among a section of the (typically older) Japanese-American population, and enka also has many fans among non-Japanese. There are some enka orchestras and performers active in the U.S., such as the San Jose Chidori Band, which occasionally performs at O-Bon festivals in the summer.

As of 2009, Jero has become the first black enka singer in 25 years to make the top 5 with his debut single "UmiYuki". By wearing modern hip-hop street fashion and performing the traditional style of music, Jero has said he hopes to help bring appreciation of enka music to a younger audience.

Genre

One of earliest Japanese songs which used modern enka's mainstream scale called "Yonanuki Tan-Onkai" (ヨナ抜き短音階) or "Minor Scale without Four and Seven (re and so)" was said to be Rentarō Taki's song "Kōjō no tsuki", which was called "shōka" (唱歌) or "school song" in the Meiji Period. There was not the seventh scale degree in the B minor song "Kōjō no tsuki". The scale was a modified version of "Yonanuki Chō-Onkai" (ヨナ抜き長音階) or "Major Scale without Four and Seven (fa and ti)", which came from one of Japanese previous scales, "Ryo Onkai" (呂音階).

Enka singers, who are dominantly women, usually perform in a kimono or in evening dress. Male enka performers tend to wear formal dress, or in some performances, traditional Japanese attire. Nods to traditional Japanese music are common in enka. The melodies of enka are fundamentally Western harmonies, but its musical instruments include shakuhachi and shamisen for having a sense of Japanese music. A composer whose work is considered seminal for the creation of this genre is Masao Koga and this fact created a controversy about enka's origin in Japan because he grew up in Korea.

Archetypal enka singers use many vibrato (kobushi) for singing. Although the original way of singing Koga's songs had a resemblance to that of shomyo, singers in the postwar period sang his songs by their own kobushi. Therefore, present enka are different from primary music of Koga to be exact. Modern enka singer Takeshi Kitayama said "I was even confused because his [Koga's] musical note was different from that of an old singer."

However, the genre called enka is also said to be an expediential classification for record labels as well as J-pop. For example, Harumi Miyako, who has been usually considered as an enka singer, said "I don't think that I sing enka" and "In fact, there was not term enka when I debuted."

Enka lyrics, as in Portuguese Fado, usually are about the themes of love and loss, loneliness, enduring hardships, and persevering in the face of difficulties, even suicide or death. Enka suggests a more traditional, idealized, or romanticized aspect of Japanese culture and attitudes, comparable to American country and western music.

Artists

Famous Songs

Kenji Ninuma - "Tsugaru Koi Onna"(津軽恋女)

Takao Horiuchi - "Itoshiki Hibi"(『愛しき日々)

Saburō Kitajima - "Matsuri"(まつり), "Kita no Gyoba"(北の漁場), "Yosaku"(与作)

Ichiro Toba - "Kyodai Bune"(兄弟船)

Shin Koda - "Sakaba no Kingyo"(酒場の金魚), "Tejaku Zake"(手酌酒)

Sayuri Ishikawa - "Amagigoe"(天城越え), "Tsugaru Kaikyo Fuyugeshiki"(津軽海峡冬景色)

Hibari Misora - "Kawa no Nagare no yoni"(川の流れのように)

Aki Yashiro - "Funauta"(舟歌), "Jinsei iroiro"(人生いろいろ)　

Links

J-Pop　

History

1920s–1950s

By the Taishō period, Western musical techniques and instruments, which had been introduced to Japan in the Meiji period, were widely used. Influenced by Western genres such as jazz and blues, ryūkōka(Japanese popular music, before being spliting into enka and poppusu) blended Western instruments such as the violin, harmonica, and guitar. However, the melodies were often written according to the traditional Japanese pentatonic scale. Ryoichi Hattori, who stayed in Shanghai at the end of the war, produced hit songs such as Shizuko Kasagi's "Tokyo Boogie-Woogie". He later became known as the "Father of Japanese poppusu".

1960s

Rokabirī Boom and Wasei pops

In 1956, the short-time rock and roll craze began, due to the country music group known as Kosaka Kazuya and the Wagon Masters: their rendition of Elvis Presley's Heartbreak Hotel helped to fuel the trend. The music was called "rockabilly" by the Japanese media. Performers learned to play the music and translate the lyrics of popular American songs, resulting in the birth of Cover Pops.

Kyu Sakamoto, a fan of Elvis, made his stage debut in a band called The Drifters at the Nichigeki Western Carnival in 1958. His song "Ue wo Muite Arukō", known in other parts of the world as "Sukiyaki", was released to the United States in 1963. It was the first Japanese song to reach the #1 position in the United States, spending four weeks in Cashbox Magazine and three weeks in Billboard. It also received a "Gold Record" for selling one million copies. During this period, female duo The Peanuts also became popular, singing a song in movie "Mothra". Their songs such as "furimukanaide" (lit. "Don't Turn Around") were later covered by Candies on their album Candy Label. Songs like Kyu Sakamoto and The Peanuts were called Wasei Pops, "Japan-made pop".

Eleki Boom and Group Sounds

The Ventures visited Japan in 1962 and they caused the electric guitar's movement called "Eleki Boom". Yūzō Kayama and Takeshi Terauchi became famous players of electric guitar. In Japan, the sales of The Ventures was reportedly more than that of The Beatles, though The Beatles were overestimated in later years. In 1966, The Beatles came to Japan and sang their songs at the Nippon Budokan, becoming the first rock music band to perform their concert at the Budokan. The public believed that The Beatles would cause juvenile crimes. The Japanese government deployed riot police against young rock fans at the Nippon Budokan. John Lennon felt that they were not well regarded in Japan, but the legend of The Beatles has remained over decades among the Japanese people. They caused the movement of Group Sounds in Japan.

Most Japanese musicians felt that new covers of rock songs were matchless by the original, so this era gradually declined. As a result, there were debates such as "Should we sing rock music in Japanese?" and "Should we do in English?" between Happy End and Yuya Uchida about Japanese rock music. This confrontation was called "Japanese-language rock controversy" (日本語ロック論争). Happy End proved that rock music could be sung in Japanese and one theory holds that their music musically became an origin of modern "J-pop".

1980s

In the 1980s, the term City Pop (シティーポップ) was used to describe a type of popular music that had a big city theme. Tokyo in particular inspired many songs of this form. It was Japanese pop influenced from Album-oriented rock and Crossover.Although City Pop was affected by New Music, rock band Happy End was considered as one of origins. Akira Terao and Anri became famous during this period. Tatsuro Yamashita and his wife Mariya Takeuchi also became popular in this period. Yamashita's 1983 song "Christmas Eve" finally reached #1 on the Oricon weekly single charts of December 25, 1989. In 1989, Ryuichi Sakamoto won the Grammy Award for his contribution to movie The Last Emperor.

Throughout 1980s, rock bands were popular such as Southern All Stars, Anzen Chitai, The Checkers, The Alfee, Boøwy and TM Network. Anzen Chitai was from Yosui Inoue's backup band. In 1986, The Alfee became the first artist to play a concert in front of an audience of 100,000 people in Japan. Boøwy especially became a influential rock band, whose members included singer Kyosuke Himuro and guitarist Tomoyasu Hotei. Their three albums reached number-one in 1988, making them the first male artists to do so within a year. Subsequent Japanese rock bands were modeled on this band. Guitarist Taka Matsumoto, who supported TM Network's concerts, formed rock duo B'z with Koshi Inaba.

In the late 1980s, a new trend also emerged in Japanese rock music: the visual kei a movement notable by male bands who wore make up and extravagant hair styles and androgynous costumes. The most well successful representatives are X Japan and Buck-Tick. Princess Princess became a successful all female band.

Artists