Music
Gagaku played more or less continuously for twelve centuries, and city pop rediscovered by an algorithm forty years late. Enka, Yellow Magic Orchestra, the idol machine and its economics, and the jazz bars where nobody talks.
Part of Japan
67 moments in this segment.
- - A shamisen LCCN2009630121. Shamisen. Title: A shamisen Abstract/medium: 1 drawing: ink; 5.4 x 9.2 (image), 9.7 x 14.1 cm (sheet)
- - A shamisen LCCN2009630123. Shamisen. Title: A shamisen Abstract/medium: 1 drawing: ink; 5.5 x 9.2 (image), 10 x 13.8 cm (sheet)
- - All Japan Jazz Festival 1969: Hino, Watanabe, Otsuka. Live recording from the 1969 All Japan Jazz Festival with the Terumasa Hino Quintet, Sadao Watanabe and George Otsuka, the generation that built Japan's own jazz idiom.
- - Yellow Magic Orchestra: Behind the Mask, live at the Greek Theatre (1979). Official ALFA Music release of YMO performing 'Behind the Mask' at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles in 1979, the tour that carried Japanese synthpop to American audiences.
- - Yellow Magic Orchestra: Rydeen (1980). Official music video for YMO's 'Rydeen', introduced on Solid State Survivor in 1979 and released as a single on 21 June 1980.
- - Mariya Takeuchi: Plastic Love (1984). Official full-length video for Plastic Love, from the 1984 album Variety. The song became the emblem of the city pop revival after YouTube's algorithm surfaced it worldwide; this video was directed by Kyotaro Hayashi in 2019.
- - Haruomi Hosono: Resonance of Hot Sand (NHK Special, 1990). NHK General TV documentary broadcast 20 January 1990 following Haruomi Hosono, co-founder of Yellow Magic Orchestra, through his exotica and ambient work.
- - Hikaru Utada: First Love (1999). Official video for Hikaru Utada's third single, released 28 April 1999 and cut from the album First Love, which remains the best-selling album in Japanese history.
- - Plastic Love live at the Nippon Budokan with Tatsuro Yamashita. Mariya Takeuchi performs Plastic Love with Tatsuro Yamashita on guitar at the Nippon Budokan in 2000, from the Souvenir tour.
- - Tatsuro Yamashita: Loveland, Island. Official clip for Tatsuro Yamashita's 'Loveland, Island', from the RCA/AIR years that produced the records later collected under the city pop label.
- - Chuzao-Hosozao-shamisen. Shamisen. Chuzao-Hosozao shamisen
- - US Navy 060131-N-1194D-002 Chief Musician Roberta Haworth directs the Seventh Fleet Band's. Japanese musician concert photograph CC. Nagoya, Japan (Jan. 31, 2006) - Chief Musician Roberta Haworth directs the Seventh Fleet Band’s “Far East Edition” during a goodwill concert at the JR Central Towers in Nagoya, Japan. Hundreds of spectators turned out to hear the band play tunes ranging from
- - Kodo Taiko Drum. taiko drum performance Japan. A picture of a taiko drum used by the taiko drumming group "Kodo". Picture was taken after a performance in Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan with a Canon Power Shot SD450 Digital Elph camera and modified using a Paint Shop program on a laptop computer.
- - US Navy 071208-N-2746V-001 Musician 3rd Class Spencer Haasenritter, left, and Musician 3rd. Japanese musician concert photograph CC. YOKOSUKA, Japan (Dec. 8, 2007) Musician 3rd Class Spencer Haasenritter, left, and Musician 3rd Class Jessica Hatfield of the U.S. 7th Fleet Band, sing with members of the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force Band during a holiday concert. The concert, held at Yo
- - Biwa plectra. biwa Japanese lute instrument. Two 5-string Chikuzen biwa plectra on the left side. Two Satsuma biwa plectra on the right.
- - USMC-090801-M-0902C-001. taiko drum performance Japan. A Taiko drum performance captivates a massive crowd just before anticipated fireworks storm the night sky. The festival, held along the banks of the Nishiki River, attracted thousands of local Japanese citizens and service members alike, and is just one ofmany unique ev
- - Dance Music Record. record shop Tokyo vinyl Shibuya. DMR Shibuya is dealing NI Maschine in the shop now
- - Ab Baars 02. Shakuhachi. Ab Baars with Ab Baars Trio at Club W71, Weikersheim.
- - KOCIS Korea-Japan Festival 2011 in Tokyo (6259536297), a second example by Korea.net / Korean Culture and Information Service. Japanese idol group performance stage. The two-day festival kicked off on October 1, with an opening ceremony under the slogan “Coexistence and co-prosperity for the 21st century,” followed by K-pop and cover dance contests alongside other cultural events. Various outdoor concerts were organized the
- - KOCIS Korea-Japan Festival 2011 in Tokyo (6260064040). Japanese idol group performance stage. The two-day festival kicked off on October 1, with an opening ceremony under the slogan “Coexistence and co-prosperity for the 21st century,” followed by K-pop and cover dance contests alongside other cultural events. Various outdoor concerts were organized the
- - Tempyo Biwa Fu. biwa Japanese lute instrument. The "Tempyō Biwa Fu" 天平琵琶譜 [Tempyō Lute Score], which is a single-sheet manuscript preserved at the Imperial Storehouse (Shōsōin 正倉院) at Nara in Japan. This is the oldest surviving example of Chinese lute music in Japan, being dated to circa 738. The sheet comprises a
- - USMC-120531-M-GU618-023. taiko drum performance Japan. Christopher Kimmey, Mathew C. Perry Elementary School music director, performs his first Taiko drum performance during Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month at Club Iwakuni’s Eagles Nest here May 31, 2012. DoD members playing beside Japanese civilians showed the common
- - Gagaku: the Imperial Household Agency musicians at the Edinburgh Festival. Japan's Ministry of Education film of the Imperial Household Agency's Music Department performing gagaku at the Edinburgh International Festival on 22 August 2012, intercut with their duties at court.
- - Gagaku performed by the Imperial Household Agency's Music Department. Court gagaku, the orchestral music of the Japanese imperial court and the oldest continuously performed orchestral tradition in the world, played by the Imperial Household Agency ensemble.
- - Documentary of AKB48: the 2014 general election backstage. Trailer for the NHK Enterprises AKB48 documentary covering the 2014 general election, the fan vote that ranked members, and Yuko Oshima's graduation from the group.
- - 20ª Festa do Imigrante (18629759049), example 4 by Paulo Guereta from São Paulo. Taiko. 20ª Festa do Imigrante
- - 20ª Festa do Imigrante (18815896035), a third example by Paulo Guereta from São Paulo. Taiko. 20ª Festa do Imigrante
- - 20ª Festa do Imigrante (18815906025). Taiko. 20ª Festa do Imigrante
- - 20ª Festa do Imigrante (18818521481), a second example by Paulo Guereta from São Paulo. Taiko. 20ª Festa do Imigrante
- - 8 одежд. Shakuhachi. Ансамбль санкёку. Яани кирик, Санкт-Петербург, 21.11.2016
- - We Are X: the X Japan documentary. Trailer for Stephen Kijak's documentary on X Japan, which won the editing award at Sundance in 2016 and follows the band to Madison Square Garden.
- - Hibari Misora at the Kohaku: the NHK archive. Digest of the NHK archive box marking Hibari Misora's 80th birth anniversary, gathering her surviving Kohaku Uta Gassen appearances; she was the defining voice of postwar Japanese popular song and enka.
- - Tsugaru Jongara Bushi played by Ki&Ki. The Tsugaru shamisen duo Ki&Ki play Tsugaru Jongara Bushi, the best-known piece in the Tsugaru min'yo repertoire.
- - Koden Sugomori: the hardest of the honkyoku for shakuhachi. Mamino Yorita plays Koden Sugomori, the most technically demanding of the roughly ten pieces called Tsuru no Sugomori, full of secretly transmitted techniques such as suzuru.
- - Bell-Shakuhachi. Shakuhachi. The Bell Shakuhachi by Josen (Jon Kypros) the world's first jinashi and jimori shakuhachi copies
- - Twenty-five years of Merzbow's Venereology. Short documentary on Venereology, the 1994 record by Masami Akita's Merzbow project that carried Japanese harsh noise to Western audiences.
- - Fujii Kaze covers Plastic Love, 2019. An early home recording by Fujii Kaze, then unsigned, covering Mariya Takeuchi's Plastic Love; he went on to become one of Japan's biggest global crossover acts.
- - Bamboo koma. Shamisen. Bridge (koma) of a shamisen made in bamboo
- - Hibari Misora's voice reconstructed by AI for NHK. Nippon Columbia release of 'Arekara', an NHK Special project that used AI to synthesise Hibari Misora's voice thirty years after her death; the broadcast prompted public debate about the ethics of it.
- - Fujii Kaze: Shinunoga E-Wa. Fujii Kaze performs Shinunoga E-Wa, from his 2020 debut album Help Ever Hurt Never; the song became a global hit years later through short-form video.
- - Ado: Usseewa (2020). Ado's major-label debut, released on her last day as a 17-year-old in October 2020; written by syudou and drawn from the Vocaloid producer scene that fed a generation of Japanese pop.
- - Kodo's women drummers play Chonlima at speed. Kodo's female members perform Roetsu Tosha's taiko classic Chonlima, from the ensemble's own This is Kodo series.
- - Tatsuro Yamashita: Sobo and Odoro yo, Fish. First-ever music videos for two Tatsuro Yamashita songs, made in 2020 for the remastered reissues of Pocket Music and Boku no Naka no Shonen, directed by Morikatsu with Yuriko Ishida.
- - Kodo: Zoku. The Kodo taiko ensemble, based on Sado Island, performs 'Zoku' composed by Leonard Eto, from their 40th anniversary production Tsuzumi.
- - A former jazz kissa owner on the listening bars of the 1970s. First-hand account from a man who ran a jazz kissa in the 1970s, describing the culture of silent, record-focused listening rooms.
- - The Hello! Project chronology, through Morning Musume. Release-by-release history of Hello! Project seen through its flagship group Morning Musume, the rotating-membership model that shaped Japanese idol production.
- - YOASOBI: Gunjo, live one-take on THE FIRST TAKE. YOASOBI's Ayase and ikura perform Gunjo in a single take with a choir, on the channel that became a defining showcase for Japanese pop in the 2020s.
- - Ichikotsu: a duet for koto and shakuhachi by Hozan Yamamoto. Performance of Hozan Yamamoto's Ichikotsu, named after the first note of the Japanese twelve-pitch scale, for koto and shakuhachi.
- - Fujii Kaze: Kirari. Official video for Kirari, released May 2021, the single that broke Fujii Kaze beyond Japan and led to his Coachella and stadium bookings.
- - Hikaru Utada on Bad Mode and non-binary pronouns. Apple Music interview about Utada's eighth Japanese-language album, electronic production and their decision to use non-binary pronouns.
- - Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, from Sakamoto's last sessions. Sakamoto plays his own Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, filmed over eight days in September 2022 for Opus, which he conceived as a record of his playing while he was still able to perform.
- - Predator: the BBC filmmakers at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan. Press conference with Mobeen Azhar and Megumi Inman on their BBC documentary about Johnny Kitagawa, held at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in March 2023 before Japanese media widely covered the story.
- - YOASOBI: Idol (2023). Official video for YOASOBI's Idol, the Oshi no Ko theme that became the first Japanese-language song to top the Billboard Global Excl. US chart.
- - Tatsuro Yamashita: Sparkle. Official video for 'Sparkle', the opening track of Yamashita's 1982 album For You and one of the records that carried city pop to a global audience four decades later.
- - France 24: a former idol speaks about Johnny Kitagawa. France 24 report in which a former Johnny's trainee describes abuse by the J-pop mogul, whose company dominated Japanese boyband production for decades.
- - Opus: Ryuichi Sakamoto's last concert film. Teaser for Opus, directed by Sakamoto's son Neo Sora, which premiered at Venice on 5 September 2023 and shows Sakamoto alone at a piano performing twenty of his compositions.
- - Japan's biggest talent agency admits its founder abused young stars. BBC News report on Julie Fujishima's resignation and public apology in September 2023, a week after an independent inquiry found that Johnny Kitagawa had abused performers over decades.
- - Neo Sora on filming his father's final performance. Neo Sora talks to New York Film Festival artistic director Dennis Lim about making Opus, recording live music, and Ryuichi Sakamoto's relationship with cinema.
- - Fujii Kaze: Hana. Official video for Fujii Kaze's Hana, released as a digital single in November 2023 with choreography by Shingo Okamoto.
- - BBC: Mobeen Azhar interviews the head of Smile-Up on the Kitagawa abuse. BBC News Japan interview with Noriyuki Higashiyama, chief executive of Smile-Up, the renamed Johnny and Associates, on compensating close to 1,000 men who say they were abused by founder Johnny Kitagawa.
- - How city pop came together: Tatsuro Yamashita and Eiichi Ohtaki. Japanese-language music history essay on the formation of city pop, tracing the genre from Happy End through Tatsuro Yamashita and Eiichi Ohtaki.
- - X Japan: the whole story in 48 minutes. Japanese-language history of X Japan, the band that made visual kei a mass genre: Toshi and Yoshiki's meeting, Taiji's departure, the failed US debut, the 1997 breakup, hide's death and the reunion.
- - Aizu folk song meets wadaiko. A collaboration between Aizu min'yo singers and taiko drummers performed at Bandaisan Onsen Hotel on 21 February 2025, closing with the Aizu Bandaisan dance.
- - Hikaru Utada on Science Fiction, touring and fame. Extended Apple Music interview with Zane Lowe recorded in Tokyo, covering Utada's career from teenage stardom in 1999 onwards.
- - Hikaru Utada performs First Love live on THE FIRST TAKE. Utada returns to the one-take performance channel to sing First Love with arranger Kei Kono on piano, 26 years after its release; the album still holds the Japanese sales record.
- - A hundred years of jazz in Yokohama and the Chigusa kissaten. TV Kanagawa feature on Yokohama's jazz century, including the history of Chigusa, the legendary jazz kissa that became a model for Japan's listening bars.
- - The Kanto taiko contest at the Hachioji Festival. Full live broadcast of the Kanto Taiko Daigassen and the Min'yo Nagashi procession, in which around 1,500 dancers in yukata take part, at the Hachioji Festival on 8 August 2026.