Japan, like other countries, has its own musical culture, its own groups and performers, even its own musical genres. Many of them are popular not only in their homeland, but also have fans all over the world.
The peculiarity of Japanese music lies not only in the widest range of genres - both traditional Japanese and Western, but also in building on their basis original styles that are not similar to others.
Popular genres and artists
Japanese pop or J-Pop. It was formed in the 90s and occupied a dominant position in the music of Japan. Among them, the most popular are compositions using traditional Japanese singing or melodies, as well as compositions written under the influence of The Beatles using elements from Western and traditional Japanese music.
In addition to these areas, the J-Pop style often includes popular rock bands, famous Japanese musicians, as well as all music owned by Japanese record companies. Some of the most popular names are Ayumi Hamasaki, Gact, Girl Next Door and others.
Japanese jazz - has the largest number of fans among the Japanese. It is a mixture of traditional American jazz and Japanese culture, Japanese folk melodies. According to many fans of the style, Japanese jazz ideally embodies the spirit and philosophy of Zen Buddhism.
Japanese rock - like the rest of the world - has a very wide audience of listeners. The most famous bands are The Alfee and B'z. In the metal genre, the leading bands are The Gazette, NoGoD, Matenrou Opera. Also popular are the extreme metal bands OZ and Deathgaze.
Visual Kei is a popular genre of Japanese music that emerged from a mixture of glam rock, punk rock and metal. A distinctive feature of delivering music to the listener is the performer's shocking and attractive appearance. Visual Kei performers are men using feminine makeup, clothing and style. From the point of view of the Japanese, a feminine man is not gay, but a womanizer. That is why the Visual Kei style has created, together with the musical genre, a separate youth subculture.
Karaoke is a Japanese invention that allows you to sing to pre-recorded music for fun. One of the most popular entertainment not only in Japan but all over the world.
The bands An Café, AliceNine, Versailles are now considered popular performers in the style of Visual Kei. Moreover, Visual Kei performers often play Japanese rock and metal for fans of The Gazette and NoGoD. And those, in turn, perform in front of Visual Kei fans. Thus, all these styles have a significant impact on each other, but retain their unique personality.
Vocaloids
Japanese idol groups are groups of pretty girls and attractive young people, whose image is designed to delight and fall in love with themselves. The leaders are Morning Musume, Oricon, AKB48, Hello! Project and Arashi.
Vocaloid is a computer program that synthesizes the human voice. Using this program, you can create a new song without human intervention. The popularity of vocaloids - voices of virtual singers and female singers - in Japan is extremely high. For example, the popularity of Miku Hatsune's voice is comparable to the popularity of the most popular groups and artists. Japanese professional composers and ordinary amateurs have created a large number of works by vocaloids, widely known not only in Japan, but also abroad.
