In Japan, as in other countries, there is its own musical culture, its own groups and artists, 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 the construction of original styles based on them that are not similar to the others.
Popular genres and artists
Japanese pop or J-Pop. Formed in the 90s and occupied a dominant position in the music of Japan. Among them, compositions using traditional Japanese singing or melodies are especially popular, 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 the music belonging to record companies in Japan. Some of the most popular names are Ayumi Hamasaki, Gact, Girl Next Door and others.
Japanese jazz - among the Japanese has the largest number of fans. It is a mixture of traditional American jazz and Japanese culture, folk tunes of Japan. According to many admirers of style, Japanese jazz ideally personifies the spirit and philosophy of Zen Buddhism.
Japanese rock - as well as around the world, has a very wide audience of listeners. The most famous bands are The Alfee and B'z. The leading groups in the metal genre are The Gazette, NoGoD, Matenrou Opera. The bands –OZ– and Deathgaze playing in the style of extreme metal are also popular.
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 shocking and attractive appearance of the artist. Visual Kei artists are men who use female 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 style of Visual Kei created, along with the musical genre, a separate youth subculture.
Karaoke is an invention of the Japanese, which allows singing to pre-recorded music for the sake of entertainment. One of the most popular entertainment not only in Japan, but throughout the world.
Popular performers in the style of Visual Kei are now considered bands An Café, AliceNine, Versailles. Moreover, often Visual Kei artists play Japanese rock and metal for fans of The Gazette and NoGoD. And those, in turn, speak to fans of Visual Kei. Thus, all these styles have a significant impact on each other, but retain their unique personality.
