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If anime appeals to Americans because it's a blend of the familiar
(animated cartoons) and the different (intense subjects, vivid plots, a
unique art style and dynamic movement), then Japanese popular music can
carry the same appeal. Some anime fans have evolved into fans of "J-Pop,"
among them Steve Pearl (note the blissful appearance on Pearl's face as
he basks in the glow of sitting next to Mari Iijima, whom Pearl met for
the first time at Otakon). Once he learned of the delightful music from
Japan, Pearl said he grew to haunt Japanese stores that carried the albums,
going to far as to try to scribble Japanese pictograms of groups and show
them to store clerks in hopes of getting the groups' albums. |
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Shin Kurokawa (right), translator for Animeigo video productions, also
is a fan of Japanese popular music. When discussing that music on a Usenet
newsgroup, he coined the phrase "J-Pop" to describe the music - and the
phrase stuck. He enjoys the cuteness, simplicity and singability of J-Pop.
Kurokawa noted that J-Pop produces many songs that are popular for karaoke,
the popular anyone-can-sing activity that originated in Japan. By comparison,
American pop and rock tends to be edgier and less melodic, he said. |
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Stu Levy of Mixx Publications is a walking encyclopedia of Japanese
rock bands. He named his new magazine Tokyo Pop and plans to cover the
J-Pop scene in that publication. He agrees that there's a lot of light
and fluffy music in Japan, but there's a more serious kind of rock that
isn't suited for karaoke. Levy loves that Japanese alternate rock, and
was pleased to see that many of the people in the panel's audience also
follow that music. |
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What about Iijima? When the panelists noted that American rock trends,
from grunge to hip-hop, reach Japan a few months after they break out in
the U.S., Iijima noted that she doesn't want to imitate anyone else and
insists on being original. "If something gets so hip, people try to do
the same thing. They chase the trend and I'm against that," she said. Iijima
added that she admires American musician Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds and
would enjoy working with him on an album. |
