JPop And JRock On YouTube

[Mulboyne]

[Edit: Since this thread went up, virtually all of these clips have been removed from YouTube. However, many alternative versions can still be found using the artists names as search terms]



A number of FG members have pointed out the joys of YouTube and I looked to it when I was trying to give some friends a few pointers about Japanese music. It turns out there is a lot there. I thought I'd put up my notes on FG so you can see the links I found. However, I may have got a bit carried away so I'll add them as posts to this thread because they would take up too much space here.

[Mulboyne]

There are a considerable number of Japanese music video clips on YouTube. Today, around 7,000 files have the tag jpop and 5,000 or so have jrock. Although there is a lot of overlap between the two there are also many clips that fall outside those search terms as you can easily see when you look at the numbers of videos for some popular artists. Japanese girl groups and divas feature heavily, such as Morning Musume (nearly 4,000 entries), Ayumi Hamasaki (over 2,000) and Utada Hikaru (1,300). Perhaps surprisingly, though, Puffy seem to have only a couple of hundred when you sift out the clips not related to the band. SMAP get a respectable 600 entries but they are outdone by visual kei acts like Gackt with around 2,600, Dir en Grey with 2,500 and L'Arc en Ciel who have about the same including clips of singer Hyde.

YouTube seems a good way to get an overview of the Japanese music scene and it also turns up some oddities along the way. Have a look at Cyndi Lauper singing Chisato Moritaka's "Giniro no Yume" in Japanese and doing a pretty good job. Megadeth guitarist Marty Friedman gives an interview in English on NHK here where he explains why he moved to Japan for his solo career. He also speaks in Japanese on "Rock Fujiyama" here on the connection between enka and heavy metal. And here's Shena Ringo at 15 years old competing on a TV karaoke competition under her real name Yumiko. As you might expect, one part of the competition involves her singing while playing dodgeball. Ever wondered what SMAP sound like singing in English? Wonder no more and see their version of Kyu Sakamoto's "Sukiyaki" ("Ue o muite aruko"). It'll make you feel better about your own karaoke performance.

Shena Ringo's music videos have always been interesting and some of the best are available. "Koko de Kiss Shite" was her breakthrough number and here's "Honou" featuring the famous nurse's outfit. You can also see her perform a live version on PopJam here. The videos for the hits "Gibbs" and "Tsumi to Batsu" are very distinctive.

The latter became something of a signature sound for her and here is a clip of Utada Hikaru imitating the opening of the song during her own show. Another interesting video, though, is for the song "Tsumiki Asobi" which plays around with japonisme in a way that a foreigner can't really do without being accused of cultural insensitivity. It's OK if you are half-Japanese though, as this leather boots and shoji screens video from Crystal Kay demonstrates. Kome Kome Club's "Funk Fujiyama" video takes Japanese stereotypes head on with the chorus:

Everybody samurai, sushi, geisha,
Beautiful Fujiyama ha, ha, ha
Konnichiwa, sayonara, kore ikura?
Kamikaze, harakiri ha, ha, ha

Sadly, the video featuring Commodore Perry by pop giants Southern All Stars isn't available but, happily, you can see one of the oddest of their eclectic collection. Men in leotards, spanking and girls with erections are all here in "Miss Brand New Day".

[Mulboyne]

When Hitomi Yaida - also known as Yaiko - first broke on to the music scene she was seen as "Shena Ringo-lite" with songs like How? but the videos were never quite as interesting. For instance, "My Sweet Darlin'" seems to be intercut with a Calvin Klein commercial. She has sinced carved out her own niche but "My Sweet Darlin'" was ubiquitous at one time leading to some unfortunate duets. Here she is with Tsuyoshi Domoto from the Kinki Kids. Yaiko's English is OK but she's always going come off second best to a fluent speaker like this duetwith Crystal Kay.

Dreams Come True also dabble in duets. Occasionally singer Miwa Yoshida gets to sing their hit "Love, Love, Love" on her own but she has also performed it live with singer-songwriter aiko - of "Boyfriend" fame -(the song starts 3:50 into the clip which also features former DCT member Takahiro Nishikawa who is now serving 18 months in jail following his second drug bust). Korean star BoA also got into the act on the same song as did Every Little Thing. Yoshida has a genuinely good singing voice but the diva boom was probably kicked off by Misia's brand of R&B. The monster hit "Everything" is for her what "I Will Always Love You" is for Whitney Houston. Yoshida sang with Misia on "I Miss You" which would have been quite special if the song hadn't been so pedestrian.

Even before Misia appeared on the scene, though, Love Tambourines had produced some soulful sounds in sharp contrast to the usual jpop fare. Lead vocalist Ellie broke up the band just as they were hitting their stride and so they remain only a footnote today. Avex picked up where they left off and a number of their pop hits at this time were based on a strong or quirky female lead vocal and efficient dance or R&B production. Their maestro was Tetsuya Komuro who was behind the success of Globe, Amuro Namie and Tomomi Kahala while Avex also developed Ayumi Hamasaki into a megastar. For a 45-minute history of the label click this link or move quickly along. Every Little Thing were also in the Avex camp although not part of Komuro's domain and one of their biggest hits was "Time Goes By" and, as is occasionally the case on YouTube, the video has been given unofficial English subtitles. My Little Lover seemed to aim at the same market but lacked the Avex marketing punch and hipness.

Singers like Yuki Koyanagi followed in the footsteps of Misia but the later overwhelming success of Morning Musume and Tsunku's Hello Project idol conveyor belt tended to crowd everything else out of the pop charts. Some other interesting artists did crop up around the same time, though. Hitoto Yo who is half-Taiwanese but raised in Japan first came to attention with the single "Morainaki". Okinawa had already supplied the mainland with Amuro Namie, Speed, Da Pump, Kiroro and Max but Hajime Chitose's roots were closer to the island's own music. Her unique style of singing is showcased in her first single "Wadatsumi no Ki". The Okinawa sound really made it out of the folk/world scene with the song "Shima Uta" by The Boom. Oddly, this song became the unofficial anthem of the Argentinian football team for the World Cup in Japan in 2002 when it was covered in Japanese by Alfredo Casero. Soul Flower Union also incorporate Okinawa sounds and instruments in their music as in this clip. The leader of Soul Flower Union, Takashi Nakagawa, also wrote the song "Mangetsu no Yube" with Hiroshi Yamaguchi of Heatwave. They played it at an impromptu gig in Kobe after the earthquake (pictured below) and it has since become a standard. Heatwave play it here in a television performance on the 10th anniversary of the quake.

On a different note, here's Nakagawa and Yamaguchi with a cover of "Another Girl, Another Planet".

[Mulboyne]

Another Okinawan to make an impact was Cocco. She always looked to be on the verge of a nervous breakdown when she sang live and you can get an idea of her approach in a clip of her performing "Kubi" at Tower Records in Tokyo. She wasn't much more relaxed in her own videos and here's a clip from Music Station where she looks like she'll burst into tears if Tamori keeps asking her questions. She "retired" soon after to step away from the media attention but makes the occasional comeback. If you want another singer putting herself through an emotional wringer then take a look at Chisako Mikami of fra-foa singing "Tsuki to Sabaku" in Shibuya. There's a promotional video of the same song here. Singer-songwriter Chihiro Onitsuka is also one for a bit of earnest emoting and has been known to cover Nirvana songs Here is the video for her ballad "Gekko" which you can catch here too with English subtitles.

Two other female vocalists who tend to be fairly eclectic are Chara and UA. Chara is married to top actor Tadanobu Asano who pops up in the video for her song "Time Machine". UA covers an even wider spectrum from pop hits like "Kazoe Tarinai Yoru No Ashioto" to the indie-like collaboration band Ajico. Here's the song "Hado" performed on television and also live at the Rising Sun Festival. Her vocal style has been picked up by, amongst others, Nirgilis. UA formed Ajico with Kenichi Asai, formerly of Blankey Jet City, who first came to public notice through the amateur band TV contest Ikasu Band Tengoku - shortened to Ikaten - where his band seemed to lift their style wholesale from Brian Setzer's Stray Cats. They then developed a harder garage/rock 'n roll image and here they are with their tattoos on Music Station while here's a later video for "Sweet Days". They are probably the most successful band to come from the show.

Other Ikaten Kings included the band Tama who won with "Ozone no Dansu" and went on to have a major hit with "Sayonara Jinrui". Jitterin' Jinn looked to have staying power but didn't last beyond a few EPs and an album. Their infectious song "Natsu Matsuri" is often covered by other bands and was a hit most recently for Whiteberry which did allow them something of a comeback. Lead singer Reiko Harukawa was noted for her fast enunciation which you can get a better sense of from the video for "Present". She would probably lose a tongue-twister battle to Makoto Kawamoto, however, on the evidence of the latter's 1997 hit "1/2". Kawamoto seemed set for good things too but her producer was arrested for hard drug use and she could never quite escape suspicion herself. Earlier this year, she wrote on her blog that "Makoto Kawabata is retiring" which leaves it open as to whether she has given up the business or whether the artist formerly known as Makoto Kawabata may yet emerge. Back to Ikaten, here's an 18-minute clip of some of the bands that appeared on the show which is worth a look if only for the quick glimpse halfway through of the 5,6,7,8s looking very different from their appearance in Tarantino's "Kill Bill". Well, the blackface Earth, Wind and Fire is also pretty striking as is the Queen cover band, Gueen. Speaking of which, it's probably time for Faye Wong to put in an appearance. The Chinese singer is well known in Japan for singing the theme to "Final Fantasy VIII" but here she is live at the Budokan with her version of Bohemian Rhapsody

[Mulboyne]

Love Psychedelico hit the big time largely on the back of singer Kumi's mix of Japanese and English vocals which you can see here in their first big song "LastSmile". They cite Sheryl Crow as an an influence but if I was her and I heard their "Free World" I might start looking for royalties. Ego Wrappin' found an audience around the same time with a jazzy sound such as their song "Shikisai no Blues", also here in a live version. Like Love Psychedelico, they are comfortable with English and, in concert, often play a version of Nick Lowe's "I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass" which would easily pass with native speakers. Singer-songwriter Bonnie Pink also used a lot of English in her lyrics as in this song "Heaven's Kitchen" and Shena Ringo produced an album of international covers where she sang in French and German as well as English like this version of "Love is Blind" She's probably less a linguist and more a performer but she gets the job done. Balls of steel, though, must have been required for The Yellow Monkey to take on "Ziggy Stardust" during their UK visit in 1996. Here they are on safer territory with "Burn". One new band with no language problems at all is the duo Oceanlane. Guitarist Kay may well have a foreign parent but its his partner Hajime who handles the vocals for "Sign" and you'd be hard pressed to identify them as a Japanese band.

Judy and Mary are usually described as "pop punk" but they got punkier as they grew more successful. Compare an early version of their first big hit "Sobakasu" with a later live version. Here's the second version with those Spanish subtitles you've been looking for. The pop side was never far away though - here they are covering Amuro Namie's "Can You Celebrate" and here's one of the later hits, "Classic". Judy and Mary broke up and left Shakalabbits to do a near perfect imitation of their sound. Yuki went from JAM to a solo career which included the track "The end of shite" with the unmistakeable imprint of collaborator Aiha Higurashi,. Higurashi now has a solo career herself but was the founder of indie favourite Seagull Screaming Kiss Her Kiss Her and used to write exclusively in English. There's a video here which, confusingly, shows a fake version of the band performing the song "Sentimental Journey".

The singer who has probably taken over Yuki's mantle is Brilliant Green vocalist Tomoko Kawase. The band's first big hit was "There Will Be Love There". Her solo side project, Tommy february6 has since reinforced her popularity. She appears to act drunk in a number of her videos like this one for "Lonely in Gorgeous". That one is also particularly notable for its homage to the Spike Jonze video for "Sabotage" by the Beastie Boys. She always wears glasses as Tommy february6 and has been hailed as a pioneer in developing the glasses fetish which some otaku seem to have.

There is a good case to be made, though, that she was beaten to it by ACO who wears a pair of specs in the 1999 video of "Grateful Days" by Dragon Ash. That song, incidentally, relies heavily on a sample of the intro from "Today" by Smashing Pumpkins. ACO goes for a different look in the video for Tragicomic by another Japanese hip hop star, DJ Krush.

[Mulboyne]

There is some club and electronica on YouTube. The well-known anime video for "Extra" by Ken Ishii is there as is the mainstream hit "Shangri-La" by Denki Groove. And their decidedly less mainstream "Drill King". Singer Monday Michiru developed a niche appearing as a guest vocalist on dance tracks and here she is with Mondo Grosso on "Butterfly" There are some videos for Supercar including the live favourite "Yumegiwa Last Boy" and "Strobolights" which both come from the band's best period. There is also a radio edit version of "E" by Spangle Call Lilli Line which normally runs to over 9 minutes. Vocalist Kana Otsubo has said in interviews that she comes up with her surreal lyrics by singing sounds somewhere between English and Japanese and then finding Japanese words that fit the sounds - with a preference for the archaic. "Cyclic" by Buffalo Daughter is not really representative of the work that made them a cult hit overseas but the video was part of their attempt to make a bigger impact. Keigo Oyamada, aka Cornelius, here performs "Star Fruits Surf Rider" live at a Pop Jam event with percussionist C.J. Both Oyamada and Moog Yamamoto from Buffalo Daughter appear alongside the three members of Yellow Magic Orchestra in this live TV performance of "War and Peace". YMO are still giants of the scene and there is some good archive footage of the band like their original video for "Rydeen" and this 1980 live version. Don't miss their 2001 version of the same song for NHK where they look a lot like a bunch of oyaji who have just come out of the onsen but still deliver the goods.

You can find Ryuichi Sakamoto's daughter Miu on YouTube with a version of "The Never Ending Story" which probably wasn't necessary. She gave a much better performance when she had a hit as Sister M with "The Other Side of Love" but only her dad's 1997 instrumental version is available to watch. Miu's mother is Akiko Yano who is a top musician in her own right. There is some footage of her playing "Tong Poo" on the piano with Sakamoto intercut with YMO playing live and also her 1984 solo performance of "Ramen Tabetai" which sounds like it should be better than it is. Yano collaborated with a number of other artists and here she is with Kiyoshiro Imawano on the song "Seken Shirazu". The title translates loosely as "Don't Know the Ways of the World" and Imawano has certainly been a maverick over his career. He fought with his record label a few years ago when he released a controversial rock version of the anthem "Kimigayo" which, unfortunately, isn't on YouTube. Political themes are comparatively rare in Japanese rock and pop but Imawano has never shied away from including them. Here he is live singing about North Korea with "Kita Chosen e Asobo". You can see some other versions of "Kimigayo", however, such as this one from Gackt before a football match. Aya Matsuura also sings it at a football match, albeit a more prestigious international game for Zico's Japan. Singer Mika Nakashima, star of the film "Nana", gets to perform it before a boxing crowd.

YMO and Akiko Yano date back to the seventies but there are other vintage clips as well. This is the flamboyant Kenji Sawada, nicknamed "Julie", on television in 1974. In the same year, Momoe Yamaguchi performed "Hito Natsu No Keiken" on NHK's Kohaku. You might not know the title but there's a good chance you've heard the song before - it was covered most recently by Go!Go!7188. The video of Yamaguchi's first "retirement" from the entertainment world features some popular artists of the time including Akiko Wada before she decided on that haircut.

Pink Lady are there too and one YouTube member, oldjpop, who has contributed over 360 videos from the eighties and early nineties, has posted their 1979 TV performance of Pink Typhoon. If two girls don't do it for you then you can also see this one from The Candies. An interesting two minute clip of bands from a few years earlier features some exponents of the Group Sounds style which was heavily influenced by 60's British bands. There is not a lot from the folk boom of the 70's but you can see some later footage of Yuming who was one of the main stars of that movement. Meanwhile, this clip of the Sadistic Mika Band gives you an idea of what a seventies rock festival looked like in Japan. Eikichi Yazawa is probably better known to foreigners living in Japan for his appearances in canned coffee commercials but his brand of rock and roll has a loyal and enthusiastic following. Here he sings Koi no Ressha ha Liverpool Hatsu" and the slow smoocher "I Love You". 20 years later it is Liverpool again in front of a packed crowd at Yokohama Stadium.

[Mulboyne]

It is common practice for rock and pop songs to be used in TV commercials but occasionally, as in the case of Yazawa, the artist actually appears because they have a distinctive character the advertiser wants to use. Glamour is a fairly obvious one to use but nostalgia is also exploited as when the Sadistic Mika Band reunited recently for a Kirin Lager CM - Kaera Kimura replacing Mika on vocals - performing their hit song "Time Machine". Humour also works for advertisers which has proved a nice little earner for a band like Ulfuls. Their insanely popular song "Banzai" is said to be a favourite singalong at wedding parties. The video for their "Guts Daze!" sees them in more familiar "wacky" mode - ninja fights and blowpipe assasinations to the fore. Kishidan also have a distinctive bosozoku-like image which could be risky but they've appeared on NHK so that's all right then and they too have begun to appear in commercials. The video for their song "Swingin' Nippon" is a typical kitchen sink affair. Chisato Moritaka (if you've read this far it was one of her songs that Cyndi Lauper sang) first made an impact as an idol but she writes her own songs and her lyrics have always been a lot more arch than the average pop song. Her combination of humour and glamour has made her particularly popular with advertisers. This song, "Watashi ga Obasan ni Nattemo" is also very popular at weddings.

Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra - known for short as Skapara - are another party band with an energetic live show. Here is a clip from the early days showing them performing outside Seibu department store in Shibuya on New Year's Eve in 1989. Their first CDs featured ska versions of standards like "Hit the Road Jack" which they perform here in a 1990 show at the Hibiya Yagaidai Ongakudo. They collaborated with Shena Ringo on "Mayonaka Wa Junketsu" which has an interesting anime video. A highlight of their live show is usually "Monster Rock". The band began touring regularly overseas a few years ago and have made an impact on the festival circuit in Europe with appearances at Glastonbury and this one at Eurockeenes in France. You can see the keyboard player is still picking up his Korg for solos. For sheer insanity in a live show, though, it is difficult to top jazz outfit Shibusa Shirazu Orchestra who regularly perform with cocktail dancers, butoh dancers, painters and inflatables with up to 30 people on stage at any given time. Like Skapara, they have been appearing with great success on the European tour circuit. A small taste of their show is this clip from Fuji Rock in 2004 which features the song they usually use to close.

[Mulboyne]

Skapara suffered the death of their singer, "Cleanhead Gimura" in the 90's and the same sad fate has affected a number of artists down the road. Yutaka Ozaki was found naked in a alley having choked on his own vomit but his early death has raised him higher in his fans esteem. Here he sings "I Love You" to an adoring audience. Fishman's lead singer Shinji Sato died suddenly in 1999 but the band is still highly regarded today. Sato's other-wordly voice was a key part of their sound and you can hear it on this 1998 song, "Yurameki in the Air". Super Junky Monkey were making waves in America at a time when few Japanese rock acts could even get arrested there. The band's progress came to a sudden stop, though when singer Mutsumi either jumped or fell out of her apartment. This is a live version of "Buckin' the Bolts" which shows the influence of bands like Rage Against the Machine. The band's guitarist, Keiko, went on to join art rock band Ex-Girl. More recently, Billy, the bass player with garage rock band Guitar Wolf, died suddenly. He appears here in the video for UFO Romantics. Guitar Wolf are continuing with a new member as are DMBQ who lost their drummer, China Nishiura when their tour bus overturned during a tour of America last year. This clip from Seattle in April 2005 is probably one of her last shows.

DMBQ are usually called labelled as "noise" which is a genre with a small but fervent fan base both in Japan and abroad. You can get a reasonable idea of some of these less-travelled musical paths on YouTube but there are fewer promotional videos and more live clips of variable quality. Jumping straight in, here's one of the incarnations of Acid Mothers Temple with their brand of acid noise. The group run their own label and signed up Afrirampo, the Osaka duo who supported Sonic Youth during their recent appearance in Japan. The clip of their song "Akankonomamakaesanai" gives a taste of their live act. Another anarchic performance comes courtesy of ZUINOSIN who belong to a label - Macaroni Records - which has carved out a very specialized niche importing Welsh independent music. Ruins have influenced overseas duos such as Lightning Bolt and Death From Above 1979 and they sometimes play with members of Acid Mothers Temple. Here is their brand of drum and bass. Japanese noise band Boredoms are one of the best known overseas but there are more clips for Melt Banana who have toured the U.S more frequently of late and allowed fans to shoot their own footage. Recently, the band Boris has been building a following in America with the same audience although, as this promotional video for "Ibitsu" shows, they have more metal influences. I'm sure it doesn't hurt that they have a female guitarist. They take in other styles too - this live video from 2002 is more like prog rock.

Bordeoms have also pursued a more free jazz-oriented such as in this video for Vision Creation Newsun. Bass player Yoshimi-P has also done this with her side project OOIOO. The approach is more evident in the work of Boredoms spin-off band Rovo who are here playing live in Tokyo. If you like that, then you'll probably like Date Course Pentagon Royal Garden and, possibly, Natsumen seen here performing "Sonata of the Summer". Two members of Natsumen came from the short-lived but interesting band BOaT. They were critically well-received but didn't seem to sell very well. Nevertheless, you can still see a a clip of their last video "Circle Sound". Singer Kazumi Nikaido plays some of the same venues as these bands and has built up a reputation for avant garde folk - although it is possible that I just made that genre up. See for yourself here. If this is all getting a bit too mellow for you then here's a quick clip of Makoto Kawabata of Acid Mother's Temple smashing his guitar.

[Mulboyne]

Indie bands - for want of a better label - are fairly well represented. One YouTube member, who goes by the name Nananine, in particular has uploaded some lesser-known acts. Again, many of the better clips are from live performances such as these two from Number Girl: "Young Girl 17 Sexually Knowing" and "Omoide in My Head". Number Girl folded just as they were reaching a wider audience (this live video shows how they progressed to playing larger venues) but the individual members have gone on to various other projects. Guitarist Hisako Tabuchi joined the Bloodthirsty Butchers and started a fairly dull side project called Toddle which mostly serves to demonstrate what a weak voice she has. The driving force behind Number Girl, Shutoku Mukai, formed Zazen Boys and there's another kimono to see in their video for "Himitsu Girl's Top Secret". A third member of the band, Nakao Kentaro, joined Spiral Chord but has already left them to form Sloth Love Chunks. Their song "Loveless Ideals" appears to be sung in English.

Mongol 800, often called Monpachi, were one of the first bands to have a big-selling CD while still on an independent label. This alerted the business to the power of word-of-mouth in an era of mobile phones and the internet. This clip shows them performing "Horumon". Sambomaster are going the same route although they have yet to match Monpachi's popularity. This is them at Shibuya O-Nest taking a poll of the audience to decide the last song in their set. They go for "Sono Nukumori ni you ga aru". Another band with numbers in their name but not, apparently, a nickname, is Go!Go!7188 who are popular with an indie audience but have a number of crossover pop hits and cover versions to their name which has allowed them to play big venues like the Budokan.

Here is the video for Aa Seishun where they look a bit like Puffy with guitars. They can play them, though, as they show in this live version of "Jet Ninjin". Japanese band names can be eccentric but YOGURT-pooh must rank quite highly. Their nerdy look and sound recalled Weezer and they were good value to see live before they broke up. "Tanagi Blues" gives you a flavour.

[Mulboyne]

When Yura Yura Teikoku announce a new live date, tickets sell out almost instantly. If you want to know why that might be, there are quite a few video clips available including this 1997 live version of "Dock and Doll" and this one from the 2002 Fuji Rock. The band do make videos but seem to prefer to keep things fairly plain. Their sound has changed in recent years as you can tell from this 2005 video. There's no sign of garage rock band the King Brothers turning away from the hard stuff, though. For many, the Blue Hearts are one of the original indie bands and their song "Train Train" has become a standard. The song "Linda Linda" was the inspiration behind the 2005 film of the same name (plus one Linda). If you like them, then you'll probably like the High Lows who are the Blue Hearts with a different rhythm section. Here is their take on the Bay City Rollers' "Saturday Night" - renamed "Soto Dena" - although you have to wonder whether their fans were old enough to get the joke.

Electric Eel Shock probably have a higher profile in Europe and America than in their home country which they have achieved through a punishing tour schedule. They are a pretty entertaining hard rock live act but less dynamic in the studio. Here's a video of "Suicide Rock'n Roll". Polysics have a good following in Japan but they are just now getting a proper toehold in overseas markets where their live shows go down well. They are often compared to Devo, who they acknowledge as a major influence, but their music now has less in common than in the band's early days. This is a clip of "Baby Bias" from Pop Jam and here's a video of live favourite "I My Me Mine". Polysics also decided to cover the Styx song "Mr Roboto" and you can now compare their version with the original.