◦ History ◦

of JPop

Jpop started out with jazz during the early Shōwa period. It became really popular in Japan and livened up bars and clubs. "Ongaku Kissa" (music cafe) started springing up everywhere. During WWII Americans introduced new styles of music to Japan, and those were incorporated into Jpop. After the rock-and-roll craze began, that too, along with traditional music was integrated into Jpop. Music became more complex in the 1970s as New Music came into popularity. In the 1980s Tokyo inspired many songs under the genre of City Pop, similar to New Music, but big-city themed. In the 1990s, Jpop became the word used to describe popular Japanese songs. In the late 1990s, all-girl and all-boy bands started to rise to the top of the charts. Jpop songs soon became well-liked in America as well. As the English language became the prestige in Japan, Jpop artists began learning and singing in English. Currently there are many songs to which it is possible to find English versions to.