![]() Her music was released on CD for the very first time and in 2011 she put out her first new album in 31 years. A Japanese actress renowned for her outlaw characters, Meiko Kaji’s vocal talents finally got the attention they deserved when two of her songs were used in Quentin Tarantino’s Kill BIll. Some of the most moving Japanese music I’ve had the opportunity to listen to. Shizuko Kasagi is the quintessential enka artist and, for its pure educational value, Kaimono boogie (買物ブギ, shopping boogie) is a must see for any Japanese language student, whether you end up liking the genre or not. A Japanese counterpart of French chanson and good old American blues, enka rose to prominence in the post war period and remains relatively popular to this day. It appeared at every major Japanese rock and reggae music festival and headlined several events around Europe.Ī form of a sentimental ballad, enka is possibly the closest thing to traditional Japanese music that could still be categorized as pop within the country. When she’s not busy recording more beautiful words for avid learners of Japanese like yourself, Machaco keeps bringing Japanese reggae to the world, be it through frequent concerts, or equally good albums.Ī predominantly dub music group, Dry & Heavy was formed in 1991 and enjoyed a fair deal of popularity ever since. There’s no way I could start a post like this without mentioning our very own Machaco, who’s behind the hours of pitch-perfect Japanese pronunciation audio over at LinguaLift. Fortunately, he happened to meet a famed Japanese percussionist Pecker which led to a fruitful collaboration between acclaimed Japanese and Jamaican artists. During his trip, he planned to attend a concert by Flower Travellin’ Band, but got informed that by then the group had already disbanded. This music genre first gained momentum when the Jamaican reggae legend Bob Marley visited Japan in 1979. Though the genre does tend to top the charts, I’m sure it’s no different wherever you’re from, and the modern Japanese music scene is just as vibrant and varied as any in the world… It can certainly seem at first like Japanese listen to nothing but pop (and Korean pop at that), with the occasional koto or shamisen intermezzo when they feel particularly nostalgic. ![]() Still, there’s certainly some benefit, if not educational, then at least cultural, to listening to Japanese music every once in a while, or at least whilst you’re studying kanji □ Let’s see what we have here… Ayumi Hamasaki… Hikaru Utada… Thelma Aoyama… Waaaait a minute, but I’m a metalhead hipster rockabilly kid just can’t stand pop! Is there really no good music coming out of my beloved island?įirst, let’s set something straight-you can’t learn Japanese just by keeping headphones on your head all day long. The next thing you know you’ve thrown away all your textbooks and rushed to the nearest record store. So you’ve started learning Japanese, and read through all the clever blog posts about how one can learn the language without ever actually, you know, studying, by listening to Japanese music-around the house, in the car, in the shower, and last but not least, in one’s sleep. ![]()
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