Pop and rock
- Music, Pop and rock, Japan, World news, Asia Pacific, Anime, Games, Culture, Animation in film, Film
Colorful Stage! The Movie: A Miku Who Can’t Sing review – candy-haired popsters put on a show
A garbled story of metaverse musicians based on a mobile game leaves its audience little to grasp hold ofEven …
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Japanese singer and actor Miho Nakayama dies aged 54
After making her name with J-pop hits, the performer went on to win acclaim for film roles including Love Lett…
- Music, Pop and rock, Japan, Technology, Artificial intelligence (AI), Computing, World news, Asia Pacific, Culture
‘Hatsune Miku has a special part in my heart’: the 16-year-old pop sensation who does not exist
Miku is a ‘Vocaloid’ – a holographic avatar that represents a digital bank of vocal samples – and performs sel…
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‘Anger compels me forward’: Drive My Car composer Eiko Ishibashi on evil, experimentation and exploding genre
Her score for Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s opus helped it to Oscar glory. Now the Japanese musician has reunited with i…
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‘Translation changes the original meaning’: how 70s psych rockers Happy End ended the ‘Japanese rock controversy’
In 1969, Takasshi Matsumoto and Haruomi Hosono opted to defy rock trends by singing in Japanese, not English –…
- Gadgets, Hospitality industry, Bars, pubs and clubs, Music, Pop and rock, Japan, Technology, Business, World news, Culture
‘Where honour and ridiculousness collide’: in praise of karaoke’s inventor, on his death at 100
Shigeichi Negishi’s invention invites us to cast off humility and take a shot at singing stardom. His legacy w…
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‘I express purely through my songs and silhouette’: Ado, the platinum-selling pop star with a secret identity
She’s a massive success in her native Japan, but has never revealed her face. As she plays the UK for the firs…
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Jazz rulebreaker Hiromi: ‘The piano is a plane that can take me anywhere’
As she arrives in the UK for London jazz festival, the Japanese pianist explains how she subverts expectations…
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Niece of J-Pop mogul Johnny Kitagawa should resign over abuse allegations, panel says
Julie Fujishima, now president of Japan’s biggest boyband talent agency, had long been aware of accusations bu…
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Japanese talent agency apologises over claims founder sexually abused boys
Johnny Kitagawa’s niece issues apology to men who have made abuse claims while not commenting on veracity of a…
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Former J-pop idol alleges sexual abuse by late music mogul Johnny Kitagawa
Kauan Okamoto says Kitagawa evaded justice because victims knew speaking out would end their careersJohnny Kit…
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Ryuichi Sakamoto obituary
Japanese composer and electronic music pioneer behind the soundtrack for the 1983 film Merry Christmas, Mr Law…
- Music, Pop and rock, Japan, Electronic music, World news, Asia Pacific, Classical music, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Experimental music, Culture, Film
Ryuichi Sakamoto, Japanese pop pioneer and Oscar-winning composer, dies aged 71
Sakamoto was one of Japan’s most successful musicians, acclaimed for work in Yellow Magic Orchestra as well as…
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‘There was a bucket where you could squeeze sweat out of your clothes’: OZ, the club that changed Japanese rock
The venue, which opened in Tokyo in 1972, created a pioneering space for musical experiment. As a record of it…
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Pop iconoclast Rina Sawayama: ‘Drag is turning trauma into entertainment. That’s what I’m doing’
The British-Japanese pop star’s genre-mashing second album is the product of her hard-won self-knowledge. She …
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‘I was crying’: rocker Randy Bachman reunites with stolen guitar 45 years later
Guess Who member gets back the Gretsch that he used to write American Woman, after fan tracked it down in Toky…
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Japanese rockers Kikagaku Moyo: ‘Watching people board a train – that’s psychedelic!’
As they play Glastonbury on what will be their final tour, the unmissable psych-rockers talk about forging the…
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Various Artists: Tokyo Glow review – radiant homage to Japanese city pop
(Nippon Columbia) This upbeat collection unearths artists whose glossy, disco-influenced pop contains subtle f…
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Japanese pop maverick Akiko Yano: ‘Art is in my blood, it will never die’
The pioneering pianist blazed a trail through 1970s jazz and electronica and was lauded by 1980s pop royalty. …
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‘Kawaiiii!’ Chai, the Japanese girl band reclaiming cuteness
The indie pop quartet might not be overtly political, but their new album – ‘an amusement park for insecuritie…