City Pop: the soundtrack to Japan's boom years goes viral

The most popular tracks, like Mariya Takeuchi's "Plastic Love", have tens of millions of views on YouTube.

City pop tracks like Plastic Love blew up with remixes by the vaporwave community almost 10 years ago.

Maybe starting to hit the mainstream now.

City pop tracks like Plastic Love blew up with remixes by the vaporwave community almost 10 years ago.

Maybe starting to hit the mainstream now.

AFP will probably start covering lofi house in 2030 then.

Tats Yamashita and Mariya Takeuchi are particular favorites and their sounds seem to invoke images of that era. Always nice to hear during a visit to the izakaya or kissaten.

City Pop

Now try pronouncing this in Katakana…

My wife loves this music. It's alright for relaxing at home on a weekend afternoon.

We should thank artists like Desired who brought the genre back to the masses with their future funk remixes...

Hello! Project's Juice=Juice have just released their version of 'Plastic Love'. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6Nuvg3RuEw

The joy of YouTube is that you can spin the dial endlessly, finding stuff that is new to you from decades of music. Zero in on something you like and there will be CDs out there, new or second hand, to add to your collection. Unusually for the net, YT's suggestions can often be helpful.

As everyone says, this is Vaporware driven. Saint Pepsi etc.

For another Japanese take on a 1980s flavour, here's some Japanese lads from back then who sound like a cross between Hanoi Rocks and Psychedelic Furs "Mr Jones" type guitar-driven post punk. It just popped up randomly in some Japanese rock Spotify was playing my wife.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ork_TJcUvmE

I must dig out my "PINK CLOUD" CDs .they were a rockin band ! ...right on CHAR ..super guitarist ..!!

so was "Fence of Defence" .... Masatoshi Nishimura ... 80s were great in japan ...bring em back hayaku !