This weblog is talking about Japanese Pop music. I will introduce the latest J-Pop music and the Oricon Style weekly ranking to you guys. Hope you will be addicted to J-Pop music, too.
There are many famous songs which are not just hot in Japan but also in Taiwan. Almost every these songs are still famous nowadays because some of them would be covered by other singers.
Let me introduce you some songs you must had heard before.
The first one is "First Love", which is sang by Utada hikaru and collected in First Love the album.
The album sold out 7,650,215 pieces and its records on the board was more than 80 weeks.
The second one is "LOVE LOVE LOVE", which is sang by Dreams Come True and collected in LOVE UNLIMITED the album.
Their records had sold out about 43,000.000 pies, the 5th in Japan record history.
The third one is "世界に一つだけの花", which is sang by SMAP.
Actually, they still sang this song these years. In this year 紅白歌合戰, they will sing this song again, and I think it will give many audience a special movement and memory.
The fourth one is "白い恋人達", which is sang by 桑田佳祐.
This song is not very old, but as soon as it was released, the song became a song which everyone knew how to sing.
Below, I will show you some singers had ever sang these songs.
For me, a great song must contain touching lyrics. Although the melody is the first impression for listeners, the lyrics are the most important part of a song.
In this blog, I want to make a comparison between the lyrics of Jpop music and Taiwan's.
In my opinion, JPOP music has many great lyrics which are poetic and full of romantic thinking. On the other hand, Taiwan's lyrics of music are more realistic which emphasize on the reality and people's aspects.
For this example, though there is just a comparison, you can see the differences.
In 遙か's lyrics, there is really a conception which is hard to understand. However, in Japan, such lyrics are too much to count and they are very similar. So is it a good phenomenon? Or it is just exaggerative.
In 說謊's lyrics, I think everyone can catch the idea easily. In Taiwan, such poetic lyrics are often written by some bands and creative singers, or a few famous lyricists.
Ken Hirai(平井堅) was born in 1972, who has made his debut for 14 years. He has published 31 singles and 11 albums.
His first single, Precious Junk, was published in 1995. The single's sales' volume was not very good, but it indeed made some people notice him. Although the single did not have a great grade, the record company did not give up the new male singer. Till 2000, he totally published 6 singles. However, those singles couldn't catch listeners' attention. He even tried to give up her singing career.
In 2000, he noticed that Rhythm and Blues will be popular, and he cached the chance publishing his 8th single, 樂園. This single really did a good job because its sales' volume soonly broke thorough 600,000 pieces.
In 2003, the single, 大きな古時計, made him achieve the another level of his singing career, because the single became the most popular one in that year, and it had 4-week champion.
Till now, he has published many popular singles such as, 瞳をとじて, 哀歌, POP STAR and so on. He said that he doesn't want to have a great fame but sing as many songs as he can. Because of this reason, he tried many different styles of music and worked hard to surpass himself.
In my opinion, he is really a great man. His music is very relaxing and always makes me feel carefree. In some ways, he has some magic power which can catch people's mind because his voice is gentle and soft. Hope you guys can also enjoy his music.
Today, this blog will contain everything only about Namie Amuro (安室奈美惠), who is the top female singer in JPOP market.
Namie Amuro is born in 1977, Sept 20. Before 1997, she was very popular among the young people. However, she was married in the end of 1997, and then, she stopped every activities until 1998 Feb. 1998 Feb, a brand new single was published, 《CAN YOU CELEBRATE?》, which was sold out more than 2,300,000 pics. The single's sales's volume is still the number one among female singers.
In 1999 Mar. 17, her mother was murdered at home. It was really a big event for her and changed her whole life. After this year, her fame seemed to gradually drop. In 2000 Jan., her first record collection, 《Genius 2000》, was sold out no more than 1,000,000 pieces.
In 2003, she published the album, Style, which symbolized a new Namie Amuro was born. The album was filled with R&B style, and it was made by an famous American record maker. Although the album's sale's volume was not very good, it was an important change for her.
Last year, she published a collection, BEST FICTION, which has sold out more than 1,500,000 pieces. It seemed that she has became the queen of JPOP again.
This Dec 16, her new album, Past < Future, will be published. The album has cached many people's focus, and so do I. I believe that the new album can have a great grade, and makes another record.
The Biggest Live Show, NHK 紅白歌合戦, will accompany audience to welcome 2010's coming as usual. In every year's end, 12/31, NHK(Japan Broadcasting Corporation) invites many singers to attend the live show and divides them into two teams, the red one and the white one. Within 280 minutes, the two teams will compete with many fantastic songs.
Here is the attendant list:
(Numbers in the "()" means the attending times)
You can find more details in the official site: 第60回NHK紅白歌合戦
The Live show is not just a competition but a chance for singers, especially the new ones, to catch audience's focus and to publicize their music. NHK紅白歌合戰's TV rating is always above 50%, so it means that there are more than 50% citizens watching this show to be an end of a year.
This year, NHK is planing to make this live show more attracting and splendid, because the show's TV rating is gradually going down year by year. One of their measures is to invite some singer who never attended 紅白歌合戰, such as Namie Amuro(安室奈美惠) and Arashi(嵐). As I mentioned before, Namie Amuro and Arashi are really "hot" right now, so NHK absolutely invited them to attend the show. However, just Arashi accepted the invitation, and Namie still refused.
Below, I will introduce you some JPOP singers who attended 紅白歌合戰 almost every year.
Ayaka, who just finished her last love concert, MTV Unplugged ayaka. Why I said "last " is because she will retire her singing business career because of hyperthyroidism.
Few months ago, she released her first best album, ayaka's History 2006-2009 which has sold out over 730,000 pieces. I think her renouncement of retiring really works. I don't mean this album sucks. I just think it is a tip of the record company. Furthermore, she just married to a famous actor, so many Japanese mediums thought the hyperthyroidism was just a excuse, her purpose was to stay at home and be a housewife.
Ayaka -- I Believe
Actually, her fame was because a song called 三日月 which was published in 2006. This song was used as a Japanese soap opera, 輪舞曲.
Ayaka -- 三日月
Her voice really can console people and make some mental effects. Every time I listen to her song, I feel very calm and relaxed. Below is my favorite song, 手をつなごう
第60回 NHK 紅白歌合戦 is trying hard to ask her to attend the TV show to symbolize her last performance. However, Ayaka does still not accept now. In next blog, I will introduce you the history of 紅白歌合戦 and what will we see in 第60回 NHK 紅白歌合戦.
In japan, some singers can become very famous just because his/ her song is used as the theme song for a soap opera. The phenomenon is common in Taiwan, too. However, in Japan, it is more evident than other asian countries.
For example,
流星花園: 黃冠的秘密 - Arashi ~One Love~
(This single, One Love, has been sold out more than 500,000 pieces)
Code Blue - Mr. Children ~HANABI~
(The single, HANABI, has been sold out more than 440,000 pieces)
Last Friends - 宇多田ヒカル ~Prisoner Of Love~
(The album, HEART STATION, has been sold out more than 1,000,000 pieces)
Actually, JSO(Japanese Soap Opera) is popular in other asian countries as well, so the theme song can be heard by more people. Of course, the single or album which contains the theme song always can be sold out many pieces.
Because of the effect, many singers try hard to sing for the JSO. However, not every JSO can become a popular one. If the JSO is not popular, and even bad, the theme song will be affected, either.
Take the most popular one, 求婚大作戰, for example. Its TV rating was always above 16, and it was really a big number!! Here are some data about the top 10 TV rating in Japan, and the data is from http://www.videor.co.jp/data/ratedata/junre/01drama.htm
美麗人生 B'z ~今夜在看見月亮的山丘上~
You can find that the top 10 are almost before 2000. It is because that the internet TV was not so popular at that time, and there were not so many illegal copies at that time. People's liked to watch soap opera to kill time. However, now, the internet is convenient and people would prefer downloading the episodes. Because of it, the rating above 15 is really a big number and you can imagine how great affects of the theme song brings.
This December will be very busy for fans and singers, because the two top singers of AVEX, Ayumi Hamasaki and Namie Amuro, will release their new single and album.
Namie Amuro was very popular within recent years, although she had vanished for years. Her latest album, BEST FICTION (7/30 2008) has been sold out 1,534,404 pieces, and recently, she just finished her tour concert in Japan, Taiwan and Shanghai, which was joined by about 500,000 people.
Every her fan and reporter are expecting the new album (its name isn't released yet) for the unbelievable achivement of BEST FICTION. However, Namie Amuro said that the new album is going to a brand new level, she doesn't care the sales volume so much.
For her fame, she was also rewared some awards, such as The Best Female Singer, The Most Fashionable Queen and so on. Also, Vidal Sassoon hired her to take the new ad continually.
Ayu, who has been popular for 10 more years. Her new single, You were.../ BALLAD, is also expected very much. Although her CD's sales volume is gradually going down, she is still the top female singer in AVEX.
Today, she just finished her NEXT LEVEL tour in Japan, and the news of new to be released single had been poblished, either. Her latest single, Sunrise/ Sunset ~LOVE is ALL~ (8/12 2009) sold out 109,918 pieces. In Japan's CD market, it is a great grade actually.
(NEXT LEVEL Tour)
(NEXT LEVEL Tour)
(NEXT LEVEL Tour)
(NEXT LEVEL Tour)
Ayu has debuted for 11 years, but her fascination does not decline at all. She is still the top 2 female singer in Japanese's mind (The top one is Namie Amuro). However, her sales volume is continually going down. Some fans said it is because that there are too many popular male groups to compete with Ayu. For me, regardless of the sales volume, loving her music and voice is the most important thing.
Next, let me sow you the album and single top 5 ranking of last week (10/26 2009)
>> B'z become the top one in last week as soon as the new single released.
>> YUI is still the queen of romantic songs. The sales volume is gorgeous.
>> The album, ayaka's History 2006-2009, is really great!! What a pity that she will retire from her singing buisness career.
>> It's not a great sales volume for M-F10 -10th Anniversary Best.
(The two pics are made by Eiger, and the data are from Oricon Style)
Nowadays, the market of J-POP music seemed to be occupied by male groups, such as Arashi.
The album, All the BEST! 1999-2009, is their latest work, which has been sold 1,307,760 pieces. It's really a marvelous number for nowadays J-POP market is declining gradually.
The other example, Tohoshinki (東方神起), which is also a famous male group in Asia. However, the group is formed by 5 young Korean men.
It is their latest album, The Secret Code, which has been sold 286,920 pieces. Although their selling number is not as well as Arashi's, their high popularity is overwhelming the whole Asia.
The reason why I talk about the two male groups is I'm confused of their high popularity. Arashi, actually, they have formed over than 10 years; however, they were not so famous untill recent years. These years, their albums and singles selling number really surprised many people. To take their album, All the BEST! 1999-2009, for example, 1,307,760 is undoutedly a big number for the record market in Japan is under the depression.
From this graph (from http://blog.yam.com/user/vilya0106.html), you can see the curve climbed up from 2006, but before the year, their album selling numbers was not so surprising.
Tohoshinki, they became famous within recent years, too. Although I had heard of them 4 or 5 years ago, they were not so popular at that time. Furthermore, they made their debut in Korea, so did BoA. However, they didn't make efforts in Korea record market but put their ambitious hearts in Japan. The deed really made them successful not only in Japan but also in Taiwan and China.
The DVD, 4th LIVE TOUR 2009～The Secret Code～Final in TOKYO DOME, has made a new record, 170,847 pieces. They are the first foreign singers whose DVD ranking become the first in Oricon and in the first week.
Actually, these two male groups are not the most famous ones in Japan nowadays, but I think their succeed is really unbelievable. Below, I show you the records' ranking top 10 in 2009 Jan-March (copy from PTT),
1. EXILE ( 54.816億円 ) 2. 嵐 ( 44.329億円 ) 3. Mr.Children ( 41.757億円 ) 4. 濱崎あゆみ ( 30.906億円 ) 5. B'z ( 28.738億円 ) 6. KAT-TUN ( 28.541億円 ) 7. DREAMS COME TRUE ( 26.059億円 ) 8. 東方神起 ( 24.929億円 ) 9. SMAP ( 22.760億円) 10. 倖田來未 (19.955億円) and the DVD ranking Top 10 in 2009 Jan-Mar (copy from PTT). 1. 355,253 嵐「ARASHI AROUND ASIA 2008 in TOKYO」 2. 313,504 EXILE「EXILE LIVE TOUR 「EXILE PERFECT LIVE 2008」 3. 269,021 SMAP「SMAP 2008 super.modern.artistic.performance tour」 4. 209,604 KAT-TUN「KAT-TUN LIVE TOUR 2008 QUEEN OF PIRATES」 5. 181,584 B'z「B』z LIVE－GYM Pleasure 2008 GLORY DAYS」 6. 179,020 B'z「B』z LIVE－GYM Hidden Pleasure～Typhoon No.20～」 7. 123,193 桑田佳佑「桑田佳佑 Act Against AIDS 2008「昭和八十三年度！ひとり紅白歌合戰」 8. 121,829 ヘキサゴンオールスターズ「ヘキサゴンファミリーコンサート 2008 WE LIVE■ヘキサゴン」 9. 93,730 Hey!Say!JUMP「Hey！Say！Jump-ing Tour '08-'09」 10. 87,973 Perfume「Perfume『BUDOUKaaaaaaaaaaN!!!!!』」 Actually, the top 5 menbers in records' ranking top 10 in 2009 Jan-March are all groups, except Ayumi Hamasaki, and some of them have debuted for a long time, such as EXILE, SMAP, B'Z and Mr, Children. It's an interesting phenomenon because it proved that male groups in Japana can "hot" for years!
