Japan is an island country in East Asia. Japan has one of the largest music industries in the world, having developed multiple genres throughout its history, as well as having considerably influenced worldwide music.
Among the traditional and folk styles of Japan, genres such as shomyo, gagaku and minyo can be found, among many others. The arrival of western music gave way to new genres such as ryukoka, kayokyoku, enka, shoka, gunka (military music) and dodompa (Japanese Tango). Read more on Last.fm.
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Japan has one of the largest music industries in the world, having developed multiple genres throughout its history, as well as having considerably influenced worldwide music.
Among the traditional and folk styles of Japan, genres such as shomyo, gagaku and minyo can be found, among many others. The arrival of western music gave way to new genres such as ryukoka, kayokyoku, enka, shoka, gunka (military music) and dodompa (Japanese Tango).
One of the most prominent genres from Japan, which has commercially spread worldwide, is j-pop, specially idol j-pop. Similarly, j-rock and the visual kei movement have also gathered a massive following worldwide since the '90s. Similarly, anime soundtracks, specially openings, have greatly helped spread Japanese music to other nations.
Other more niche genres in Japanese music include japanoise and kawaii future bass, among others.
Lastly, Japan also has a very vibrant and active scene encompassing almost every mainstream music genre, including hardcore punk, power metal, death metal, metalcore, post-punk, alternative rock, eurobeat, rap, grime, synth-pop andn many other genres. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
