jROCk
The following is excerpted from Jrock Ink. It is without a doubt the best book that I could recommend to someone who is new to JRock and even to those who want to learn more about the genre. Find more about the book here. To find more specific information about bands, updates and to connect with the ongoing fanbase, please head over to Jrock Revolution!
Q. What is JROCK?
A. Jrock is short for Japanese rock. It's rock music produced in Japan.
On June 30, 1966, The Beatles played their first concert in Japan. It was held in Tokyo's Nippon Budokan, a martial arts hall built to honor Japans war dead. ... That a group of shaggy-haired British hippies could sensationally succeed in a still-conservative country that had been an imperialist dictatorship just thirty years before showed how far Japan had come in absorbing Western culture. The protesters, on the other hand, showed how far it still had to go. ... Every aspect of the Beatles - their 180-degree look, foreign loudness, and individualism, combined with an infectious musical style - alternately upset, ruffled, and fascinated the wholly polite Japanese. And it's not been the same since. ...
The public was prepped, Group Sounds [known as image-friendly cover bands] faded, and '70s rock traveled through a time warp before Japanese rock roots took hold. As it turned out, instead of merely experiencing a casual fad, some Japanese had been profoundly affected. The country had been swept by rock fever, but after the masses had gotten over it and moved on to the next big thing, an unshakable inspiration still raged in the hearts and lingers of a select few. ... [F]olk rock groups like THE ALFEE... and punk rock hawkers such as SHEENA & THE ROCKETS...laid the foundation for Japanese rock by emulating the sound and look of their Western influences. Audiences weren't receptive at first, but persistence paid off. ... The spirit of rock further spread in the early '80s underground with bands such as Shonen Knife...BOØWY...and BUCK-TICK ... Unlike pop stars, these musicians made their own decisions. ... [And] despite the absence of major label support, a fan base grew. ... Though not entirely convinced, Japan was more rock-ready than before. So when a flamboyant, violent rock group called X (later known as X JAPAN) broke out of the indie scene on its own terms in 1989, there was a need to feed. ... [I]t was the definitive point at which the Japanese began looking to themselves for rock music, and Japan's first personal rock movement, visual kei was born.
A time lapse still existed between the United States and Japan in 1993. U.S. artists were into grunge, for example, making costuming seem outdated. In Japan, however, X JAPAN was still dressed to kill and topping the charts. X's appearance and its success broke off the first concrete, constant slab of wildly popular Japanese rock groups (Three Michelle Gun Elephant, B'z, GLAY) ... By the late '90s, that self-reliance became even more evident with bands like L'Arc~en~Ciel, Judy and Mary, and Malice Mizer. After building their own fan base from scratch as indie bands, these groups gained widespread popularity by having their songs and likenesses featured in videogames, TV series, and animated series (anime). ... Rock and Japanese mainstream media essentially tag-teamed each other, which lead to the simultaneous containment and circulation of rock within Japan. As the new millennium approached, Japanese rock was operating on its own.
The Fugi Rock Festival, founded in 1997, was in full swing, featuring a coveted array of international and domestic artists. International media began to take notice. ... A heightened interest in Asian culture that was being spread via animated movies, films and the visual arts helped dispel a lingering prejudice against Japanese artists. But at twenty-five, Japanese rock had its own identity and was able to easily and convincingly absorb styles like grunge, as in the case of the trio the brilliant green. ... Meanwhile, anime was booming in the United States, and American mainstream music had dissolved into an amateur mess that was rehashed, whiny, and generic. Fans - not newspapers or magazines - clamored for anime, and subsequently, their soundtracks. ... Today, things are up to speed. Older Japanese rock is discovered through anime, videogames, and the Internet. Fans don't have to live in Japan to keep up with the rock scene, nor do Japanese need to wait to hear of goings-on in the West. But a smaller world doesn't translate into a loss of identity. Artists such as the multi-faceted Gackt, who has stressed the beauty and importance of Japanese lyrics, Kagrra,, whose music alludes to ancient Japan, and Sheena Riingo, avant-garde in integrating traditional Japanese elements, are examples of artists who make sure Japanese rock stays, well, Japanese.
Rock has done an about face; it is coming home. Its acceptance and the acceptance of its messages still show how far societies have (or haven't) progressed. … Beautiful men cross-dressing have long been a part of Japanese culture. … Modern Japan thus has a historic familiarity with and basic acceptance of cross-dressing and male homosexuality whether implied or actual. ... In Japan, the need to be different to succeed is great for each innovative artist, throngs of imitators and emulators follow. Between walls of idols, a repressed social system, and greedy corporations, rock lives. ... Chart rankings, record sales, sold-out performances at certain venues, and transitions from independent to major record labels are used to mark the milestones in artists' careers. Here, they may also be seen as marking the establishment and success of rock music in Japan. Rock runs directly counter to the stereotype of a passive, reserved, conformist Japan. ... The competition is largely domestic, consisting of the country's own pre-packaged pop acts and compilations of older acts. But Japanese rock is pitted against foreign artist releases as well. So, to blitz the record books in Japan is one thing; to do so as a Japanese rock act is something else completely. ...
