Wether you saw a girl in a room full of candies and skulls, three teenage girls dancing to Metal songs, or a virtual 16-years old girl with blue twin tails, you’ve probably heard or at least seen a sign of Japanese music somewhere. This apparently far and crazy scenario, set in Orient’s technologically most advanced country, may have gave you different feelings: entertainment, curiosity, despise, or, maybe, a simple laughter. And then, you probably forgot about it.
If this has happened to you too, don’t worry. You’re not alone.
Maybe that is not what you wanted to see, but what the media wanted you to see: something funny and bizarre, may it be a viral video or anything trending on social networks. For many, this kind of material is an easy excuse to label an entire music industry (or country) with terms such as “weird”. After all, it’s easier to make fun of something than to understand it. But would you consider one single artist as the absolute representation of an entire music industry? That doesn’t make much sense, of course. The key is to understand that even that funny video you saw yesterday on YouTube, is simply Pop culture. It looks bizarre simply because it comes from a culture different than yours, and it’s only natural that you find it hard to understand at first.
To make a simple example, let’s take Rock or Metal music: what you see and listen at first almost sounds like noise, between instruments played at lightspeed and incomprehensible lyrics, but once you go deeper instead of giving up and label the genre as “chaos”, you slowly start to understand the real meaning behind it. And guess what? It’s the same thing with Japanese music.
You may (or not) get the wrong impact at first, because it’s not voluntarily searched by you, but you can easily use that as starting point to enlarge this initially restricted vision, and enrich your knowledge with an endless series of unique artists and music that you won’t find anywhere else. This approach will also give you a wider point of view of Japan’s culture, since the music industry is the reflection of this curious and fascinating society, allowing you to build your own knowledge of Japan. Slowly, you’ll start to realize that behind those three girls dancing to Metal tunes, lies talent and artistic power.
But let’s focus on what’s most important now: Your starting point, your entrance ticket to the world of Japanese music.
If you’re used to the way things work in the western side of the world, you may feel a bit lost at first. This blog has been appositely created for this: to make you understand the real potential of Japanese music, and give you a proper chance to enjoy this scenario. Here on Land of the Rising Sound, you will find complete descriptions of how this industry is structured, its actual state, in-depth articles on the most famous artist and genres, reviews of any kind of release, and live reports of both Japanese and overseas shows. The only thing you need to do is listen and watch everything you find with an open mind, and go beneath the surface. Of course you won’t be alone in this journey: there are literally thousands and thousands of people loving Japanese music in every single part of the world, from all countries and cultures.
Welcome to the most interesting and various music scene in the world. This is Japan, the Land of the Rising Sound that keeps evolving and inspiring.
– Alex
Land of the Rising Sound 