Are you tired of turning on MTV only to see the Matchbox 20 video for the fifth time today? Fustrated by Celine Dion and Backstreet Boys topping our charts every week? Missing the days when Cyndi Lauper, Duran Duran, Devo, and The Go Go's dominated the Billboard top ten?

Let's face it, in the last ten years American pop music has made a serious turn for the worse. In the early eighties, artists like Puff Daddy and Mariah Carey would have never had a chance in the spotlight. The essence of pop music has gotten lost in this recent shuffle of rap, techno, hip hop, and emotionless ballads. Even the most independent music today (the supposed "alternative" to mainstream) churns out equally bland sounds.

While we can only hope that one day American pop music will return to what it was in the fifties right through to the eighties, I wouldn't hold your breath. It will be years before the music-buying public comes to their senses and boycotts this garbage. Why such disparing news? Because in a land far far away [i.e. Japan] they are doing it better than we could ever imagine!

- Sheila B.

Hi, I'm Mason Proulx the creator of this site and those words were taken from part of an article written by my pal Sheila for her spiffy music magazine Cha Cha Charming. While I can't say I feel as strongly as she does, the statement pretty much mirrors many of my feelings especially over the past five years. That the popular music scene in America hasn't been able to offer anything to get excited about. That kind of explains the reason why these past few years I've been getting less and less enjoyment out of American music and have instead become rather addicted to Japanese music. Simply that sense of melody and over-the-top showmanship in music that made it exciting has been missing from the scene on this side of the world but thriving on the other side. Music over here may be a lot less melodramatic and gimmicky than it once was, but along with that baggage went all of the good things that made it an absorbing experience. Something which I found the Japanese music scene has kept, even though its music scene keeps changing and evolving.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not totally biased towards one culture's music scene. I was born a fan of North American music and will always reconize great music when I hear it. There are still a number of US, Canadian and British artists that I fiind make appealing music, but exceptions aside, the industry as a whole has become so dry and lifeless in the 90's. This is where I turned to Japanese music. Long before I realized I felt like this, I was interested in Japanese music simply because of my love for the culture. But gradually as J-pop kept on delivering the goods while American pop failed to show me much that was fresh that could captivate me, my interests eventually shifted completely.

Next to the United States, Japan is the 2nd largest producer of music in the world (a lot bigger than Great Britain or Canada). That means there's a massive pool of talent overseas that rivals our own and the crime is that most of us westerners are completely ignorant of its existance. It's likely to stay that way I fear. People all over the world listen to American music whether they understand English or not, but Americans are much less open to popular music from other countries. We limit ourselves to only English language music or the occasional stereotypical "world music". When you think about it, music is a universal language despite in what tongue the lyrics may be so there's really no reason why we shouldn't partake of music from another nationality. In my life I have dabbled in French, Italian, Czech, German, Chinese, Korean, Spanish, Swedish, Greek, Dutch and of course English language popular music and I've enjoyed much of it. However I have to say that nothing has ever captivated me as Japanese music has. Undoubtedly my opinion is still influenced by my love of Japanese culture, but also I feel that it's currently the most exciting and dynamic music scene in the world today.

I made this page realizing that the vast majority of people out there who think they know anything about Japanese music are either Japanese animation fans who listen to the soundtracks, or people who listen to the occasional Japanese import bands (which are usually fringe indie artists who never had much success back home anyway). All of which is hardly representative of the actual Japanese music scene. A scene that is wildly popular everywhere in Asia, but rarely sees the light of day in the west. When I ask most people if they'd like to learn more about Japanese pop music, most of them brush the idea off before actually trying it for themselves. Usually the case is that people are just not used to music from a different culture and aren't comfortable with making that kind of step. Something which is quite understandable. Ignorance is bliss after all, but so be it. I don't mind that so much as those who won't give it a chance because of pejudiced notions they've formed. Western media hasn't given us many indications of what the pop culture is like over there. Instead people tend to make up their own ideas without ever having the facts. Most of these people I've found put up a wall of rationale that can't be reasoned with.

But I've learned not to waste time on those who don't have an open mind, and instead focus on the people who are interested in knowing more about the world music scene. The only reason they haven't branched out is that without many resources available in our part of the world it's impossible to know where to start. Especially in the case of Japanese music since it's such a huge and diverse industry with dozens upon dozens of new releases on a weekly basis. That's where I hopefully come in. For the rest of you who are interested in learning a bit more about Japanese artists but have no idea where to begin, this web site is for you. Here I introduce most of my favorite Japanese music artists and groups and write my impressions of their music. I'm hoping that by serving as an introduction, I can set a few potential fans on the right track.

I am not really trying to provide an all encompassing cross section of Japanese music, but rather tell people a little something about the artists that I really enjoy. My tastes tend to lean more towards rock-based music, but I do enjoy a little bit of everything. So you can be assured that my opinions are not biased by the genre of music, but rather the quality of the the artists' work. Even so while I've named this a "J-pop" site you will note a strong inclination towards rock. Keep in mind here I use "J-pop" in the generic sense, as in "japanese popular music" which encompasses all contemporary music be it R&B, heavy metal, folk, punk, dance, grunge, electronica, hip hop, modern jazz, rock n' roll, and so forth. As long as the song evokes a strong feeling, I don't care which genre it's supposed to be. It's all good to me.

On this site, not only do I introduce many of the biggest names in Japanese music, but I've also let you try out music at my Listening Booth, show some places where you may sample other music (via MP3 or Real Audio) and direct you to places where you can purchase Japanese music online. I've taken a lot of pride in making a fairly comprehensive guide to the Japanese music scene so please take your time and enjoy.

Mason Proulx

To view pages on specific artists just click on one of the names on the right frame. The pages are layed out like so:

• Each page explains all aspects of the band or individual artist in great detail, yet in terms that anyone can follow. Not only facts, but personal opinion as well. Too many pages I find tell you the facts about an artist, but don't really share the author's standpoint. Music is an emotional medium so if you can't let them hear for themselves, you must paint a picture in words with your own feelings so that they get an idea. Otherwise he reader is still left unsure as to whether or not they want to try out a certain artist. I put a lot of my own opinion in these pages and although many people with different tastes may disagree with me, for the most part, I feel I've depicted these artists fairly.
• Each page also features a review of my favorite CD from each artist. Keep in mind that I only count regular studio albums and not greatest hits compilations or live albums. This rule is a bit tricky with these semi-compilation albums like GLAY's Review, Nanase Aikawa's ID or Every Little Thing's Every Best Single +3. All albums are made up of mostly hits found on previous albums, yet with a couple of new singles thrown in which aren't found elsewhere. So my rule is that the album has to have at least 50% new songs if I am to take it into account.
• On each page you'll also find a song ranking of the best songs. But it's not a census of music fans everywhere. Just my own personal list of favorite songs. What's the point of such a list? Well some people like to compare their favorites with other fans as I know I do. I also admit it's a mostly self-centered way to voice my opinions further. However it also serves a purpose and gives a starting point for people who are searching around for MP3 or RealAudio sound samples of the artist, but don't know which songs to spend their precious internet time downloading. So at least they have one person's reccomendation.
• Each page has links to other pages dedicated to the artist. However I don't surf around as much as most people so these links are not always the most up to date around. So it's a good idea to just use me as a jumping off point and not as a source of links. That's why I've put the Jpop search function in my page. So that via Bonsai's Jpop Pages, you can search for related pages on anything you want.