City Pop: One of the Best Music Genres from Japan!

A warm summer breeze blows through your hair, the car windows roll down, and a bay glitters blue and wonderful in the sunshine. These images come to mind when people put on city pop, Japan’s smooth, uplifting, and carefree genre of music from the late 70s. 

What was once highly commercialized music suited for city folk back in the 80s, city pop has recently exploded in popularity worldwide. If you’ve never listened to city pop or spent an afternoon lounging with a whole playlist on your TV, this is the article for you!

What exactly is city pop?

City pop is a title reserved for a style of music that emerged in Japan during the late 1970s and peaked during the 1980s. Stylistically, it contains funk, R&B, jazz, rock, and disco elements, all merged into one nebulous and free-flowing genre. The term “city pop” came from Terry Melcher’s album “Royal Flush,” where the Japanese promotion described it as “Mellow (Mexican Country Hollywood) City Pop!” 

Shortly after, the term gained traction as Japanese musicians began to release music that they felt was made by city people for city people. The slow to mid-paced music emphasizes leisurely horns, piano, drums, and synth, complementing uplifting and soaring vocal styles. In short, it’s the perfect music to listen to while cruising in the city.

Where did city pop come from?

During the late 70s, many Japanese musicians moved away from traditional Japanese influences in music and instead opted to incorporate Western styles into their songwriting. This new hybrid genre emerged as traditional Japanese folk replaced Western soft rock, disco, and funk. 

Japan entered a massive economic boom in the 1980s. The music began to reflect the lives of wealthy city residents. Sports cars with cassette players, people using Walkmans, and a tropical feel became linked to this music.

It wasn’t just music for upwardly mobile workers. It was also made for people in busy cities, rather than rural towns. The energetic sound captured the excitement and fast pace of city life, rather than the slower lifestyle of the countryside.

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What defines it as a genre?

Interestingly enough, there is no hard definition of city pop as a genre. Musicians from the 1970s, 80s, and today all agree on one thing: The genre is a catch-all that focuses more on feelings and vibes than on a specific style. The music blends influences from disco, funk, boogie, and rock. Because of this mix, there are no strict rules for making music in this genre.

This gives the music an immensely open and liquid feel. Are you down for smooth jazz and light synth? Done. Are you in the mood for something with choral arrangements, horns, and a great percussion section? That works, too.

As musicians once stated, music is meant to create sensations of luxury, relaxation, and burgeoning new technological advances. This broad definition helps it avoid pigeonholing itself into any particular construct. In this way, city pop is an amalgamation of musical styles that can suit whatever mood needs it.

Why did it fall out of popularity, and how did it return?

It’s fitting that city pop took such heavy inspiration from Western disco because, just like disco in the States, the genre faced a sudden and harsh fall from grace. As Japan moved into the 1990s, the genre became viewed as heavily mainstream, passé, and outdated. Just as quickly as it rose in popularity, it fell out of favor. 

But in the past five to eight years, the genre has enjoyed a massive resurgence in popularity worldwide, especially in the West. Thanks mainly to YouTube and Spotify pushing suggested content to listeners, many Japanese musicians and songs were discovered almost overnight. Suddenly, “Plastic Love” by Mariya Takeuchi, “Bay City” by Junko Yagami, and “Stay With Me” by Miki Matsubara were blasting out of speakers all over again.

Why should you check out city pop today?

City pop is a remarkable genre of music for several reasons. It was born from Japanese musicians’ desire to write Western-style music. Moreover, it defined a decade of Japanese culture and an entire economic period for Japan. Despite facing backlash in the 1990s shortly after its creation, this genre has since enjoyed an unprecedented return. It’s terrific that artists such as Kingo Hamada and Anri get a second wind many years later. 

What can truly define an artist’s success is that, many years after their art was first released, people are still interested in it and want to experience it. There’s no greater proof of how timeless and pervasive art can be than looking at how city pop has experienced its global return. Are there any songs you love from this genre? Please let us know in the comments below! We’d love to hear how much you love jamming to Japanese pop!

Cited Sources

• Web Japan. “City Pop is Spreading Around the World“.
• Baby Audio. “What is City Pop? The Producer’s Guide to Classic Japanese Pop“.
• CD Japan. “Why City Pop is Popular Overseas? (by Van Paugam)“.