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Oh, I really don't know what to talk about today.
I guess I'll talk about what I know about the Japanese pop scene. Which really isn't a lot, since I only know the chart toppers, plus, I really don't know any Japanese, so yeah.
First of all, most Western singers aren't that big in Japan, at the very least not at the same scale as in Europe. And, of course, none of us have heard of Japanese singers, have we?
Well, anyways, there are four major female solo singers, a couple of bands here and there, and that's really it. Okay, lets just start with those four.
Ugh. I'm getting confused.
Okay, so there's Namie AMuro first, who was the absolute queen of pop for a long time, until I think she got married and had a child I think in 1998. Then, there was Ayumi Hamasaki. She became number one for a while, but then Utada Hikaru came on, and had the best album sales ever. She is also one of very few Japanese artists who could speak English fluently, the rest mumble with a large accent. Well, at least they speak better English than we speak Japanese. Also, she had an English album, Exodus, under Island Def Jam, or whatever its called. It sold very dismally, but it probably had more to do with the fact that she was new, there was practically no promotion, and she was Asian. Oh, by the way, she originally got her start in USA (EMI), but then left for Japan sometime later. Globally, she has sold like 40 m. units and has 3 United World Chart toppers. That's saying a lot for a Japanese singer. Sure, Avril Lavigne or Rihanna could easily do that, but, well, not if you're Japanese. The size of the market makes a really big difference. Oh, and then Kumi Koda came on the scene, while all this time Ayumi Hamasaki still did her part and wasn't bad. Also, Namie Amuro, now divorced, came back on board, albeit without her previous successs. Nevertheless, she wasn't that bad. Also, UH went to Columbia University, but then dropped up to pursue her music career. Oh yeah, this year, Utada Hikaru divorced (I heard it was on the same day her parents divorced), Ayumi Hamasaki broke off her engagement, and Kumi Koda also broke up.

Aside from them, the only people of note are Mr. Children (think UH-like success), KinKi Kids (most consecutive number-1 debuts), and that's pretty much it.

Oh, and by the way, the Japanese have an afinity for weird English names for their bands, albums, and singles, even by chart-topping people. Like, say "very special!!!", "I am...", "A Best 2 -white-", "Step you", "Tommy february6/Tommy heavenly6". They also have an afinity for weird capitalization ("evolution", "CAN'T SLEEP, CAN'T EAT, I'M SICK", "A", "H") and weird usages of "~".


I guess that'll do for now.