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Category Archives: Japan


My life changed after watching Chiaki Mayumura do this (synchronize the audience’s clapping)

Watch this: Chiaki Mayumura ends a song, and starts a dance to match the audience’s clapping, probably just out of spontaneous fun. Then she does weird things to see how the clapping reacts, and when she finishes with three quick jumps, the crowd claps exactly like her jumps: […]



My 40 favorite Jun Togawa moments

Since my Jun Togawa texts seem to go very well on this site, here’s another one! If you want Jun Togawa, you’ll get Jun Togawa. And since it’s also less than a month until 2022, the year Jun Togawa celebrates 40 years since her first album, I’ve compiled a list of my 40 favorite moments (and […]



Second-person and third-person music (feat. You’ll Melt More!)

In the music video for “Hamidashi PARADISE” by You’ll Melt More!, you’re encouraged to take part of it like a game. You choose your favorite member, “drag” the screen to make choices, and get a unique storyline depending on it (and you’ll probably get a bad ending). It’s the most int […]



Quick announcement: “Suki Suki Daisuki” by Jun Togawa now exists in higher quality than 240P

Whoa! Look at that! Someone has finally uploaded a 1080P version of Jun Togawa’s “Suki Suki Daisuki” music video that they’ve been sitting on for years! A big day for all Jun Togawa lovers, and a day we thought we’d never see. A part of me even thought that the 240P version of the music vi […]



I saw NECRONOMIDOL in Stockholm (it was nice)

The “ultra dark Japanese idol group” NECRONOMIDOL travelled to Stockholm, Sweden to perform, and I travelled there to see them. Before October 23rd I didn’t know much about the group, except that they have some seriously great songs, but now I know that: […]



3 questions to TORIENA about her new album “TORIENA makes me smile”

In my last text about TORIENA, I talked about her 2020 album “PURE FIRE”, which I described as “a hard electronic album, full of instrumental rave music that seems to have no limits to its heaviness”. PURE FIRE was such a unique album and an intense experience from start to finish, so when I […]



Seiko Oomori releases self-cover album “PERSONA #1”

Seiko Oomori, a Japanese singer-songwriter that I have written about before, has had a really productive year. She’s usually recognized by her high-energy music and unpredictable voice, and you’ll get more of that on her recent album “PERSONA #1”, even though some aspects of it is different. […]



10 iconic Jun Togawa fashion moments

Jun Togawa is an ingenious singer from Japan, mostly active in the 80s and 90s, whom this website has already covered a few times (read about her approach to art and lyrics, her intense growl-pop song “Punk Mushi No Onna” and her view on love). Today I’m gonna write about something else regard […]



HANABIE. – Independence, “Girl’s Reform Manifest” and colorful music videos

HANABIE? (“????”) is the Japanese metal band on the rise with the crazy gimmick:y music videos: They mix heavy metal with classic J-pop cuteness, which they absolutely aren’t the first at, but what differs them from many others is that their gimmicks don’t have any super-obvious calculations […]



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A more complete text about hy4_4yh

In my last text about the Japanese rap group hy4_4yh (read it!), I described them as “80s rappers, but in Japan, in the 2000s, rapping mostly over Indonesian rave music (“funkot”), or rock, or punk, or pop, or hip hop.” I focused on their time with the hyperactive “funkot” genre in the m […]



“Mad Maria” by ELLene

ELLene’s debut EP “Mad Maria” from 2020 sounds way too good to be a debut EP. That’s because it kind of isn’t one. It may be the first work that “ELLe” and “Ené” have made together, but seperately they’ve made more stuff before. The singers ELLe and Ené are diverse and talented […]



Toriena breaks expectations and changes style on “Pure Fire”

In 2020, Japanese artist Toriena released a hard electronic album called “Pure Fire”, full of mostly instrumental rave music that seems to have no limits to its heaviness. It’s a great album, but I don’t want to stop at that conclusion, because Pure Fire is more than just a great music album […]



Yumi Nakashima (of GO!GO!7188 and chirinuruwowaka) is a consistent songwriter

“GO!GO!7188” was a Japanese band active between 1998 and 2012, with music varying between different styles of rock, punk and pop. Most of the music was written by Yumi Nakashima, now active in the indie rock band “chirinuruwowaka” (“???????”) and the more experimental project “YAYYAY […]



After 4 years of searching, I finally found this album by Rock-A-Cherry

Back in 2016, I was surfing Youtube, and found a random live video by the garage punk rock band “ROCK-A-CHERRY”. They were really cool. Just listen to this great song! Hear the sloppy guitar solo! And the lovely voice crack at 0:35! (see the video under the paragraph) I immediately loved their m […]



Throwback: The Pink Panda

Why am I so obsessed with The Pink Panda? They’re cool, but not extraordinary in any way. A poppy and accessible punk rock band, that didn’t get very famous and only released a few independent records in the mid-2000s. But something about the total charm of the individual members is irresistible […]



The name “14th Generation Toilet Hanako-San” says it all

As a person in constant search for weird eccentric artists, could I find more of a jackpot than a little girl who sings (screams) brutal hardcore, spits rotten food at audience members and is called “14th Generation Toilet Hanako-San”? No. 14th Generation Toilet Hanako-San (????????????) is a 44 […]



hy4_4yh – the most overly-Japanese group out there?

hy4_4yh (Hyper YoYo) is a weird group. They’re in a way like 80s rappers, but in Japan, in the 2000s, rapping mostly over Indonesian rave music (“funkot”). Or rock, or punk, or pop, or hiphop. They’re incredibly… like they are. Wearing cool hiphop hats, doing dope dances and signs, and scr […]



Yoneko – I Have a Little Hangover

Who is Yoneko? An ex-member of alternative idol groups MIGMA SHELTER and Bellring Shoujo Heart, who went solo and thereafter completely independent by expressly leaving the “idol” life. But what does Yoneko say about Yoneko? Yoneko says this about Yoneko: – “An alternative singer-songwriter […]



Six Japanese rappers in a ZOOM call – can I join? (Zoomgals)

No, unfortunately. But both you and I can listen to Zoomgals’ songs! The name “Zoomgals”? They started in the beginning of the pandemic and created positivity out of something negative, taking turns performing verses in a Zoom group meeting with fun backgrounds. The Zoom concept seems to have […]



Why I love Jun Togawa’s view on love

Suki Suki Daisuki is one of Jun Togawa’s most famous songs, and a gateway into her other creations. People find the song and like it, without understanding the lyrics (“kiss me, as if you’re punching me, until my lips bleed”, “say you love me, or i’ll kill you!”), and then they’re tr […]



Throwback: Wink

I wanted to talk about how charming the Wink girls are, but I realize they’re not. They just stare at me and make weird hand dances. I have never seen them express an emotion or react to a situation. They are aliens. While listening to Wink, I recognize that around one of four songs are covers of […]



Why I love "Punk Mushi No Onna" by Jun Togawa

“Punk Mushi No Onna” is a timeless song and no doubt Jun Togawa’s most hardcore moment. The growls sound futuristic, the 80s delay feel dated and the melody is timeless – even though it came 300 years before the song itself. “Probably the last thing Pachelbel thought his music was going to […]



Seiko Oomori is insane once again on "Kintsugi"

“Kintsugi” by Seiko Oomori starts as an “evening” instead of a “morning”, and Seiko talks about music being “a five-dimensional thing that can change the time axis”. Time has apparently inspired her writing for the album, and I guess it’s up to people like me and you to figure out […]



Weird things Jun Togawa do on "Dial y wo Mawase"

Ten years later – is it really that bad? No, it’s very good. And weird. The metal screams aren’t what’s weird, what’s weird is to use them for screaming the words “it’s boppin’ for sure”. They distort and autotune the screams, and use them in all places possible (compared to before […]



SCANDAL is unclear and great in "Kiss From the Darkness"

Six out of the eleven songs of “Kiss From the Darkness” have a music video (and one has a lyric video), which makes “Kiss From the Darkness” feel like a live show, or a movie, or a prolonged music video. We see Scandal rocking away in colored rooms, dancing in the street, and most notably we […]



Why I love Seiko Oomori

Seiko Oomori is fun and crazy, and I’m not sure if I should be her best friend or stay a few feet away from her. I was still unsure while watching her Youtube live, getting punched by her from inside a karaoke room on the other side of the screen. Seiko rarely stops entertaining, and can play melo […]



Sugar-sweet rock with SCANDAL on "Honey"

“Honey” is a rock album with introspective and emotional lyrics, sometimes bordering to punk and sometimes to balads. Soundwise they have ditched most of their pop influences, but it’s still present in their choruses, with guitarist Mami Sasazaki giving the album a lot of hit quality with her […]