How did you get into Japanese music?

So, how did you guys get into Japanese music? Seeing as most countries, it is pretty much an overlooked genre in general, and there isnt really any TV/Radio airtime for it, it would be interesting to hear your answers. Personally...I met a Chinese girl who was really into Ayumi and Utada...she made me get some songs...and here I am a couple of years later

[..:Hot:Like:Wow:..]

Through a good friend who told me about Ayu a few years ago. Since then I've found out about many other great artists such as Namie, Utada and so on.

[alt.total-loser]

Was watchin' Inuyasha, right? Yeah. Thought the songs were kinda cool. It really all started with Do As Infinity...

That was like... 3 years ago... maybe 4.

[bulmasman]

through anime, coincidence, photos, napster... in that order

[emi♡]

anime and the internet. I happened upon ayu quite randomly.

wow...imagine if I had gotten into another artist instead? my life would be sooo different...my friends would be soo different....ahh i like my friends....

(especially the awesome africano + suíço + ameríndio + português ones...)

[Norrel]

My cousin intoduced me to Ayu, and then I worked my way by downloading some of her songs and Utada Hikaru's, then started working my way up till now

[sora2522]

my aunt was watching some drama, and at the end of it, they played hikki's first love (the pv). i liked it and asked her to get it for me. she got me the first album, her english albums, the third album, and a album with piano rendition


then my friend started posting ayu pvs on xanga a few years later. i looked up ayu, and came upon this site



i've been here ever since =D

[Hazuki]

I randomly found a BoA song (No.1) jumbled up with some DDR songs on a site.

[LacusClyne]

i had been in touch with j-pop/anime and manga since i was a little girl. i saw doraemon(in japanese), when i was 8 year old. i thought japanese sound cute! then, i start to read some of doraemon manga, next come Sailor Moon when i was 11 years old.

i had been hearing japanese music since then. the theme song for the anime are always in their original langugue, that's how i get to love j-pop.

okie, add that up and i had been with j-pop for at least 13 years.....did anyone broke my record?

[Sakura_Genki]

First through anime. Then through the internet.

[ll moments ll]

Inu-Yasha. Ayu, Do As Infinity, BoA, etc. though, it was once i got a hold on Kazaa / Internet downloads that i really gain an interest in Japanese music. it was about 3-4 years ago for me too.

[Beauty4123]

from Kingdom Hearts. i had a gamepro magazine or whatever, and it had KH in it. they featured a pic of utada hikaru and had info on her, etc.. and i really liked "simple ad clean". so i got the game, looked utada hikaru up, and that's mainly it. at first i wasn't comfortable listening to another language's music, but now it's perfectly fine with me.

[Raiu-Ayu]

I discovered Utada through KH1 after looking for Simple and Clean but I really wasn't into the Japanese stuff back then. So about a year later I bought FFX-2 and there was real Emotion by Jade from Sweetbox. I downloaded a video thinking it was Jade's music video for it but then Koda Kumi's face popped up and she got me into J-Pop. (This was before her major image change tho) Then in summer 2005 I was browsing soundclick and a singer called Sou-hime had covered ayu's INSPIRE so I listened to it, liked it, downloaded ayu's version, feel in love with it! And so now here I am

[Kodayumi]

Through advertisements on TV, it was ayu's (miss)understood that brought me into Japanese Music

[JesA]

it all started with Inuyasha...my friend Ryan wanted me to watch it...but i didnt like anime cuz it all made me cry *people always died*...but i watched it anyway, and the ending song was Every Heart by BoA...i was like, hey this song is great! but the artist name had already went by in the credits, so i was mad....then i got on my computer and searched for Inuyasha endings *i didn't have the title either* for some reason, i couldnt find anything related...so i gave up...then i decided to buy the game Kingdom Hearts...and i was listening to opening music, thinking OMG this song is awesome! so i got on a game forum and asked who sang it, and the reply was Utada Hikaru...i was like O_O is that like Japanese or something? so i got on my *at the time* trusty WinMX and searched for Utada Hikaru...all that came up was some song called Hikari and her English stuff...i got everything but Hikari...i was looking for Simple and Clean, and i didn't know that they were the same but different languages....so then i decided to search the internet...and i found it! Simple and Clean "PlanitB Mix"! i celebrated and listened, but it wasnt the song i would start over on Kingdom Hearts to hear....it was Japanese! i was like, wow this song is better in Japanese! so then my friend made me download limewire...and i was on it downloading Utada stuff, when i heard Every Heart again....Inuyasha was on...so i ran to the tv and watched the credits...i saw the name, BoA....so i immediatly stopped the download for some song called COLORS *this would come up later* i found Every Heart, and downloaded it in a heartbeat...then i found two more BoA songs, called Snow White and Valenti...i ate those up too...and i decided to search for more Inuyasha stuff...so i did, and found some songs called Fukai Mori, Shinjitsu no Uta, Rakuen, Yura Yura, GRIP!, My Will, and Come. i only got Shinjitsu no Uta....the artist name was Inuyasha Ending Song, so i didn't know who it was...so i embarked on a short name search...i found Do As Infinity...little did i know that they would become my most favorite Japanese group of all time...then i went back to my Inuyasha search, and tried Come...love it, but it didnt have a name either...so i searched on google, and found the name Namie Amuro, on a website called GetAznMusic...they had a forum, where i requested for BoA songs...the uploader was a girl called Princess of Roses....but they were on yousendit, and i couldnt download from there...*now i can* so she told me she could send them on msn, which i had...so we met up on msn, and i got all three versions of Sara, and a new best friend...she was in love with some girl named Koda Kumi...she asked me if i liked her, and i told her i didn't know who she was...so she sent Hot Stuff...i was amazed...i had never heard a song like it before...then came Shake It...more amazement haha....then last she sent Hands...i loved each one...so then i got the money to buy the Inuyasha Openings+Endings cd....and i treasured it....i still have it...my first ever Jpop cd...and in the related searches, i saw Namie Amuro...i was like, hmm she must be pretty popular...so i downloaded more, and she instantly became a favorite of mine, along with BoA, Kumi, DAI, and Hikki...*keep in mind i havent mentioned Ayu yet haha* i was listening to my Inuyasha cd one day, and heard this song called Dearest, by this girl with a really high voice...*the name was in kana, which i couldnt read at the time* and i asked Princess of Roses...she told me she couldnt stand the song..and then i found her name...Ayumi Hamasaki...i became obsessed with her, forgetting about everyone else....i was downloading stuff like crazy...which was annoying PoR, cuz she didnt like Ayu...i kept cramming stuff in her face...then one of friends got my email, and i talked to him a lot...*yu may know him as Dj-Takado, or just Takado* and somehow, we got to talking about Dearest. *i had just found and downloaded the PV of it* he was telling me about this Acoustic version, and i instantly wanted the PV...but it was way to big for me to download....so i asked PoR to download it for me and send it to me in a different way. at the same time, i was freaking over ARENA TOUR 2005 being released...and suddenly PoR was getting interested in Ayu too...so i was happy, then i got the courage to ask my mom if i could by the 60 dollar ARENA TOR 2005... she agreed, and i didnt have to beg! and it came in when my friend Ryan was spending the night, so we watched it together. *keep in mind, it was Ryan who first got me into Jpop* and thats how i got into Jpop, bought my first Japanese cd and dvd, and even got three people into Ayu! *Ryan, PoR, and my mom* soon after that, PoR found AHS, and we both joined around the same time...and look at me now haha...overflowing with Jpop


oops...thats huge...ahh well, the thread asked, and i answered LOL

[kayokyokufan]

It all started with anime. I watched anime and started listening to the music. Then I got interested enough in the music to decide to find out more about j-pop.

[Super Ichiban]

It was back in the mid-90's when I started watching a lot of doramas on the local Japanese-language TV station. There was also some of music programming on this station and they showed stuff like Hit Parade and Hey! Hey! Hey! They showed a lot of Namie Amuro back when the Supermonkeys were still together and Speed when they first started out. TRF and globe were really at their peak. I was also a bit of an anime fan, but I gradually started buying more music that I heard on these music shows and doramas because there was a lot more variety than you would find in anime music.

[summersnow]

It was SPEED who brought me into Jpop. That was already almost 9 years ago. I saw their best album advertisement on TV and was attracted to their music. Surprisingly one of my classmates bought the best album and so I borrowed from her. As I really liked their best album and so I bought a copy for myself. So slowly I discovered other Jpop singers through buying compilations like Best of Jpop 1 and 2. At that time, Ayu's YOU and SEASONS were included in the compilations but I didn't really take much notice of it. Just that I was surprised she wrote her own lyrics. I became her fan during her M and evolution era. I am... was my first Ayu album I bought. =)

Well before the SPEED era, I was already very into anime especially Sailormoon. I was really very crazy over it during that time, LOL! I collected alot merchandises of it, eg. stickers, cards, t-shirts, figures, jigsaw puzzles etc... =)

[Cloudsoldier]

wow.. what a long post jesA made ... Lols..

Well, i do know ayu, boa, hikki, and namie... they are quite popular in Singapore... But i still didn't listen to J-pop... Until the day i Played FFX-2 and i learned about Jade's real Emotion.. i went to check out the JaPanese version... wohoo.. it was good ! and i tried Koda Kumi! I love her ever since and keep track of her work and her progress turns to success !! =)

Then i tried other artist...

[Ani_C]

Anime, mostly Gundam Wing. GW has awesome music!~