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JPOP fans have their say on why they love JPOP and what makes them love and take pride of their love for Japanese music. Arranged from general reasons to more specific “ichiban-centered’ reasons… or should we say flails.
1. JPOP is diverse and versatile, the themes of their songs ranges from political issues, social issues, love, family, friends… you name it, JPOP have it!
2. Most of the JPOP songs exude a positive feel which makes you love it more!
3. In JPOP, the melody or music is done first and only then would they find suitable artists for it.
4. JPOP is unique, rather than selling to fans an image, they are selling music to them.
5. JPOP is goes beyond genre. You can go listen to ballads, techno, bands even musicals, animes and it still falls under the reign of JPOP.
6. JPOP never changes. So even though the song is 10 years old or more, it still got that catchy feel and you’ll never get tired of listening to it. Very original.
7. JPOP songs are nice and catchy deviance from the normal american pop because if its variety and surprises.
8. JPOP has their own style and freshness, eventhough the music in other countries are changing, they still stick to their own style, or if they get inspiration from other countries, they will make it their own by ending it with a JPOP twist.
9. As a kid, we love watching card captor sakura, pokemon, slam dunk etc then we started humming the songs inserts and then we are hooked! JPOP fan in the making!
10. JPOP doesn't stick to the powerful vocals, rather, they fit voices according to the song and it becomes a catchy one.
11. JPOP might be kind of old school, but in a good way, their music is mesmerizing and relaxing, it kind of reminds us of the simple and calm life.
12. In JPOP they show off their true character, expressions, and capabilities.
13. In JPOP, even though we haven’t read the translated lyrics or don't quite understand Nihonggo, we kind of get the meaning of the song, and that's the connection we've been looking for.
14. JPOP artists and composers are playful with their sound. They don't just give emphasis to the singer's voice but also to the instruments used.
15. JPOP artists are great in performing live and creating excitement that the audience can surely enjoy and never forget!
16. JPOP artists are very creative and takes part in conceptualizing their concerts, from the theme, costumes, effects and also the concert goods!
17. JPOP artists don’t need to impress others, if the people like what they do, they express their gratitude but if people don’t like them they don’t dwell on it that much and still say “Thank You.”
18. When JPOP artists expand overseas, they do concerts/release albums in their own language… but when other artists release in Japan, they have to translate it to Japanese for it to sell. It’s very difficult to break through in Japan when you don't sing in Japanese. So singing in Japanese is essential if you want to make it big in Japan.
19. Even Filipino artists get their inspiration through JPOP songs… how? Did you know that Donna Cruz’ song “Isang tanong, Isang sagot” was a Japanese song by Southern All-stars entitled Manatsu no Kajitsu that was translated to Tagalog.
20. JPOP doesn’t need effort to globalize, they are successful and the people who want them are the one’s making effort to reach them.
21. The previous reason relates to why JPOP fans have the feeling of “exclusivity” also, it’s like we made a lot of effort to have them so don’t you dare make it cheap or commercialized.
22. In relation to this, JPOP is not that mainstream like any other pop music being shoved in your face wherever you go and that results into overkill.
23. Japanese music is music we can listen to without prejudice, no DJ’s influencing us with their opinions. It’s like a treasure chest waiting to be found!
24. JPOP fans knows their limit, with the high shipping cost and the rise of the value of the Japanese yen nowadays, they make lots of effort to save and choose the version of the singles their idols release and the concert goods to buy, this is probably why Japanese entertainment agencies doesn’t allow overseas or local fans to send gifts to their talents, they know that it will be an additional pressure to their fans and it’s enough for them that their fans attend their concerts, buy their albums and singles and support them all the way.
25. JPOP taught us fans how to prioritize!
26. RESPECT… one word that JPOP fans are proud of, they know that every JPOP groups have their own strengths and weaknesses and they don’t bash each other.
27. Being a JPOP fan, there are no barriers on which group or artists you can idolize or not. You can flail on one group or artists and still you find your friends or fan club flailing with you too
28. SHARING… another value that is very evident to the JPOP community. It’s like “I have the new limited edition DVD, or I’ve translated/subbed the new magazine/episode… who wants to flail with me?”
29. A SENSE OF BELONGINGNESS… within the JPOP community being out of place is not on our dictionary… either you love JE boys, H!P girl groups… Jrock or anime’… you can still flail and the best part is that, your friends are flailing with you.
30. JPOP taught us to be open-minded, talk about fan-service… yaoi… yuri? Or should we say OTP (yes! One True Pair)!
31. JPOP taught us to be sociable, with lots of JPOP groups and artists, you can flail with each groups or artists fans and you get to meet with all kinds of people, nationalities and races.
32. SPARKLY COSTUMES… who would have thought wearing sequined shirts/jackets, neon green suits, cropped skirt or a shawl over a pair of pants during a music program or a concert would look cool on a guy?
33. And we love how JPOP girl groups use similar costumes for each member and make a really cute and colorful CGs for their music videos.
34. GRAND and MASSIVE STAGE… JPOP is famous for that because they want to get closer to their fans as much as they could.
35. COOL SPECIAL EFFECTS and PROPS… before other countries started flying with a harness during concerts or have moving stage; JPOP artists were doing that way back 1999 or even earlier than that.
36. MASSIVE PROPS… who would have thought to bring a ship inside Tokyo Dome? Ride on a parasol while singing in a kimono? And bring in not 1… not 2… but 6 hot air balloons inside the dome just to get closer to the fans.
37. Their dance-style is not enclosed to hip hop or western-style dance; they incorporate it with acrobatic skills, tap-dancing skills and roller skates which make it more interesting
38. They are Guinness World Record title holders!
39. In relation to #38, we take pride on the fact that Johnny Kitagawa, the man behind Johnny’s Entertainment, has been presented with two Guinness World Records establishing him as one of the most successful music producers ever.
40. JPOP artists are brilliant composers too! To name a few, female singers such as Hikaru Utada, Ayumi Hamasaki, Misia, Mai Kuraki, and Ringo Shiina became chart-toppers who write their own songs or their own lyrics.Utada Hikaru began writing songs at the age of 10 and at age of 12 she release 3 singles in the US under the pseudonym Cubic U, and also, YUI, who began writing songs back when she was in high school.
41. Handsome and beautiful artists. That is an added bonus for a talented artist to have good looks and can be also be found in our beloved JPOP artists.
42. A role model in and out, JPOP artists give inspiration to the people who admires them but like everyone they are also ordinary people that have flaws that makes them more human and they’re not afraid to admit it.
43. JPOP artists doesn’t only have the looks, the talent but also the brains… they don’t let the fame get in their way to graduate on their chosen fields. To name a few, Sakurai Sho, despite already having an established career with Arashi went on to attend Keio University, graduating with a degree in economics in 2004. Koyama Keiichiro of NEWS graduated from Meiji University's Department of History and Geography with a degree in Oriental History. Yamashita Tomohisa all graduated with a Commerce degree (major in marketing) in autumn 2008, Shigeaki Kato of NEWS went to Aoyama High School and completed law school at Aoyama Gakuin University in 2010,
44. And who will not be proud to find out that the artists they admire is a half Filipino or has a Filipino blood in them? To name a few, AKB48’s Akimoto Sayaka is a half Filipina and who can forget Leah Dizon, the beautiful singer and model who has a father who is half- Filipino.
45. JPOP is also proud and also love the fact that even though JPOP agencies doesn’t promote their artists overseas that often they still top sales on music charts. A recent example is how on August 23rd AKB48’s latest single, “Flying Get“, has sold an astonishing 1,025,952 copies – all on its first day!
46. JPOP is also known for having artists who are still active even after 10 years, to name a few ARASHI is spending their 12 years this year, TOKIO is spending their 17 years this year also and SMAP is spending their 24 years in the industry this year too!
47. JPOP has the most random concert goods they can give. To name a few, KIS-MY-FT2’s nail file, NEWS’ toothbrush, and the most epic and unforgettable one, ARASHI’s MINI RADISH CULTIVATION KIT!
48. If you are getting tired of idol songs you can always go listen to musicals like the burimyu (Bleach musical) and tenimyu (Prince of Tennis musical) and enjoy the variety of acts and songs it offers.
49. The word HATE is not in the vocabulary of JPOP fans, they do not flail on every JPOP group out there but they are not the kind of people who will go around spreading hate blogs about other groups.
50. JPOP fans knows what they want and does everything to make it happen. A perfect example of which were the successful petitions made by NEWS and Kinki Kids fans to release concert DVDs that seem there were no hope of getting released.
51. JPOP fans tend to be utmost supportive of the groups they follow. This leads us to bring back NEWS’ Hoshi wo Mezashite, the group’s single in 2007, on top of the singles chart of CDJapan (one of the biggest online shops in Japan) on the week of their 8th year anniversary debut. Also, Arashi’s previously released DVDs are still making its mark on the Oricon DVD charts even if they were released years back!
52. If you get tired of watching/listening to singing and dancing groups, you can always venture into the JPOP bands like TOKIO, Kanjani8, flumpool, weaver and scandal to name a few.
53. Another unique feature of one JPOP group is that of Morning Musume’s debut/graduation dynamics. They debut girls within the teen age bracket and they let them graduate on their early 20’s. Why we have 8 generation’s worth of hits and good music from these group of girls!
We cannot deny the fact that we love JPOP because of the artists themselves, aside form the music they create, JPOP fans also loves how their beloved artists made them proud of their achievements and their uniqueness as a group or as an artists. Now we continue with our list but this time it’s more “ichiban-related”. In other words, we love JPOP because of these following people!
54. Only in JPOP you can find a group that consists of 48 members! AKB48 at the moment consist of 48 girls, divided into three 16 members’ teams: Team A, Team K and Team B.
55. Another reason why we love JPOP is due to Utada Hikaru achievement locally and internationally. Hikaru Utada's album First Love broke the record for best selling album. It sold over 8 million copies and include dance grooves like Automatic and Moving You. Utada was 16 when the album was released. As of 2003, it was still the best selling album in Japan ever.
56. Hikaru Utada's 2007 song "Flavor of Life" sold over 7 million downloaded copies and in October 2007, EMI Music Japan announced that Utada was the world's first artist to have 10 million digital sales in one year.
57. Namie Amuro, the dancing goddess of Japan became the youngest artist in history to be presented with the Japan Record Award's Committee's Best Artist Award in 1996.
58. Namie Amuro also had sold more than 12.5 million albums and 15.8 million singles by 2000.
59. Ayumi Hamasaki won Grand Prix awards for three consecutive years—the first time in Japan Record Award history—between 2001 and 2003.
60. Johnny's Jimusho duo Kinki Kids have extended their Guinness World Record for consecutive No.1 singles to 28. With "Yakusoku" reaching the top of the latest Oricon chart, they now have a No.1 single in each of the last 13 years.
61. In 2001, SMAP released their greatest-hits album SMAP Vest, which sold over a million copies in the first week.
62. In 2003, Noriyuki Makihara wrote and composed SMAP's 2003 single "Sekai ni Hitotsu Dake no Hana" (世界に一つだけの花?, "The One and Only Flower in the World"). The single sold more than 2.57 million copies and became the ninth best-selling single in Japan in Oricon history. Along with Hikaru Utada's "Colors", it was one of the only two singles to sell over a million copies in 2003, a year that saw CD sales declining due to the Japanese economic slump.
63. Takuya Kimura, the original golden boy of JE, revolutionized Japanese masculinity as a reaction to the changing female beauty ideology. Every advertisement he did were sold out in an instant, to name a few, he did a lipstick ad, shampoo and other hair products.
64. Takuya Kimura was the first non-western celebrity to advertise Levi's.
65. As of 2008, Takuya Kimura has won fifteen consecutive times on an-an's annual male ranking of the sexiest men in Japan.
66. Takuya Kimura was also in a Hollywood movie entitled I Come with the Rain with Josh Hartnett, and he event went here in the Philippines to shoot some key scenes for the movie!
67. In 2008, SMAP had a six-day tour at the Tokyo Dome, becoming the first Japanese artist to have a total of six shows at the Dome in a single tour.
68. Arashi was announced to debut on September 15, 1999 on a cruise ship in Hawaii and officially debuted with the single A-Ra-Shi and the rest was history!
69. Arashi released their live DVD “ARASHI 10-11 TOUR “Scene”~Kimi to Boku no Miteiru Fuukei~ DOME+,” selling 539,000 copies in the first week, putting them on top of the 6/27 Weekly Oricon Chart. Up until then, Arashi sold 4.74 million copies of their DVDs and now including their latest DVD they’ve broken the 5 million threshold and have sold a total of 5,282,000 copies. Because of this remarkable feat, Arashi become the first artist to sell over 5 million DVDs!
70. In 2006, KAT-TUN's debut single "Real Face", composed by Tak Matsumoto, sold over one million copies and topped the Oricon Yearly Charts
71. KAT-TUN made a concert tour of Japan in 2006 and followed it with the release of their single Real Face in March 2006, an album, Best of KAT-TUN, and the DVD Real Face Film, on the same day. Best of KAT-TUN debuted with sales of 556,548 copies and Real Face debuted with 754,234 copies sold in the first week. KAT-TUN topped all three weekly Oricon charts. They hold the records for the highest weekly single debut sales.
72. KAT-TUN held their BREAK THE RECORDS concert tour for eight consecutive days in Tokyo Dome from May 15 to the 22, three days in Osaka from May 29 to the 31, and two more days in Tokyo Dome from June 14 to the 15, for a total of thirteen concert performances in two cities, and ten days in total for Tokyo Dome. and all of those dates are sold out!
73. Akanishi Jin, fondly called as Bakanishi by his closest friends and one of Johnny’s rising international star had the ever needed gifts and talents as an idol should have. He is good in dancing, singing, acting, composing and lyric writing. He also is good in playing the guitar. He gained 16 Junior awards when he was still a Junior and he won the Best Actor Award for Yukan Club in 2007.
74. Announced on March 24, 2010, Akanishi's solo tour "You & Jin" had a 3 show tour in Los Angeles, California on June 19 and June 20. The solo tour tickets were sold out in the first hour when it began to sell on April 15.
75. On 16 September 2010 dates for Akanishi's fall tour were released and the cities included were: Chicago, New York, Houston, Los Angeles and San Francisco.The tour has been named 'Yellow Gold Tour 3010' after the tour's title song "Yellow Gold" written by Jin Akanishi, Jovette Rivera, and Joey Carbone. The tour featured was held entirely in English, including 14 English-language songs that are mostly written and produced by the singer himself.
76. Akanishi Jin has recently been filming in the Hollywood film "47 Ronin" which also stars Keanu Reeves in the lead role. He will play the role of Oishi Chikara, a friend to Kai who is played by Reeves. The film's director, Carl Erik Rinsch, was apparently impressed by Jin's English abilities and motivation. The movie will be shown worldwide and in 3D!
77. NEWS, they were formed way back September 15, 2003. They were meant to be just a temporary group to perform at the 2003 Volleyball World Cup but they proved to be a successful group when they release their single NEWS NIPPON. But because it was a special release limited only to 7-11 stores across the country, no official Oricon numbers exist, but it is estimated that they sold more than 800,000 copies. And now they’ve just celebrated their 8 years as a group!
78. NEWS is a unique group and is the largest Johnny’s group to debut at that time, they were originally a nine-member group composed of Koyama Keiichiro, Nishikido Ryo, Yamashita Tomohisa (leader; Yamapi), Masuda Takahisa (Massu), Uchi Hiroki, Kato Shigeaki (Shige), Tegoshi Yuya, Kusano Hironori, and Moriuchi Takahiro. They are unique because they are kind of a ragtag of various popular juniors plus 2 Kansai juniors who are also members of the Johnny’s group Kanjani8.
79. Tegomass, the fluffy subgroup of NEWS debuted in Sweden, yes! in Sweden with their song Miso Soup in November 2006, and up until now they’re still active and continues to give a different feel to what JPOP music is, they are great in performing live, doing acapella and being sweet and dorky as always!
80. Tegomass is also know for releasing songs with weird or should I say unique titles. To name a few, their debut song Miso Soup, Moshi mo Boku ga Pochi Dattara…(If I were Pocchi) , Kushami (sneeze), Chiken Boy, Pasta and Cheetah, Gorilla and Orangutan. But don’t be deceived by the titles, those are really great and meaningful songs!
81. Tegoshi Yuya, the pretty hime of NEWS, unfair as it may seem for any girl, but he is a man, with a pretty face and an awesome voice! and because of his awesome voice it just took him 8 months since he joined Johnny’s before debuting as a member of NEWS.
82. Tegoshi is a sadist, and harmlessly-self centered as described by the members, he likes to be spoiled and knows how to act cute to get what he wants and that is also one of the reasons why we love him!
83. The other half of Tegomass, Masuda Takahisa, he has that smile that just makes you want to smile along with him. It's filled with sunshine! Everyone in NEWS says that Massu's smile gives them energy and it makes the room feel brighter.
84. Massu also has a great voice and a great dancer as well, he remembers dances really well too. An example is after NEWS came back from their hiatus, he was pretty much the only one who remembered all the dances to all the songs. Massu had to teach them all~
85. In 2008, they released their tenth single, "Happy Birthday," which made NEWS the second Japanese group after label-mates KinKi Kids to have ten consecutive number-one singles since their debut
86. Yamashita Tomohisa, the second golden boy of JE and is fondly called as Yamapi, the Son of Japan, and Oujisama (prince) by the Japanese people and almost all of his fans. He is the popular leader of NEWS, the most popular junior before he debuted as NEWS and he also became the leader of Johnny’s JR after Tackey debuted.
87. Yamapi is very special so he gets to do a lot of special things. To name a few, he got to release a duet with Kamenashi Kazuya (KAT-TUN) with Seishun Amigo which is considered as one of Japan’s fastest selling singles and sold over a million copies in a month, he also released "Fever to Future" with Thai duo Golf and Mike as GYM, and in 2006 he made his debut as a solo artist with Daite Senorita.
88. Along with singing and dancing, Yamapi has a very large acting resume. He has 25 dramas which includes Proposal Daisakusen and Nobuta wo Produce which was already shown here in the Philippines through GMA 7 and has 3 movies as of this year.
89. Yamapi is also known as Mr. Congeniality because of the number of his BFFs, aside from members of NEWS and his inner circle of friends, he is very close with Ikuta Toma, Akanishi Jin, Shirota Yuu and Kim Jaejoong of JYJ/Tohoshinki.
90. Nishikido Ryo, the boss of NEWS is also a popular Junior same as Yamapi and is active as a member of NEWS and Kanjani8. He is known as the poison tongue and tends to bully everyone.
91. Ryo is an awesome actor and he got awards to prove it! He is known for expressing different emotions. Some of his most memorable roles include Asou Haruto from 1 Litre of Tears, the abusive Sosuke from Last Friends, and recently in Orthros no Inu he plays a gentle teacher who can kill just by touching someone.
92. Koyama Keiichiro, the “mother-figure” of NEWS, he coined the term "member ai" which refers to the various types of Love that the NEWS members give each other. He is very caring to his freinds and he is also good friends with Heo Youngsaeng and Kim Kyujong of SS501.
93. Shigeaki Kato, the intellectual one! aside from graduating from Aoyama University with a degree in Law, he is also multi-talented, he is creative, great at photography, can play guitar (and recently, the steel pan), can style hair (he does this for the others during concerts), can cook (even if he’s sometimes too lazy to cook anything other than omurice), can sing really sexily, can write essays, can compose songs and lyrics, and can speak English better than the others. He also has a great sense of humor, as seen in his solo song, Shalala Tambourine (each member PRODUCED their own song!). AND he’s good at basketball and tennis.
94. In 2007, temporary Johnny's Jr. group Hey! Say! 7 broke a record as the youngest male group to ever top Oricon charts, with an average age of 14.8 years
95. In 2009, Johnny's Jr. artist Yuma Nakayama w/B.I.Shadow became the youngest artist to have their first single to debut at the number-one spot, as the band had an average age of 14.6 years, breaking the former record set by female group Minimoni, 14.8 years.
96. The Christmas themed “Gifts” singles [Shiro (white,11th single), Aka (red, 12th single) and Midori (green, 13th single)] that was released consecutively from Dec 23-25, 2009 made Kanjani8 the first group (and only group by far) to have occupied the top three spots of the oricons singles charts for a single week.
97. Kanjani8’s 8Uppers album that made a new genre wherein a digital film (a long musical movie) infused with the music was included in the album. Can anyone beat its promotions? Why eigther fans were at the edge of their seats waiting for that interactive site called club8 that changes daily and giving out hints plus additional clues included in eito’s Wonderful World and Life~ Me no Mae no Moku e singles that led us to this grand album!
98. Everyone must have seen GuitarFreaks and DrummaniaV3 at Timezone and Worlds of Fun, and where able to try playing these instruments in tune of Mika Nakashima’s song “Glamorous Sky”? This song also topped the oricons charts in 2005 and gave Mika several nominations and awards such as “Best Selling Female of the year” (2005) and “Best video from a film.”
99. Mika Nakashima’s “Yuuki no Hana” was one of the most famous karaoke songs for 2004. It was officially cover by several artist like Joi Chua, Seo Young Eun, Han Xue, Vincy Chan, Eric Martin (Mr. Big's vocalist), Hayley Westenra, Hideaki Tokunaga and Park Hyo Shin (whose version was one of the insert song of the popular Korean drama I’m Sorry I Love You.”
100. Being a proud JPOP fan is like loving unconditionally the JPOP culture without asking too much questions or searching for answers as to why we do.
1. JPOP is diverse and versatile, the themes of their songs ranges from political issues, social issues, love, family, friends… you name it, JPOP have it!
2. Most of the JPOP songs exude a positive feel which makes you love it more!
3. In JPOP, the melody or music is done first and only then would they find suitable artists for it.
4. JPOP is unique, rather than selling to fans an image, they are selling music to them.
5. JPOP is goes beyond genre. You can go listen to ballads, techno, bands even musicals, animes and it still falls under the reign of JPOP.
6. JPOP never changes. So even though the song is 10 years old or more, it still got that catchy feel and you’ll never get tired of listening to it. Very original.
7. JPOP songs are nice and catchy deviance from the normal american pop because if its variety and surprises.
8. JPOP has their own style and freshness, eventhough the music in other countries are changing, they still stick to their own style, or if they get inspiration from other countries, they will make it their own by ending it with a JPOP twist.
9. As a kid, we love watching card captor sakura, pokemon, slam dunk etc then we started humming the songs inserts and then we are hooked! JPOP fan in the making!
10. JPOP doesn't stick to the powerful vocals, rather, they fit voices according to the song and it becomes a catchy one.
11. JPOP might be kind of old school, but in a good way, their music is mesmerizing and relaxing, it kind of reminds us of the simple and calm life.
12. In JPOP they show off their true character, expressions, and capabilities.
13. In JPOP, even though we haven’t read the translated lyrics or don't quite understand Nihonggo, we kind of get the meaning of the song, and that's the connection we've been looking for.
14. JPOP artists and composers are playful with their sound. They don't just give emphasis to the singer's voice but also to the instruments used.
15. JPOP artists are great in performing live and creating excitement that the audience can surely enjoy and never forget!
16. JPOP artists are very creative and takes part in conceptualizing their concerts, from the theme, costumes, effects and also the concert goods!
17. JPOP artists don’t need to impress others, if the people like what they do, they express their gratitude but if people don’t like them they don’t dwell on it that much and still say “Thank You.”
18. When JPOP artists expand overseas, they do concerts/release albums in their own language… but when other artists release in Japan, they have to translate it to Japanese for it to sell. It’s very difficult to break through in Japan when you don't sing in Japanese. So singing in Japanese is essential if you want to make it big in Japan.
19. Even Filipino artists get their inspiration through JPOP songs… how? Did you know that Donna Cruz’ song “Isang tanong, Isang sagot” was a Japanese song by Southern All-stars entitled Manatsu no Kajitsu that was translated to Tagalog.
20. JPOP doesn’t need effort to globalize, they are successful and the people who want them are the one’s making effort to reach them.
21. The previous reason relates to why JPOP fans have the feeling of “exclusivity” also, it’s like we made a lot of effort to have them so don’t you dare make it cheap or commercialized.
22. In relation to this, JPOP is not that mainstream like any other pop music being shoved in your face wherever you go and that results into overkill.
23. Japanese music is music we can listen to without prejudice, no DJ’s influencing us with their opinions. It’s like a treasure chest waiting to be found!
24. JPOP fans knows their limit, with the high shipping cost and the rise of the value of the Japanese yen nowadays, they make lots of effort to save and choose the version of the singles their idols release and the concert goods to buy, this is probably why Japanese entertainment agencies doesn’t allow overseas or local fans to send gifts to their talents, they know that it will be an additional pressure to their fans and it’s enough for them that their fans attend their concerts, buy their albums and singles and support them all the way.
25. JPOP taught us fans how to prioritize!
26. RESPECT… one word that JPOP fans are proud of, they know that every JPOP groups have their own strengths and weaknesses and they don’t bash each other.
27. Being a JPOP fan, there are no barriers on which group or artists you can idolize or not. You can flail on one group or artists and still you find your friends or fan club flailing with you too
28. SHARING… another value that is very evident to the JPOP community. It’s like “I have the new limited edition DVD, or I’ve translated/subbed the new magazine/episode… who wants to flail with me?”
29. A SENSE OF BELONGINGNESS… within the JPOP community being out of place is not on our dictionary… either you love JE boys, H!P girl groups… Jrock or anime’… you can still flail and the best part is that, your friends are flailing with you.
30. JPOP taught us to be open-minded, talk about fan-service… yaoi… yuri? Or should we say OTP (yes! One True Pair)!
31. JPOP taught us to be sociable, with lots of JPOP groups and artists, you can flail with each groups or artists fans and you get to meet with all kinds of people, nationalities and races.
32. SPARKLY COSTUMES… who would have thought wearing sequined shirts/jackets, neon green suits, cropped skirt or a shawl over a pair of pants during a music program or a concert would look cool on a guy?
33. And we love how JPOP girl groups use similar costumes for each member and make a really cute and colorful CGs for their music videos.
34. GRAND and MASSIVE STAGE… JPOP is famous for that because they want to get closer to their fans as much as they could.
35. COOL SPECIAL EFFECTS and PROPS… before other countries started flying with a harness during concerts or have moving stage; JPOP artists were doing that way back 1999 or even earlier than that.
36. MASSIVE PROPS… who would have thought to bring a ship inside Tokyo Dome? Ride on a parasol while singing in a kimono? And bring in not 1… not 2… but 6 hot air balloons inside the dome just to get closer to the fans.
37. Their dance-style is not enclosed to hip hop or western-style dance; they incorporate it with acrobatic skills, tap-dancing skills and roller skates which make it more interesting
38. They are Guinness World Record title holders!
39. In relation to #38, we take pride on the fact that Johnny Kitagawa, the man behind Johnny’s Entertainment, has been presented with two Guinness World Records establishing him as one of the most successful music producers ever.
40. JPOP artists are brilliant composers too! To name a few, female singers such as Hikaru Utada, Ayumi Hamasaki, Misia, Mai Kuraki, and Ringo Shiina became chart-toppers who write their own songs or their own lyrics.Utada Hikaru began writing songs at the age of 10 and at age of 12 she release 3 singles in the US under the pseudonym Cubic U, and also, YUI, who began writing songs back when she was in high school.
41. Handsome and beautiful artists. That is an added bonus for a talented artist to have good looks and can be also be found in our beloved JPOP artists.
42. A role model in and out, JPOP artists give inspiration to the people who admires them but like everyone they are also ordinary people that have flaws that makes them more human and they’re not afraid to admit it.
43. JPOP artists doesn’t only have the looks, the talent but also the brains… they don’t let the fame get in their way to graduate on their chosen fields. To name a few, Sakurai Sho, despite already having an established career with Arashi went on to attend Keio University, graduating with a degree in economics in 2004. Koyama Keiichiro of NEWS graduated from Meiji University's Department of History and Geography with a degree in Oriental History. Yamashita Tomohisa all graduated with a Commerce degree (major in marketing) in autumn 2008, Shigeaki Kato of NEWS went to Aoyama High School and completed law school at Aoyama Gakuin University in 2010,
44. And who will not be proud to find out that the artists they admire is a half Filipino or has a Filipino blood in them? To name a few, AKB48’s Akimoto Sayaka is a half Filipina and who can forget Leah Dizon, the beautiful singer and model who has a father who is half- Filipino.
45. JPOP is also proud and also love the fact that even though JPOP agencies doesn’t promote their artists overseas that often they still top sales on music charts. A recent example is how on August 23rd AKB48’s latest single, “Flying Get“, has sold an astonishing 1,025,952 copies – all on its first day!
46. JPOP is also known for having artists who are still active even after 10 years, to name a few ARASHI is spending their 12 years this year, TOKIO is spending their 17 years this year also and SMAP is spending their 24 years in the industry this year too!
47. JPOP has the most random concert goods they can give. To name a few, KIS-MY-FT2’s nail file, NEWS’ toothbrush, and the most epic and unforgettable one, ARASHI’s MINI RADISH CULTIVATION KIT!
48. If you are getting tired of idol songs you can always go listen to musicals like the burimyu (Bleach musical) and tenimyu (Prince of Tennis musical) and enjoy the variety of acts and songs it offers.
49. The word HATE is not in the vocabulary of JPOP fans, they do not flail on every JPOP group out there but they are not the kind of people who will go around spreading hate blogs about other groups.
50. JPOP fans knows what they want and does everything to make it happen. A perfect example of which were the successful petitions made by NEWS and Kinki Kids fans to release concert DVDs that seem there were no hope of getting released.
51. JPOP fans tend to be utmost supportive of the groups they follow. This leads us to bring back NEWS’ Hoshi wo Mezashite, the group’s single in 2007, on top of the singles chart of CDJapan (one of the biggest online shops in Japan) on the week of their 8th year anniversary debut. Also, Arashi’s previously released DVDs are still making its mark on the Oricon DVD charts even if they were released years back!
52. If you get tired of watching/listening to singing and dancing groups, you can always venture into the JPOP bands like TOKIO, Kanjani8, flumpool, weaver and scandal to name a few.
53. Another unique feature of one JPOP group is that of Morning Musume’s debut/graduation dynamics. They debut girls within the teen age bracket and they let them graduate on their early 20’s. Why we have 8 generation’s worth of hits and good music from these group of girls!
We cannot deny the fact that we love JPOP because of the artists themselves, aside form the music they create, JPOP fans also loves how their beloved artists made them proud of their achievements and their uniqueness as a group or as an artists. Now we continue with our list but this time it’s more “ichiban-related”. In other words, we love JPOP because of these following people!
54. Only in JPOP you can find a group that consists of 48 members! AKB48 at the moment consist of 48 girls, divided into three 16 members’ teams: Team A, Team K and Team B.
55. Another reason why we love JPOP is due to Utada Hikaru achievement locally and internationally. Hikaru Utada's album First Love broke the record for best selling album. It sold over 8 million copies and include dance grooves like Automatic and Moving You. Utada was 16 when the album was released. As of 2003, it was still the best selling album in Japan ever.
56. Hikaru Utada's 2007 song "Flavor of Life" sold over 7 million downloaded copies and in October 2007, EMI Music Japan announced that Utada was the world's first artist to have 10 million digital sales in one year.
57. Namie Amuro, the dancing goddess of Japan became the youngest artist in history to be presented with the Japan Record Award's Committee's Best Artist Award in 1996.
58. Namie Amuro also had sold more than 12.5 million albums and 15.8 million singles by 2000.
59. Ayumi Hamasaki won Grand Prix awards for three consecutive years—the first time in Japan Record Award history—between 2001 and 2003.
60. Johnny's Jimusho duo Kinki Kids have extended their Guinness World Record for consecutive No.1 singles to 28. With "Yakusoku" reaching the top of the latest Oricon chart, they now have a No.1 single in each of the last 13 years.
61. In 2001, SMAP released their greatest-hits album SMAP Vest, which sold over a million copies in the first week.
62. In 2003, Noriyuki Makihara wrote and composed SMAP's 2003 single "Sekai ni Hitotsu Dake no Hana" (世界に一つだけの花?, "The One and Only Flower in the World"). The single sold more than 2.57 million copies and became the ninth best-selling single in Japan in Oricon history. Along with Hikaru Utada's "Colors", it was one of the only two singles to sell over a million copies in 2003, a year that saw CD sales declining due to the Japanese economic slump.
63. Takuya Kimura, the original golden boy of JE, revolutionized Japanese masculinity as a reaction to the changing female beauty ideology. Every advertisement he did were sold out in an instant, to name a few, he did a lipstick ad, shampoo and other hair products.
64. Takuya Kimura was the first non-western celebrity to advertise Levi's.
65. As of 2008, Takuya Kimura has won fifteen consecutive times on an-an's annual male ranking of the sexiest men in Japan.
66. Takuya Kimura was also in a Hollywood movie entitled I Come with the Rain with Josh Hartnett, and he event went here in the Philippines to shoot some key scenes for the movie!
67. In 2008, SMAP had a six-day tour at the Tokyo Dome, becoming the first Japanese artist to have a total of six shows at the Dome in a single tour.
68. Arashi was announced to debut on September 15, 1999 on a cruise ship in Hawaii and officially debuted with the single A-Ra-Shi and the rest was history!
69. Arashi released their live DVD “ARASHI 10-11 TOUR “Scene”~Kimi to Boku no Miteiru Fuukei~ DOME+,” selling 539,000 copies in the first week, putting them on top of the 6/27 Weekly Oricon Chart. Up until then, Arashi sold 4.74 million copies of their DVDs and now including their latest DVD they’ve broken the 5 million threshold and have sold a total of 5,282,000 copies. Because of this remarkable feat, Arashi become the first artist to sell over 5 million DVDs!
70. In 2006, KAT-TUN's debut single "Real Face", composed by Tak Matsumoto, sold over one million copies and topped the Oricon Yearly Charts
71. KAT-TUN made a concert tour of Japan in 2006 and followed it with the release of their single Real Face in March 2006, an album, Best of KAT-TUN, and the DVD Real Face Film, on the same day. Best of KAT-TUN debuted with sales of 556,548 copies and Real Face debuted with 754,234 copies sold in the first week. KAT-TUN topped all three weekly Oricon charts. They hold the records for the highest weekly single debut sales.
72. KAT-TUN held their BREAK THE RECORDS concert tour for eight consecutive days in Tokyo Dome from May 15 to the 22, three days in Osaka from May 29 to the 31, and two more days in Tokyo Dome from June 14 to the 15, for a total of thirteen concert performances in two cities, and ten days in total for Tokyo Dome. and all of those dates are sold out!
73. Akanishi Jin, fondly called as Bakanishi by his closest friends and one of Johnny’s rising international star had the ever needed gifts and talents as an idol should have. He is good in dancing, singing, acting, composing and lyric writing. He also is good in playing the guitar. He gained 16 Junior awards when he was still a Junior and he won the Best Actor Award for Yukan Club in 2007.
74. Announced on March 24, 2010, Akanishi's solo tour "You & Jin" had a 3 show tour in Los Angeles, California on June 19 and June 20. The solo tour tickets were sold out in the first hour when it began to sell on April 15.
75. On 16 September 2010 dates for Akanishi's fall tour were released and the cities included were: Chicago, New York, Houston, Los Angeles and San Francisco.The tour has been named 'Yellow Gold Tour 3010' after the tour's title song "Yellow Gold" written by Jin Akanishi, Jovette Rivera, and Joey Carbone. The tour featured was held entirely in English, including 14 English-language songs that are mostly written and produced by the singer himself.
76. Akanishi Jin has recently been filming in the Hollywood film "47 Ronin" which also stars Keanu Reeves in the lead role. He will play the role of Oishi Chikara, a friend to Kai who is played by Reeves. The film's director, Carl Erik Rinsch, was apparently impressed by Jin's English abilities and motivation. The movie will be shown worldwide and in 3D!
77. NEWS, they were formed way back September 15, 2003. They were meant to be just a temporary group to perform at the 2003 Volleyball World Cup but they proved to be a successful group when they release their single NEWS NIPPON. But because it was a special release limited only to 7-11 stores across the country, no official Oricon numbers exist, but it is estimated that they sold more than 800,000 copies. And now they’ve just celebrated their 8 years as a group!
78. NEWS is a unique group and is the largest Johnny’s group to debut at that time, they were originally a nine-member group composed of Koyama Keiichiro, Nishikido Ryo, Yamashita Tomohisa (leader; Yamapi), Masuda Takahisa (Massu), Uchi Hiroki, Kato Shigeaki (Shige), Tegoshi Yuya, Kusano Hironori, and Moriuchi Takahiro. They are unique because they are kind of a ragtag of various popular juniors plus 2 Kansai juniors who are also members of the Johnny’s group Kanjani8.
79. Tegomass, the fluffy subgroup of NEWS debuted in Sweden, yes! in Sweden with their song Miso Soup in November 2006, and up until now they’re still active and continues to give a different feel to what JPOP music is, they are great in performing live, doing acapella and being sweet and dorky as always!
80. Tegomass is also know for releasing songs with weird or should I say unique titles. To name a few, their debut song Miso Soup, Moshi mo Boku ga Pochi Dattara…(If I were Pocchi) , Kushami (sneeze), Chiken Boy, Pasta and Cheetah, Gorilla and Orangutan. But don’t be deceived by the titles, those are really great and meaningful songs!
81. Tegoshi Yuya, the pretty hime of NEWS, unfair as it may seem for any girl, but he is a man, with a pretty face and an awesome voice! and because of his awesome voice it just took him 8 months since he joined Johnny’s before debuting as a member of NEWS.
82. Tegoshi is a sadist, and harmlessly-self centered as described by the members, he likes to be spoiled and knows how to act cute to get what he wants and that is also one of the reasons why we love him!
83. The other half of Tegomass, Masuda Takahisa, he has that smile that just makes you want to smile along with him. It's filled with sunshine! Everyone in NEWS says that Massu's smile gives them energy and it makes the room feel brighter.
84. Massu also has a great voice and a great dancer as well, he remembers dances really well too. An example is after NEWS came back from their hiatus, he was pretty much the only one who remembered all the dances to all the songs. Massu had to teach them all~
85. In 2008, they released their tenth single, "Happy Birthday," which made NEWS the second Japanese group after label-mates KinKi Kids to have ten consecutive number-one singles since their debut
86. Yamashita Tomohisa, the second golden boy of JE and is fondly called as Yamapi, the Son of Japan, and Oujisama (prince) by the Japanese people and almost all of his fans. He is the popular leader of NEWS, the most popular junior before he debuted as NEWS and he also became the leader of Johnny’s JR after Tackey debuted.
87. Yamapi is very special so he gets to do a lot of special things. To name a few, he got to release a duet with Kamenashi Kazuya (KAT-TUN) with Seishun Amigo which is considered as one of Japan’s fastest selling singles and sold over a million copies in a month, he also released "Fever to Future" with Thai duo Golf and Mike as GYM, and in 2006 he made his debut as a solo artist with Daite Senorita.
88. Along with singing and dancing, Yamapi has a very large acting resume. He has 25 dramas which includes Proposal Daisakusen and Nobuta wo Produce which was already shown here in the Philippines through GMA 7 and has 3 movies as of this year.
89. Yamapi is also known as Mr. Congeniality because of the number of his BFFs, aside from members of NEWS and his inner circle of friends, he is very close with Ikuta Toma, Akanishi Jin, Shirota Yuu and Kim Jaejoong of JYJ/Tohoshinki.
90. Nishikido Ryo, the boss of NEWS is also a popular Junior same as Yamapi and is active as a member of NEWS and Kanjani8. He is known as the poison tongue and tends to bully everyone.
91. Ryo is an awesome actor and he got awards to prove it! He is known for expressing different emotions. Some of his most memorable roles include Asou Haruto from 1 Litre of Tears, the abusive Sosuke from Last Friends, and recently in Orthros no Inu he plays a gentle teacher who can kill just by touching someone.
92. Koyama Keiichiro, the “mother-figure” of NEWS, he coined the term "member ai" which refers to the various types of Love that the NEWS members give each other. He is very caring to his freinds and he is also good friends with Heo Youngsaeng and Kim Kyujong of SS501.
93. Shigeaki Kato, the intellectual one! aside from graduating from Aoyama University with a degree in Law, he is also multi-talented, he is creative, great at photography, can play guitar (and recently, the steel pan), can style hair (he does this for the others during concerts), can cook (even if he’s sometimes too lazy to cook anything other than omurice), can sing really sexily, can write essays, can compose songs and lyrics, and can speak English better than the others. He also has a great sense of humor, as seen in his solo song, Shalala Tambourine (each member PRODUCED their own song!). AND he’s good at basketball and tennis.
94. In 2007, temporary Johnny's Jr. group Hey! Say! 7 broke a record as the youngest male group to ever top Oricon charts, with an average age of 14.8 years
95. In 2009, Johnny's Jr. artist Yuma Nakayama w/B.I.Shadow became the youngest artist to have their first single to debut at the number-one spot, as the band had an average age of 14.6 years, breaking the former record set by female group Minimoni, 14.8 years.
96. The Christmas themed “Gifts” singles [Shiro (white,11th single), Aka (red, 12th single) and Midori (green, 13th single)] that was released consecutively from Dec 23-25, 2009 made Kanjani8 the first group (and only group by far) to have occupied the top three spots of the oricons singles charts for a single week.
97. Kanjani8’s 8Uppers album that made a new genre wherein a digital film (a long musical movie) infused with the music was included in the album. Can anyone beat its promotions? Why eigther fans were at the edge of their seats waiting for that interactive site called club8 that changes daily and giving out hints plus additional clues included in eito’s Wonderful World and Life~ Me no Mae no Moku e singles that led us to this grand album!
98. Everyone must have seen GuitarFreaks and DrummaniaV3 at Timezone and Worlds of Fun, and where able to try playing these instruments in tune of Mika Nakashima’s song “Glamorous Sky”? This song also topped the oricons charts in 2005 and gave Mika several nominations and awards such as “Best Selling Female of the year” (2005) and “Best video from a film.”
99. Mika Nakashima’s “Yuuki no Hana” was one of the most famous karaoke songs for 2004. It was officially cover by several artist like Joi Chua, Seo Young Eun, Han Xue, Vincy Chan, Eric Martin (Mr. Big's vocalist), Hayley Westenra, Hideaki Tokunaga and Park Hyo Shin (whose version was one of the insert song of the popular Korean drama I’m Sorry I Love You.”
100. Being a proud JPOP fan is like loving unconditionally the JPOP culture without asking too much questions or searching for answers as to why we do.
