Hi, new followers! I write and edit This Side of Japan, a newsletter about Japanese music, new and old. A new issue goes out every other Wednesday. You can check out more of what's inside + other companion content here!
Subscribe if you like! ✨
i love jpop bc you're listening to some cool pop hit with some sleazy glam metal riff and you read the wiki and it says "used for an insurance commercial"
“People associate me with things like pastel colors or huge ribbons, and there were times I felt trapped by those images even though I was constantly evolving” —Kyary Pamyu Pamyu
@sneeek
talks to
@pamyurin
about her latest album, Candy Racer
This Side of Japan presents... the Top 100 Japanese Songs of 2022!
it's time to look back at the year's best music from Japan, with songs from Wednesday Campanella, Kaho Nakamura, Tohji and many more
This Side of Japan presents... top 100 Japanese songs of 2021! We look back at a fantastic year in music with songs from Gen Hoshino, Hitsujibungaku, Hakushi Hasegawa and many, many more!
This Side of Japan presents… Best of 2022: The Friends List!
we wrap up our year end coverage with a list of lists! we invited more than a dozen friends of the newsletter to share their favorite Japanese songs of 2022 - see what they had to pick!
🎊 This Side of Japan is now on issue 50! 🎊
We celebrate the big 50 (and a few personal milestones) with a list of 50 favorite Japanese tracks since 2017—the year I really started to follow new Japanese music
"[Live shows] let me acknowledge the presence of someone else, so it’s irreplaceable. It’s a space that I want to protect."—Haru Nemuri
@sneeek
talks w/
@haru_nemuri
about her beginnings, approach to live performances & more. Her tour starts tomorrow!
thanks to
@misterminsoo
, I got to contribute to
@billboard
’s lists for best K-pop of 2020! I wrote about April, LUCY, Twice and Weki Meki for the top 20 songs list
Here it is... This Side of Japan's 100 Favorite Songs of 2020!
Looking back at the year's songs from Japan, ft. Tofubeats, Chara + YUKI, Yonige, CHAI, Lucky Kilimanjaro, Awich, and many, many more!
here's part 1: 1-50...
Hi, I'm starting a newsletter called This Side of Japan about Japanese music, new and old! Here's a little bit about what you can expect in every issue, and the first one will be published next Wednesday. Please subscribe + share ✨
The Conversation: Bellring Shoujo Heart
I'm joined by the Crow Girls scholar
@taeminpala
to discuss the music, influence and legacy of Bellring Shoujo Heart! Use this as an introduction to the idol group's catalog—now available on streaming services
This Side of Japan brings you another big list of lists from our dear friends of the newsletter! We asked friends and contributors for their favorite Japanese songs of 2021, and here's what they had to share:
very happy to kick off Hyadain Week! joined by very special guest
@xiaoaishiteru
we’re celebrating a decade of Hyadain by discussing his 10 essential songs from the 2010s!
BIG NEWS: This Side of Japan is pivoting to K-pop! Here's what's in the debut issue of That Side of K-pop:
✨on WJSN Chocome
✨Yena's SMILEY
✨singles picked by
@juanagiaimo
@KaylaBeardslee
@crystalleww
@mellowyel
✨Girls' Generation's "Run Devil Run"
Idol Watch presents… Top 100 Japanese Idol Songs of 2022!
we look back at the year’s best from Sakurazaka46, OCHA NORMA, PAPIPUPEPO WA MUZUKASHII, and many, many more!
The new Conversation column is dedicated to the just-disbanded Sora Tob Sakana! I’m joined by the wonderful
@zujo57
to talk about their one-of-a-kind discography and what made the idol group so special
kinda tired of this outlook of “if you’re fed up with what you see go write about it yourself then” i encourage anyone to start writing about their passions but don’t be dismissive of someone’s voice/criticism as less meaningful bc they’re not doing ~real~ work
I'm very happy to share This Side of Japan's Friends List!
I asked some of my favorite people for their top 10 songs of 2020, and I got a variety of music that I would've missed otherwise from Vtubers, emo bands, rappers, R&B soloists & many more!
This Side of Japan kicks off the new year with Tetsuya Komuro Week! Join us this week for a series of five essays on the songs that defined the J-pop hit-maker in the '90s
Here is the intro on more of what to expect from the essays
Hello, idol fans! Here's This Side of Japan's 100 Favorite Idol Songs of 2020! Looking back at the year's best from RYUTist, , Los An Jewels and many more
Idol Watch presents... the top 100 Japanese idol songs of 2021! We look back at a great year in idol through singles by , lyrical school, Crossnoesis and many, many more!
I interviewed Phew for
@toneglow
! We talked about her work process and her great new album!
Phewとのインタビューが、ニュースレター
@toneglow
にアップされました!彼女の音楽の作り方と、新アルバムの事を話しました。日本語訳もあるので、日本の方も是非、読んでください。
“Rather than getting that feeling of finishing something, I’d rather work on the next thing” —Phew
Ryo Miyauchi (
@sneeek
) talks with
@originalphew
about her creative process, her recent activities, and her new album Vertical KO (out on
@Discipl36278031
).
i got to interview CHAI for
@toneglow
! asked them about their creative process, what defines their music and more
@toneglow
でCHAIとのインタビューの記事が載りました!日本語でもあるので、是非読んでください
“CHAI isn’t attached to this idea of a 'band.' The only thing that matters is that we make music with the four of us” —CHAI
@sneeek
talks with
@CHAIofficialJPN
about their new album WINK, how they don't consider themselves a rock band, and more!
New This Side of Japan! What's inside:
🌙 on Wednesday Campanella's new singles "Maneki Neko" and "Edison"
🌙 new Kana Hanazawa album
🌙 singles by Metome, Mime, Miram
🌙 DALI's "Moonlight Densetsu"
I translated Tofubeats' latest column over at Quick Japan Web about behind the scenes filming the "Club" mv and some of his thoughts about the song + live shows post-COVID
No new This Side of Japan today, but i got the next best thing:
I had a very fun discussion with
@mbmelodies
about Perfume’s JPN to celebrate the album’s 10th anniversary! We talked all about its history, highlights and legacy
The first This Side of Japan issue for 2023! What's inside:
🌍 For Tracy Hyde's discography in 5 songs
🌍 new PAL.Sounds compilation
🌍 singles by MAISONdes, poetry of torch, unknownX3
🌍 m-flo's "come again"
New This Side of Japan is out! What's inside:
🚕 on the rappers behind the ODDTAXI soundtrack
🚕 new Utada Hikaru album
🚕 singles by Dirty Android & RANASOL, Ken Ikeda, Haruka Kudo/Taku Takahashi
🚕 Seiko Matsuda's "Akai Sweet Pea"
@szgoldner
this and like bunch of other bitter tweets in the same vein seems to also forget that avril was under the same scrutiny as being washed punk when ‘let go’ was a sensation
New This Side of Japan is out! I wrote about RYUTist's new album, Perfume's "Love the World" and defending space for more conservative J-pop for coverage as much as the more innovative
plus singles by Eill, ONJUICY & Seventeen Years Old and Berlin Wall
New Flipped issue of This Side of Japan ft. writers from
@toneglow
! What’s inside:
🚀 Folder 5’s cover of Ayumi Hamasaki’s “Evolution”
🚀 SAWA’s ‘Welcome to Sa-World’
🚀 picks from
@mewfeuille
@meleeideologue
@misterminsoo
🚀 AKB48’s “Ne Mo Ha Mo Rumor”
one of the many big lessons i learned from tsj is not being afraid of writing about a song you don’t know. do your due diligence on getting familiar with the subject but also the lack of familiarity can be an insightful perspective in itself
The new Conversation column is about Migma Shelter! and who else to invite to discuss the psych-trance idol group than the great
@idolsociety
? We touched on their music, live shows and whatever else to catch you up on one of the best recent idol groups
oh yeah forgot my cousin also gave me this hyperpop issue of eureka magazine, he said he bought it trying to learn about new music but couldn’t understand it
The first flipped edition of Idol Watch! I’ve brought great guests to highlight 10 older idol songs from 1985 to 2015, ft. Noriko Sakai, Rie Tomosaka, Bellring Shojo Heart and more
plus
@MoodAdjuster
on a Yukiko Okada best-of to kick things off
New Song/New Resonance: Anime as Gateways for New Music and Perspectives
For this special issue of This Side of Japan, we invited guest writers to share about songs found in anime, and how the anime deepened their relationship with music
when i showed my perfume story to my mom, who basically got me into perfume, one of the things she said was "if it was me i'd just write 'this song is cool' and that's it"
This Side of Japan's Best Japanese Music of 2022 on Bandcamp!
40 albums, 75 songs, almost 100 artists, all available on Bandcamp - here's a guide for the next upcoming Bandcamp Friday
New This Side of Japan is out! What’s inside:
🍬 a personal look back at a decade of Kyary Pamyu Pamyu
🍬 Daichi Yamamoto’s new album
🍬 singles by DE DE MOUSE/TANUKI/Hitomitoi, Dizzy Sunfist, samayuzame
🍬 Mari Amachi’s “Koi Suru Natsu No Hi”
New This Side of Japan is out! I wrote about the new Anna Takeuchi EP, Globe’s “Can’t Stop Fallin’ in Love” and a new breed of pop rap
plus singles by Miyuna, Nagasawa’s Onion and Sawa Angstrom!
THEY WERE ABOUT TO BE DROPPED BY THEIR LABEL BUT THEN KIMURA KAELA STARTED PLAYING “CHOCOLATE DISCO” ON HER RADIO SHOW AFTER RANDOMLY HEARING THE SONG IN AN ELEVATOR WHICH LED TO A NHK EXEC DISCOVERING THEM AND REACHING OUT FOR A RECYCLING CM SONG THAT BECAME THE BASIS FOR “POLYR
This Side of Japan returns with a new flipped issue! What's inside:
🏓 a deep dive into Kensuke Ushio's soundtrack for Ping Pong: The Animation
🏓 song selections by guests
@bromf3
and
@Reasonableradio
🏓 AKB48's "Motokaredesu"
New This Side of Japan is out! What's inside:
✈️ revisiting Utada's 'Exodus'
✈️ new SAKA-SAMA album
✈️ singles by Lucie,Too, Michiganized, Tokimeki Records
✈️ Toshinobu Kubota's "LA LA LA LOVE SONG"
gonna do it again this year: pick a number 1-700, and i'll assign you a Japanese song from 2022
(if you want an idol song, choose from 1-415, and add an A)
perfume - complete best
perfume - game
perfume - triangle
perfume - global compilation: love the world
perfume - jpn
perfume - level 3
perfume - cosmic explorer
perfume - future pop
perfume - p cubed
perfume - plasma
No cheating - your Quietus style Bakers Dozen. 13 albums (off the top of your head) to know you by. Not looking for a perfect list, looking for a list that you instantly regret posting because you then remember something else.
Idol Watch presents... the Top 100 Japanese Idol Songs of 2023! We look back at the year's best from AMEFURASSHI, Sakurazaka46, HATE and TEARS and many more
"I don’t think there’s a point in collaborating if the other person isn’t able to explore a new, unseen side of themselves." — Hakushi Hasegawa
@sneeek
talks w/
@hsgwhks
about their creative process, signing to Brainfeeder, and more.
日本語版/英語版あり
This Side of Japan wraps up its Best of 2023 coverage with our Friends List!
Here's a list of top 10 Japanese songs of 2023 submitted by friends and contributors to the newsletter!