The wind from the Far East

Michael Jackson's release of Thriller in 1984, put American music on the map in Japan by selling a record breaking million albums, this album became number one in the Japanese music charts and is credited for launching dance and disco music in Japan. Bob Dylan, Rolling Stones and The Beatles, launched the Japanese folk rock genre and developed this further from the 1960's to a strong following of J-Rock, as it is known today. Japan has the widest range of music, from heavy metal, electro pop, extreme metal, club music and many more genres, this mixed bag of collectives makes Japan the Karaoke city of music.

Japan has an array of performers, with a distinct style of both modern and traditional. As the largest music market in the world, Japanese music artists are listed to have held the highest percentage globally of record selling albums. Historic Japanese music is primarily based on short intervals of human breathing rather than the mathematical timing of the Western music. Shomyo or Buddhist chanting used within the Shigon and Tendai sects, along with Gagaku orchestral court music, performed at the Imperial Court in Kyoto. Are both the two forms of music recognised as the oldest form of Japanese Music.

Jazz music has become very popular in Japan, with the two brothers Okino Shuya and Okino Yoshihiro increasing this genre and attracting a younger audience. Japanese pop or sometimes referred to as J-pop started building a reputation in the 1990's Japanese music mainstream. Toru Takemitsu was well known and famous for his Western Classical music having a strong presence in Japan, and delivering outstanding work on movie scoring. The Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra and the All-Japan Band Association are respected and known as the two of the world's most leading wind bands to have come out of Japan, respected for the history of only learning western classical music in the second half of the 19th Century.