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24 Hours In Korea: Hearing the Music I Once Hid in Public (and Happy New Year)
read more >>>: 24 Hours In Korea: Hearing the Music I Once Hid in Public (and Happy New Year)Happy New Year to the official readers of official GF. ☆ The first week of 2026 has been good to me, and I hope it’s been good to you too! I wanted to start the year with a post I kept in the vault for a while, a story from my strange summer of 2025.…
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Top 10 Artists I Am Rooting For in 2026 (a lot of them have blue hair…?)
read more >>>: Top 10 Artists I Am Rooting For in 2026 (a lot of them have blue hair…?)Discover the top Japanese artists to watch in 2026, from breakout girl groups like HANA to rising hyperpop creators and underground rock bands shaking up the scene. Here are the must-know newcomers, viral acts, and fast-growing musicians shaping the future of Japanese music.
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Spotify Wrapped Has a Genre Problem: Not All Japanese Music Is City Pop
read more >>>: Spotify Wrapped Has a Genre Problem: Not All Japanese Music Is City PopSpotify Wrapped labeled my music as “City Pop”… even though it isn’t. This post breaks down what City Pop actually is, why the West revived it, and how Spotify keeps misclassifying modern Japanese soul and funk.
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Blood Shed: The “Ryuketsu” Avant Garde Performance Style in Japan
read more >>>: Blood Shed: The “Ryuketsu” Avant Garde Performance Style in Japan*This posts contains depictions of self harm and photos of blood. Some artists put their health and safety on the line to put on the most intense shows possible. Famously, a few musicians in the West go above and beyond, like the time Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters broke his leg on stage and continued…
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Fujii Kaze @ Austin City Limits 2025 – A Japanese Artist’s Journey to The Best in Texas
read more >>>: Fujii Kaze @ Austin City Limits 2025 – A Japanese Artist’s Journey to The Best in TexasJazz/R&B/Pop artist Fujii Kaze has been on an absolute roll recently – going where no Japanese artist has ever gone before. He was just announced on the lineup for the most anticipated music festival of the year Coachella, opened for Billie Eilish‘s show in Tokyo, and appeared at Austin City Limits this weekend to perform…
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City Pop, Lo-Fi, and Lies: How AI Is Masquerading as Japanese Artists (And How to Avoid It)
read more >>>: City Pop, Lo-Fi, and Lies: How AI Is Masquerading as Japanese Artists (And How to Avoid It)Has this ever happened to you? You were browsing YouTube, stumbled upon a video with great vibes – an intriguing thumbnail of an aesthetic anime girl, or the best looking drink in your life… The music sounded good, but when you started to dig deeper, you realized… There are no artist names? Or, even worse,…
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SHISHAMO Is Ending: The High School Girl Band’s Final Show in 2026
read more >>>: SHISHAMO Is Ending: The High School Girl Band’s Final Show in 2026From high school clubs to festival stages, SHISHAMO defined youth rock in Japan. Their journey ends with a final show in 2026.
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Lost Producers Project: Vocaloid Producers You May Have Missed – Nashimoto-P
read more >>>: Lost Producers Project: Vocaloid Producers You May Have Missed – Nashimoto-PLost Producers is a monthly series exploring underground Vocaloid creators who never hit the mainstream. The first entry spotlights Nashimoto-P, known for grungy Miku tuning, dark lyrical themes, and cult utaite covers. Despite staying underground, his unique style left a lasting mark on Vocaloid’s history and global fan community.
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Sanrio Made a Vocaloid 15 Years Ago… And She’s Finally Returning
read more >>>: Sanrio Made a Vocaloid 15 Years Ago… And She’s Finally ReturningAndrogynous voices are not new to Vocaloid. V-Flower has been a favorite for years now, but their voice provider remains anonymous. On October 22nd, the forgotten Hello Kitty themed Vocaloid is getting an update for her 15th anniversary – another androgynous, powerful voice – with a voice provider who is even vocal about their place…
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The Y2K Pop Idol Japan Forgot, but America Revived: Tommy February 6 ♡
read more >>>: The Y2K Pop Idol Japan Forgot, but America Revived: Tommy February 6 ♡Once thought of as “lost media”, Tommy February 6 is suddenly finding new life, but not in Japan. Two decades after her debut, Tomoko Kawase’s sugary alter ego and her darker counterpart, Tommy Heavenly 6, are pulling in just as many Spotify listeners as today’s hottest Japanese bands. The twist is that most of those…
