J-Pop / Asian Pop
The umbrella for Asian pop traditions outside K-pop: glossy Japanese mainstream, anime themes, idol systems, Vocaloid software-voice tracks, Mandarin and Cantonese pop, plus rising Thai and Filipino scenes. Hallmarks are pristine studio production, melody-forward choruses, language-specific phrasing, and tight integration with TV, anime, drama, and idol-economy ecosystems.
History
Postwar kayokyoku and Cantopop seeded commercial Asian pop; the term J-pop was coined by Tokyo's J-Wave radio around 1988. Through the 1990s Japan became the world's second-largest music market, exporting templates of idol production and anison. Hong Kong's Cantopop and Taiwan's Mandopop dominated Sinophone markets, while the 2010s-2020s saw Vocaloid, Thai T-pop, and Filipino P-pop globalize via streaming.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J-Pop
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantopop
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C-pop
- https://www.grammy.com/news/mandopop-artists-to-know-next-global-genre/