The next Ni-Ongaku Spotlight features Jero (ジェロ), who made a strong impression among young and old Enka fans alike — even overseas. Enka is a style of music in Japan that is similar to country music in the United States. When a Enka singer preforms, he/she wears a kimono. Jero’s choice of clothes is special [...]

The next song in the Ni-Ongaku Spotlight series are the Heartsdales featuring Soul’d Out with “Candy Pop”. Soul’d Out consists of MC Diggy Mo, the Human Beatbox, Bro Hi, and DJ Shinnosuke. They provided beats for the Japanese version of The Boondocks, and did the ending theme for the anime Yakitate JAPAN! with the song [...]

The Coconut Boys’ (or CCB for short) is next in Ni-Ongaku Spotlight. For those who are into the current generation of J-Pop will get to check out the J-Pop artists in the 80s! The song “Romance ga Toremanai” was featured in the popular J-Dorama, Densha Otoko. CCB is a Japanese New Wave band with that [...]

For those who have yet to watch Fullmetal Alchemist have a reason to check it out. The next video in the Ni-Oangaku Spotlight series is “MELISSA” from Porno Graffiti. The song is the first opening theme to the anime, “Fullmetal Alchemist”. When I first heard this song, I had no idea it was a theme [...]

The next song in the Ni-Ongaku Spotlight series is さくら by the Japanese Pop-Reggae band,　ケツメイシ. It is one of my favorite songs from the group. I got into Ketsumeishi from a friend I met on an anime forum a few years ago. He sent me “夏の思い出“, which I fell in love with. Originally, I was [...]