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The Saddest (and Funniest) Hit Parade — A Brief History of J-Pop
Japan never really did “happy” love songs - traditionally, at least. Here's why — and why that's more interesting than it sounds.
In this episode of Post-Whatever, Ken Nishikawa traces the surprisingly dark — and occasionally hilarious — history of Japanese popular music, from 19th-century geisha ballads to City Pop to modern J-Pop, and asks what it all reveals about how Japanese culture has always understood love, melancholy, and the business of being human.
Along the way: the tragic story of Okichi, a 17-year-old geisha forced to serve the first American Consul to Japan, whose story became…
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