City Pop
When I discovered this music a couple of years ago I had no idea this genre existed. The music became popular during the mid 1970s through the 1980s. It consisted of various styles including funk, R&B, soft rock and other versions of pop. It was associated with Japan's economic boom and new technology like the Walkman and other musical technology. My first exposure to it was on Instagram when many Reels from Japan were using music from this era. Watching videos and listening to this music helped me through the years of the pandemic of 2020.
In 2025 there are many CityPop popular playlists on every streaming music service. I've seen several drama's with the nostalgic theme of this time. A few popular songs are from Mariya Takeuchi's (The Queen of Pop) "Plastic Love" from 1985, Miki Matsubara's "Mayonaka no Door (Stay With Me)" from 1979 and Anri's "Stay By Me" from 1983. As I started listening I was able to find more and more great albums but unfortunately not all are available on these streaming services. Most likely due to international copyrights. YouTube is a great option to find those missing songs as well as the Internet Archive. I've been able to find FLAC files of these great albums there.
When the days get hard I tend to put on some CityPop and it lightens up my mood. It feels like a warm blanket telling me it's all going to be ok.