Japanese music shows is a good way for Japanese music fans to start learning the many styles of music in the industry. For those living outside of Japan, many fans watch Japanese music shows via Japanese video rental stores, friends who send it to them via air-mail, sattelite or their international TV channel. As of 1998, here are a list of popular music shows currently shown weekly in Japan.
COUNTDOWN TV
Saturdays at 1:00 to 1:40 a.m. on TBS.
WEBSITE: http://www.tbs.co.jp/cdtv/index-j.html
A show that shows the top 50 songs in Japan. This is the best show to see clips of
Japanese music videos. It's a very cool show but it's shown too late in the morning.
It is hosted by three computer animated people.
FAN (FANTASTIC AMUSEMENT NIGHT)
Fridays at 11:30 p.m. on NTV.
WEBSITE: None at this time.
FAN is a music show that features popular singers from the past and present.
HEY! HEY! HEY! MUSIC CHAMP
Mondays at 8:00 on Fuji TV.
WEBSITE: http://www.fujiint.co.jp/HEY/index.html
Hey! Hey! Hey! Music Champ is a one-hour show hosted by the
comedy duo Down Town (who are like the Howard Stern's of Japanese TV) which consists of
Matsumoto Hitoshi and Hamada Masatoshi. This show is very popular because of the
hosts and the fact that they love to verbally torture the performers. The show is
also classy and it seems to change it's style year after year.
LOVE LOVE AISHITTERU
Saturdays at 11:30 p.m. on Fuji TV.
WEBSITE: http://www.co.jp/LOVELOVE/
This show is a half hour long hosted by the KinKi Kids, Yoshida Takuro and Shinohara
Tomoe. They also have an occasional special guest musician. This show is a
very lively half-hour show. The best part is when the spaztic Shinohara Tomoe gets
to interview them for her "Puri Puri Pretty" segment.
MUSIC STATION
Fridays at 8:00 on TV Asahi.
WEBSITE: None at this time.
Music Station is one of the music shows that has lasted for over a decade. It is a
one-hour show hosted by Tamori and Shimohira Sayaka. This show is also very popular.
POP JAM
10:00 on NHK
WEBSITE: None at this time.
A live show hosted by Moriguchi Hiroko at the NHK Hall. It features the current
popular singers in Japan.
SOKUHOU! UTA NO DAIJITEN (Immediately!
Song Dictionary)
Wednesdays at 8:00 on NTV.
WEBSITE: None at this time.
This is a one hour show which is hosted by Iijima Naoko and many others. Unlike
other music shows, they do show the top 10 but they show similarities between the popular
singers of today with the popular singers of yesterday in Japan. That's why it's a
show that is popular in the ratings.
UTABAN (Song program)
Tuesdays at 9:00 on TBS.
WEBSITE: None at this time.
Utaban is a show that started in the fall of 1996. It is hosted by Tunnel's comedian
Ishibashi Takaaki and SMAP leader, Nakai Masahiro. It is an interesting music show
because Taka tends to like making fun of his co-host and the guest. When the show
first began, you can feel a little tension between the co-hosts.
THE YORU MO HIPPARE (THE NIGHT OF THE HIT
PARADE)
Saturdays at 10:00 on NTV.
WEBSITE: None at this time.
The Yoru Mo Hit Parade has a huge cast consisting of Miake Yuuji (comedian), Nakayama
Hideyuki (comedian), Marucia (singer), Amuro Namie (singer), MAX (singer), SPEED (singer)
and much more. The difference with this show and other music shows is it is a
karaoke show. Basically in one hour, people sing the top 10 songs of that week.
So, you hear celebrities singing other artists songs which can be very good or very
embarrassing. As of 1998, it is the most popular music show because it incorporates
singers from the past and performers now.
DISCLAIMER: Due to copyright and permission rights, no material or photography of performers will be used on "The Asunaro Club's guide to Japanese Music" unless permission is received.
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