J-pop

[jey-pop]

noun

1. pop music from Japan (often used attributively): This station plays all my favorite J-pop.

   J-pop fans;

   This station plays all my favorite J-pop.

Word History and Origins

Origin of J-pop¹

First recorded in 1985–90; J(apanese) ( def. ) + pop ²

Example Sentences

Coachella has given a spotlight to some of the world’s biggest K-pop and J-pop acts in recent years and in 2026 acts including Bigbang, Fujii Kaze, and Taemin.

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Unlike most of Japan’s current global artists, Kaze’s popularity is not primarily drawn from anime tie-ins, notes J-pop YouTuber Kushun in his minidocumentary on the artist, drawing a parallel between his success with “Shinunoga E-wa” and “Ue o Muite Arukō,” also known as “Sukiyaki,” by Kyu Sakamoto, the only Japanese song to top the American Billboard charts back in 1963.

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Nakai, who is also a former member of J-Pop boy band SMAP, was accused of sexually assaulting a woman at a dinner party in 2023.

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Miho Nakayama, a Japanese entertainer known for her contributions to the early J-pop scene in the 1980s and a varied acting career, has died.

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Nakayama’s rise to fame came shortly after the emergence of city pop — a genre popularized by artists including Miki Matsubara, Mariya Takeuchi and Anri — and the beginnings of J-pop.

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