I'm one of those people that got into J-music from anime, as I used to be a big anime fan when I was younger. I still enjoy watching anime from time to time but I no longer have as much passion for it as I did as I've discovered other sources of Japanese entertainment. But going back to how I began to make the switch from anime fan to J-music fan, as well as dating myself a bit, is that I was a big anime fan in the late 1990's. Back then you didn't have many J-music artists doing the theme songs for anime series like there is today, as there was a bit of a stigma against artists that did so were thought as anime music artists not necessarily J-music artists. So there wasn't a certain OP or ED theme by a J-music artist that brought me into mainstream J-music. Instead I decided to do some searching for J-music artists that weren't connected to anime series and since it was 1999 when I did this I quickly discovered Utada Hikaru shortly after her album debut, First Love. I fell in love with her music and scrimped and saved whatever money I could to buy her album. I then proceeded to play it to death in my cd player. It was from there that I expanded my knowledge and love for J-music.
Even though it's only been a little over a year know since I've become a Johnny's fan I already had owned Arashi's Wish single (which I bought because I saw them perform the song live and the dance cracked me up every time I watched it), and Domoto Koichi's Deep in your heart / +MILLION but -Love single (as I got hooked on Deep in your heart from watching the Jyu-Ou-Sei anime series). But in both cases I didn't take to the other songs on the singles so I didn't bother to learn more about either of them. It wasn't until my friend did all the NEWS spam on her LJ did I learn about Johnny's and get addicted to them.
What lead me to write out this self-history is that I am a fan of former Fairy Fore and Neverland guitarist Akihide, who is now currently in a band with Daigo called BREAKERZ. Daigo was actually on Showa x Heisei last month and I really enjoyed watching him and seeing him spread his signature pose to the boys.
On the LJ comm for the band someone has been translating Daigo's blog entries, which I must commend them for as he doesn't seem to make it easy to translate. In one of his entries he mentions that one of his favorite programs to watch is Teppen Note because he likes the hosts and names Koyama Keiichiro specifically, which can be read here. (He mentions Teppen Note halfway through.) It took me by surprise, but I was happy too as it's nice to hear that Koyama is getting some notice. It's usually always Yamapi or Ryo that get noticed and remarked upon so it's a nice change.
I've always found it interesting when others in the J-music community say they're fans of Johnny's acts. Maybe because I feel like I can relate a little more to them knowing that we like the same J-idols. I know I've heard that in magazine interviews singers, Hirai Ken and Onitsuka Chihiro, have mentioned liking to listen to Arashi. And of course Utada Hikaru has mentioned going to Arashi concerts, and is apparently a friend of Sakurai Sho from the group going by how she talks about him in her blog. And she's mentioned that she thinks of Inohara as a friend too. I'm sure there are other artists that like Johnny's acts too, I just haven't come across any of them mentioning it. Unless you can count the little girl that sings the Gake no Ue no Ponyo theme song that was interviewed on Music Station last month and confessed to liking Yamada Ryosuke. But I am sure that there are other J-music artists that are fans of various Johnny's, if not for their music but rather for their variety programs and drama roles. It really is amazing to see how much Johnny's is a part of the Japanese pop culture.
And on a completely different note, HAPPY BIRTHDAY Nikaido Takashi. You are no longer jail-bait, though still have two years to go to be an adult in your country.
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