It’s not much of a stretch to say that what got me into actually taking the plunge into Japanese were the fun, nostalgic waves of City Pop, or as I like to call it: Vaporwave’s “boy we’ll never run out of money” younger cousin. I was in a real bad place a couple of years ago, but the fun, danceable hits of Japan’s past kept me sane. And one day, while listening to one of the many city pop mixes, I thought to myself–“why the heck don’t I know this stuff?” After that, I did that required “learn katakana and Hiragana in week” learning on Tofugu, subscribed to Wanikani, and the rest is pretty much history.
I know music tends to be a shaky subject because a lot of lyrics don’t represent how japanese people actually talk, but I find it useful as both an ego booster and cause I genuinely enjoy listening to japanese music. One of my favorites has to be Anri (or 杏里), largely due to her silky smooth voice and her funky tunes. I think what makes her listenable is that the japanese she uses is fairly simple and easy. I was introduced to her in one of Macross 82-99 mixes: “Good Bye Boogie Dance.” If that doesn’t get you dancing, then you have no rhythm as far as I’m concerned.
But I think what I like about the music is that I can read along to it and learn a bunch of new words.
最後のダンス二人だけの思い消しがなら
あこガレを彼方へと連れて
最後のダンス気入りのステップを踏めながら
今だけはをこのままでいたい
And it’s really fun to listen to. I’m especially partial to her 1983 album, BI-KI-NI, that are just filled with bangers, though I think a lot of her music are really great. So if you’re just looking for something to help with listening, or something to listen to while you’re doing other work, give her a shot.
If you like Anri, make shure to check out Shizuka Kudo (工藤静香) and Akina Nakamori (中森明菜) as well 
