J-Punk

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J-Punk stands for Japanese Punk. This genre is usually used to refer to Punk Rock music sung in Japanese. Representative examples of J-punk bands are: Ellegarden & Asian Kung-Fu Generation.

One subgenre of J-Punk is characterized by chaotic guitars and half screamed/half sung vocals. These bands take influence from mid to late 1980s bands such as Half Japanese, Sonic Youth, and early Nirvana. Notable bands in this subgenre include: Thee Michelle Gun Elephant, The Pillows, Shonen Knife and Asian Kung-Fu Generation.

Another subgenre is characterized by highly technical, yet dissonant, intrumentals. The vocal style runs the gamut from J-Pop style, to incoherent screeching, to traditional Japanese style singing. Lyrics may be generally nonsensical and random. Their visual style also reflects this and may run to the extremes in Visual kei bands. This style of J-Punk seems to be a conscious rejection of the old Japanese proverb, "The nail that sticks out will be hammered down." When their culture prides itself on conformity and harmony, J-Punk artists strive to create dissonance and attract the wrong kind of attention. This is relatively new genre, getting its start in the late 1990s and just now getting its voice heard. Notable bands in this subgenre include: Limited Express, Peaches55, Musyaburui and Peelander-Z.

Punk rock around the world
Punk rock - Argentine punk - Australian punk - Belgian Punk - Brazilian punk - British punk - Celtic punk - German punk - Greek punk - Japanese punk - Malay punk - Scandinavian hardcore - Yugoslav Punk