Well, what even got me looking at other countries for music was my stern disapproval of music that flooded the radios and television here in America in 2000. That's when I went to a channel, I forget which now, that had a show called PopJapanTV, and I saw L'arc~en~Ciel's Ready, Steady, Go. I was almost immediately hooked onto it, and wanted to learn more about music in Japan. Which is where I found out about Dir en grey. I was, honestly, scared about how they dressed, and avoided them completely. (I was really close-minded back then). So I stuck with less drastic artists, like Gackt, HYDE, and Larku.

One day I saw a Taste of Chaos CD at Wal-Mart. I bought it, and saw Dir en grey on there. I checked it out as soon as I piled into the car, and again, was hooked.

I wanted to know more about this music, and so I asked a friend if she could recommend any other bands to me. Which is where I found out about D'espairsRay, Miyavi, Malice Mizer, Due Le Quartz, Moi Dix Mois, and more of Dir en grey. It kinda changed my whole perspective on music about how it doesn't matter how they dress or what language they sing in. As long as it's appealing to MY ears, I'll listen to whatever the heck I want kind of logic.

The End.

Dunno. Whichever year had Dir en grey on the tour, that was the CD I purchased.

I listen to Last Alliance, L'Arc~En~CIEL, UVERworld, Utada Hikaru and a whole lot more. I really don't tick to one artists and I tend to listen to everything.. XD

I was bored one day, so I decided to type random things in on youtube. Thats when I found Gackt. He will always be the one that got me into J-rock and J-pop :rheart: but then I discovered the rock gods Diru... so I bought Withering To Death and looked for more music. Those two really brought me into more and more music.

I love how in most Japanese CDs, they come with instrumental versions so you can easily sing along with and make collaborations. It's one of the good things about Japanese music, in my opinion!

Yes. Yes it is ^^.

My mom makes fun of me too.....but she likes one J-pop singer I adore to death, Namie Amuro, but she calls her 'The Pink Panther Lady' (long, long story....)

first time i heard jrock was when i saw a clip on youtube, just random, then!! it started my obession my bitter sweet curse!! i was hooked... the 1st jrocked i was hooked on was MIYAVI i was lost! a mess a comatose person, couldnt move then, i saw a new light, gackt, and i was reborn in a sexy move, a new step with asweetkiss and a seduction smile!! thennn!!! saw 23 more bands now im immune! lol

I didn't like them at first but my classmates were so into them then I eventually started liking them and now I'm addicted to them!:) They look gays and I tease my classmates by saying Homo Hey Say or Hey Say Gay (the real name of the group is Hey! Say! JUMP)that's why I didn't like them but they started to look gorgeous in my eyes. Now they're my lodestar. I really like their songs because it usually talks about reaching your dreams and before I study, I listen to their song to get motivated :rheart: :rheart: :rheart:

not only do I tell em I like it but I actually make em listen to it :)

I like it because of the emotion it conveys I dont understand the language but for the most part I het the emotion right I hunt down the translations of the lyrics;) Everyone knows I listen to it they all make fun but Ive never been one to care. Though I have to say I hated it at first but it wasnt the music it was just the bands my husband pickid once I looked up bands On my own I found many I love. Even when we like the same band we usualy like completely different songs from them.

im a music lover period, all genres except country, i have my preferences though....i started liking the them songs and the music that was played in anime's at first, especially the old songs from touch tv and KOR (orange road) theres a christmas song in that show that everyone in japan knows, but yea....that was all i liked about it, THEN i started watching dramas, at first i knew nothing about jdramas or the actors, after i saw 5 or 10 shows i picked up a few favorite actors and looked them up online for some info, and found out that they were in jpop groups, i thought i bet they cant even sing at all...my favorite actor (nagase tomoya) is in a band called tokio affiliated with johnny's of course and from there it opened up a new world of entertainment, to a regular american it might look or sound corny idk but to me most japanese artists are extremely talented and should recognized worldly.

p.s. FREE KUSANAGI TSUYOSHI!

The first anime I ever watched: Death Note. First opening theme song: the WORLD by Nightmare. Loved them. Listened to more and more as I became more obsessed with anime. :D Then I heard of more bands, not from anime theme songs. NOW I LOVE IT ALL!!!! MUHAHHAHAHAHAH!!!!:D :rheart: :rheart:

I was raised on J-rock, having visited Japan every year until 1999 to see family, so I suppose it's in my blood :D Though I suppose it was through YouTube that I started to find out about J-music on my own.

As to why I like it, I personally think that Japanese artists put more effort and soul into music than the people that chart in the US and other western countries. Also J-music just has that sound that you don't hear anywhere else which I love

Yeah, why would I be ashamed of it?
Most music here over the last 9 years has pretty much sucked.
Music in Japan and Korea has been very cool! :cool:

I totally forgot I posted this! O_o'
Wow! I really didn't word things right! >_<'
Sorry for putting such stupid options to choose from!
Um, what I should have posted was "why do you listen" not "do you tell people?" It makes no sense! >_<'

Why I like Jrock is because there is so much emotion and conveyance in the lyrics and music.

Since posting this poll, I learned so much about EVERYTHING, so it seems so weird and out of place that I would think people would shun you for listening!
I apologize! ^_^

My whole family doesn't understand why I listen to music I can't understand. Yes, I can't speak, read, or write Japanese. But just cause you can't understand the words doesn't mean you can't understand the mood and beauty of the music. Sadly, they don't get that. So to teach them a lesson, I've gotten my nephew hooked on Papancake and Hana Wo Pun. Yes, I can be evil sometimes...

I can't really place my finger on it, but there is just something about Japanese music that is different.

I personally love Japanese rock because the lyrics are very poetic,
and the guitar riffs are excellent. A lot of low neck solos also :rheart:

I get a lot of inspiration from the artist for poetry and for overall clothing style, they're very creative. I love it, Dir En Grey is by far my favorite band ever.
Their performances are so full of energy, Kyo always sings with all his might.

I listen to lots of music in heaps of different languages I don't understand because to me it's great music. People might look at me strange because of certain genres I enjoy, but never because of who's singing it.

What reason would there be for me to hide it? Japanese music is wonderful. It, in my opinion, has greater meaning and emotion behind it compared to anything we have here.

because it feels right/natural to me. It's like it's a part of me now.
and because of the feelings I get from it.

(I might have answered this already, I can't recall :o )

well like a a lot of people first i found out about Dir en grey! through a accuaintance i didnt even know that well she had ordered one of those 'tour' dvds and i was like wow thats a really cool band..after that i really didnt try and look for other bands but somehow i just found them! :) umm i like lynch and kaya now...miyavi's not really the style (of music :p) that i like...and i actually like enka too...weird but i just like the way it sounds...i would maybe gag over the lyrics..

I found Dir en grey first, out of curiosity, really. It took me awhile to like them, but I listened to Ain't Afraid to Die and got hooked. From there, I just branched out. What I really like about Japanese music is that it's helped me focus on the music and how I liked it more than anything else. Before, I'd just listen to whatever other people listened to. I'm more passionate about music as well and I've really found what I want to do in life. {Though that may not be entirely because of Japanese music, but it certainly helped.}

On top of that, it made me have an open mind. Before, girly men would've been insane to think of. haha~
Plus, it's kicked me out of some really stupid stages in my life{*cough*emostage*cough*}.

I started listening to Japanese music through anime about 7 years ago. I heard an opening song, really liked it and decided to check the artist out. Since then, i listen to nothing but japanese music, mostly Jrock. Jrock caught my eye when i saw a picture of very interesting-looking guys (fine, at first i thought they were girls) with awesome hair, piercings, and such and i was like hey, that's pretty cool!

It's interesting how Dir en grey is the starter for quite a few people. (was for me too. The whole Withering album)

oh... and you've got Nao's smiley in your sig?

I think it's because they've been around so long and are starting to gain mainstream success in other countries.

and yes~
I love that face mark.
:}

probably.... though X Japan and Buck Tick have been around a bit longer. (maybe there's others I don't know of?) but I don't know much yet about those groups.

:) so do I.

My starter was L'Arc~en~Ciel and Malice Mizer :P 5 years ago.

I love Japanese music!^^ Only my friends and such really know that I listen to it though.
But that's just because I don't really go out of my way to tell random people much about myself, I like to make friends first and gradually get to know someone :P

Also I am pretty withdrawn with stuff like that, I guess that's because I got bullied at school, so I find it hard to talk to people I hardly know about my "unusual" interests :P

I first heard Japanese music and really liked it when I heard it in the Final Fantasy video games. I wanted to start listening to music, and I found that I only liked that. I heard Gackt's song Redemption in Dirge of Cerberus: FFVII and tried his music and am now a big fan. That lead me into liking more bands, such as Malice Mizer, Lareine, and Versailles. I have been a fan for 11.7 months now!

When I was twelve, I went on this one website called glitter-grapgics.com, and I searched “Music,” which, as we all know, is a very big category. Well, on the twentieth page, an animation of Bou came up.
http://i36.tinypic.com/25ph1yg.gif
Now, I had no idea that J-Rock existed, let alone had different styles. I clicked on the picture and saw a comment that said, “O-M-G, Bou is so cute!” *(or something along those lines.)* So, I searched “Bou” in Google images, and got pictures of cosplayers. – I didn’t know that they existed, either. So, I just moved on. Well, two years later, I went back onto the same website, searched “music” again, and on the hundredth page, the same picture came up. I recognized it, so I clicked on it again. But this time there was a difference, one of the comments said that Bou had quit the band “AnCafé,” so I went onto YouTube and searched them, clicked on a PV, andd…<3.
*(Yes, I found out about them almost a year after the LA show, and one year after he quit.)* - Soooo sad! )':

L'Arc~en~Ciel
I first heard this band in Full Metal Alchemist and loved it so much so I had to go on to listen to the bands other songs and just kind of fell in love with the various songs they have.

The Gazette
Love how they sound and love the look of the members in the band.

I am trying to think of more but those are two bands are some of my favs. I have more its just the only one that comes to mind for me. And I really thank my friends for getting me into j-rock music.

I first listened to Japanese music as anime openings, but now I'm also hooked up on Janne da Arc & Arashi :p