City pop isn’t just about slick synth lines, driving along seaside highways or rainy nights in neon-lit Tokyo. It’s a style of music that captured the essence of a particular moment in late ’70s and ’80s Japan: an era shaped by economic boom and cultural cross-pollination. Though the term “city pop” wasn’t widely used at the time — and still flies under the radar for many in Japan today — the sound has quietly built a global following in recent years.
Beyond the genre’s groovy baselines and earworm choruses lies a fascinating web of stories that rarely make it into the spotlight. Some artists dropped instant classics and vanished. Others led double lives — as pro wrestlers, authors or actors. There are unexpected connections to Pokemon, Nintendo and even the Titanic.
Here are 10 lesser-known facts about the iconic stars of the city pop genre. How many do you know?
Image courtesy of Daily Shincho Inc
#10: Mariya Takeuchi and Tatsuro Yamashita Are City Pop’s Power Couple
Obviously, you can’t talk about city pop without mentioning the iconic, genre-defining song “Plastic Love” by Mariya Takeuchi, which essentially kickstarted the genre’s rebirth as an international phenomenon when the track was reuploaded onto YouTube.
Takeuchi has been married to the Tatsuro Yamashita — another city pop superstar — since 1982, and they have a daughter together. Yamashita is not just her husband, but also the producer behind many of her songs, including “Plastic Love” and “Single Again” from her album Variety. Yamashita even joins her in one of her live performances in the Nippon Budokan in 2000, stealing the show with his instantly-recognizable vocals.
Image courtesy of Universal Music Japan
#9: Takako Mamiya Released One Album and Disappeared
Takako Mamiya is something of a mystery in city pop lore. She released just one single and album, Love Trip, in 1982, which featured tracks like “Love Trip” and “Mayonaka no Joke” which oozed an aura of sultry, urban sophistication mixed with ennui.
Despite its current cult status, the album didn’t perform well on the Oricon charts when it first came out, and Mamiya herself vanished from the public eye shortly after getting married. Her disappearance has only added to her mystique, with fans continuing to search for more information about her life. In recent years, Love Trip was highly requested by city pop fans and officially reissued by Tower Records under Universal Music Japan.
Image courtesy of Universal Music Japan
#8: “Flyday Chinatown” Singer Yasuha Had a Pro Wrestling Stint
Yasuha, also known as Yasuha Ebina, rose to prominence in the early 1980s with her bouncy, lively single “Flyday Chinatown.” Her story didn’t end in the recording studio, and she herself had a bit of a chaotic public presence. She married a well-known rakugo (a type of Japanese verbal comedy) performer Koasa Shunputei, and the couple later went through a high-profile and controversial divorce, which they famously announced at a press conference in front of a golden folding screen. Yasuha later published a tell-all memoir titled Kaiun Rikon — or Good Luck Divorce — about the experience.
She also took part in a professional wrestling match in 2008. You can watch her deck it out with martial artist Youji Anjou here … somehow a real piglet gets involved in the fray…
#7: Pokemon’s Wobbuffet Is Based On Yasuha’s Father
Adding another unexpected twist to Yasuha’s story: Her father, Hayashiya Sanpei I, was a famous rakugo comedian whose distinctive gesture (slapping his forehead) and catchphrase, “That’s the way it is, ma’am!” directly inspired the Pokemon character Wobbuffet. In Japan, Wobbuffet’s name, Sonans, mirrors the phrase “sou-nan-su” or “that’s the way it is.”
Image courtesy of realsound.jp
#6: Mariya Takeuchi and Anri Formed a Duo Called Peach&Apricot
In 2021, two of the genre’s most legendary female stars— Mariya Takeuchi and Anri, a.k.a. Eiko Kawashima — teamed up to form a musical duo called Peach&Apricot. The name is a nod to their earlier hits: Takeuchi’s “Fushigi na Peach Pie” and Anri’s debut album Apricot Jam. They released their first song together, “Watching Over You,” on November 3, 2021, reuniting them both with 80s city pop maestro Tetsuji Hayashi.
Image courtesy of Yamaha Music Entertainment Holdings Inc.
#5: Junko Yagami Became June Stanley and Moved to California
The voice behind “Tasogare no Bay City” (stylized as 黄昏のBAY CITY) is also known as June Stanley. After marrying British music producer John Stanley she has been living in Simi Valley, California, since 1986. In 2022, she became the first Japanese person to be inducted into the Women Songwriters Hall of Fame, a prize awarded by a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C.
Image courtesy of Tower Records Japan Inc.
#4: Tomoko Aran Was Also a Published Author
Tomoko Aran, the singer behind “Midnight Pretenders,” was not just a musical talent — she was also a writer. In 1985, she published a collection of short stories titled Sabishigariya no Omocha Bako (Imitation Lonely). Over the years, she also released a children’s book, Soshiki-gokko (Pretend Funeral), and an essay collection called Koi no Road Sign (Road Signs for Your Love). Perhaps the typewriter on the cover of her renowned album Fuyu Kukan was a secret nod to her authorship?
Image courtesy of Tower Records Japan Inc.
#3: Taeko Ohnuki Wrote Music for Mother 3 and Animal Crossing
Taeko Ohnuki, known for her refined, atmospheric voice on tracks like “4:00 A.M.” and “Tokai,” remained active in music long after the initial city pop wave. In 2006, she performed “We Miss You ~ The Theme of Love ~” for Mother 3, the cult classic Game Boy Advance RPG. She also sang the end credits song for Animal Crossing: The Movie, tying her music to two of Nintendo’s most beloved franchises.
#2: Hiromi Go Collabed with Yuzuru Hanyu and Played a Disillusioned Salaryman Turned Cowboy
Hiromi Go, one of city pop’s early stars, continues to appear in surprising places. In 2014, he performed live during Fantasy on Ice, a touring Japanese ice show that featured Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu. Together, they performed Go’s emotional ballad “Ienai yo” (“I Can’t Say It”).
Earlier in his career, Hiromi Go also appeared in a 1994 Canadian film titled Samurai Cowboy, where he plays Yutaka Sato, a salaryman who becomes disillusioned with the hustle of Tokyo and moves to Montana to live out his dream of becoming a cowboy.
Image courtesy of Tower Records Japan Inc.
#1 Haruomi Hosono’s Grandfather Survived the Titanic
The “Koi Wa Momoiro” singer — as well as a founding member of the Yellow Magic Orchestra — has a family story as legendary as his music. His grandfather, Masabumi Hosono, was the only Japanese survivor of the Titanic. Though he escaped with his life, he was shamed back home for not going down with the ship. However, his grandson would later go on to leave a legacy, fusing funk and synthpop into the genre-defining sound that helped put city pop on the map. Needless to say, we would have missed out a lot if he had perished in the Titanic!
