The Japanese word for music is ongaku (traditional Japanese) and myūjikku (English loan word) – both words are commonly used in Japan. Also, the kanji for ongaku consists of two characters – 音楽. The first kanji (音) means ‘sound’ and the second kanji (楽) means ‘enjoy’.
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| Romanji | Kanji | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Music (traditional Japanese) おんがく | Ongaku | 音楽 | |
| Music (English loan word) ミュージック | Myūjikku | None | |
| Traditional Japanese music ほうがく | Hōgaku | 邦楽 | |
| Western music ようがく | Yōgaku | 洋楽 | |
| Orchestra オーケストラ | Ōkesutora | None | |
| Classical music クラシックおんがく | Kurashikku ongaku | クラシック音楽 | |
| Opera music オペラおんがく | Opera ongaku | オペラ音楽 | |
| Rock music ロックミュージック | Rokku myūjikku | None | |
| Pop music ポップミュージック | Poppu myūjikku | None |
Interesting facts about music in Japan
Not many people know this, but Japan is the second largest music market in the world and just about every genre is popular there from Korean and Japanese bands/groups to Western bands/groups.
Japanese bands and groups create what is called J-pop and J-rock and Western groups/bands are just as popular. Some of the most popular musical genres in Japan include hōgaku (traditional Japanese music), classical, pop, rock, heavy metal and jazz. Check out this list of popular genres in Japan here.