Japan Jukebox

  When I chat with older folks in Japan, once I tell them that I’m from Louisiana, they start singing this song without fail: …100% of the time. The song is originally by American singer Gene Pitney, but in 1961, Hisahiko Iida released a Japanese language version. Iida’s version became a big hit in Japan the following year, and Louisiana Mama became his signature song. The single sold around 400,000 copies. Because of the success of Iida’s cover, Louisiana Mama is more well known in Japan than anywhere else in the world, including its home country, the United States. Photojournalist Toshiaki Nakayama wrote in his essay collection, “Nobody Knows Louisiana Mama: A Snapshot of America”, about his experience of asking various people in Louisiana about “Louisiana Mama” and finding that nobody knew the song.

Sunday, June 13th, was Record Store Day 2021 in Japan. I took the following Monday to make a trip to Tower Vinyl in Shinjuku. “Tower Vinyl” is a recent addition to the large Tower Records Shinjuku branch. The store spans four floors with Tower Vinyl being the highest. Tower Vinyl is Tower Records’ first vinyl record exclusive store in Japan. You’d think that Tower Vinyl would be Japanese record heaven, but most of the store is western music. The new Japanese records are contained to a pretty small section and they have a sizable “used” Japanese section. I couldn’t find much that appealed to me in the used section, to be honest. It looked like a lot of enka from the 80’s. Actually, I was most excited to visit after seeing some great deals on Tower Records’ online store. Some of the records on my hit-list were on sale for around 80-90% off. But when I found one of the records I wanted with a full price sticker, I asked the staff if the online sale prices a...

Well, I guess it’s appropriate to kick things off with an introduction.👋 My name is Danny and I am the founder of Japan Jukebox. I have been interested in Japanese culture and music my entire life. Before Japan Jukebox, I hosted a Shoutcast station called “Mafu Japan” which I started sometime around the mid 2000s. One day, I was very surprised when someone told me that they had heard a Japanese radio program on KRVS. It turned out to be a show called “Rock Japan” and I became a regular listener. Rock Japan was short lived, and when it ended abruptly, I decided to give conventional radio a shot for myself. I guess the rest is history.📻 Since Japanese music has long been a part of my everyday life, continuing to do the show for many years isn’t an issue. I’m always on the lookout for new artists and staying up to date with my favorites. I have several favorites, but my absolute favorite is a band called “the pillows”. I buy everything they release, wear their t-shirts, try to go to as ...

Welcome to the brand new Japan Jukebox blog! I've been meaning to create something like this for a long time. I think it will provide a nice place for us to connect with our listeners in a more laid-back way. A quick recap for anyone who isn’t familiar with us: Japan Jukebox is a weekly radio show broadcasted on KRVS 88.7FM. It’s a station based in Lafayette, Louisiana. KRVS also broadcasts us online to a worldwide audience, as well as hosts our shows on-demand. Our show airs every Monday at 11PM (US central time) with encore broadcasts airing Saturday at 3AM.  We started the show back in 2013. At first, the show started with myself and my brother, Cody. As time went on, and the task of creating an interesting playlist every week became a bit daunting, we had several of our friends help us by creating “guest playlists”. Our most frequent contributor was our friend Zack from Houston, who became a regular DJ on the show and the third member of Japan Jukebox. So, what to expect from t...