I had to think for a while on this one. I recall first hearing koto and shamisen sometime in childhood and thinking it was pretty and calming, but I rarely was interested in either quality at the time.:p

But I just remembered the song I sang all through the summer of 1963 ..... Sukiyaki by Kyu Sakamoto! Unfortunately it was a one-hit-wonder and the English version was awful. But the Japanese version hit the top 10 of Billboard that June and I knew the lyrics long before that.:D

Then there was this slight gap of about 40 years before I discovered Keisho Ohno and a livelier shamisen. After that, volunteering as a sound tech/DJ introduced me to the soundtracks for anime - some I like, and a lot I don't care for..... same as in any other genre.

Pretty much Guitar -> Miyavi -> J-Rock

I got to know Japanese Musik, when I found in "wikipedia" a list of japanese Bands...I tried one or two and then I found the Band "Flow" and I really like their music! One of my favourite songs is "Snowflake"^^

Nanashi

I blame my friends
 

I got into Japanese music my freshmen year of college when my new friends introduced it to me. 3 years later I still remember the first song I ever heard, it was Speedmaster by Gackt. Now I own, what some of my friends say is, an excessive amount of JRock music. I'm hooked for life :D

<3 <3 InuYasha !
 

InuYasha is like the one of the best anime series I've come across to date. It's funny and the plot is good. Nice love story.

Hyde - Words of Love
But because I am a Christian, a lot of Metal conflicts with the beliefs obviously e.g. views on the devil and stuff like that.

Gackt <3
 

Gackt is amazing! <3

Ah I love Flow too =D One of my first J-rock bands and still one of my favorites ;) I like Snowflake too, though my favorites are "Word of the Voice" & "Phantom" (along with many others)

I was introduced to Japanese music through the anime on Adult Swim in '05-'06, I had recently bought a metal DDR pad and downloaded StepMania. Most of the songs available are anime themes so I started listening to the music in anime more objectively to find songs I wanted to play on SM. The first songs I remember really like were the themes for Eureka Seven (specifically "Days" by Flow among others). I expanded my song library and taste in Japanese music simultaneously ;) And even though I've grown out of anime I still really like J-music. :D

Oh, cool! *listening to the songs*
*-*
Wow <3 "Word of the Voice" is fantastic! And with an English lyrics I understand everything! *-*
Love this song!

(I opened a threat about Flow, do you want to post the songs there, StonerPenguin?)

Nanashi

Haha, okay Nanashi :D I will. Glad you like the songs~