Hmm.. I was a bit different. A year or so ago, I was stumbling across a flash-resposity website and I saw a flash called using the song "ike Ike" by Hinoi Team. A year or so later, I decided I liked that song and tried to look it up by remember how it was pronounced... I had no clue if I was right or wrong.. lo and behold.. I was right and I found Ike Ike and later Hinoi Team and later Jpop. :D

I started listen to anime openings and endings in Japanese, then I searched some bands, which made opening, so I found X Japan and did want to find more Japanese rock bands, and slowly I came into J-Rock-

Hi,

I believe that my first Japanese Music experience was probably through anime; I saw Lensman when I was 8 years old which had a nice soundtrack. However, as for music from popular japanese bands, I think I can safely say that it's mostly thanks to my interest in Japanese music games. Beatmania, Pop'n Music, Dance Dance Revolution... I love most of their soundtracks. :)

My fondness of Japanese popular music is fairly limited though. I find I'm not overly fond of bands such as the visual-kei bands you often see... but I do give most stuff a listen when I come across a new song or band to see if a new favourite is there.

Haven't had much luck... I seem to like one off songs from a lot of different artists.

hi :) i think that mine first experience was through kerrang (a music magazine ) when i saw an article featuring dir en grey i have been hooked ever since.

I was introduced to Japanese music a while ago, when Final Fantasy: Spirits Within was released...I remember listening to the songs in the credits and the song that stood out for me was Spirit Dreams Inside by L'arc~en~Ciel...it was the last song in the credits, IIRC

I got veeeery interested in them (I thought they were an english band because the song was in english), so I started looking for stuff about them online, and I gradually heard songs like Blurry Eyes and Driver's High...and I've been hooked on them every since :] Of course, I listen to other Japanese artists LIKE THE PILLOWS! *cheap plug lol*

I saw a commercial for jpop in the 90s, I was like wth. Then, I became a huge fan around 2002 and have been a huge fan ever since! It just keeps getting better. 09 and 10 were my two favorite years of jpop! 2011 has been great too.