These glamorous hits were the soundtrack to Japan's economic and technological miracle, and were heavily influenced by American soft rock, soul and funk.

In a sign of city pop's comeback, Canadian artist The Weeknd has recycled the melody of Tomoko Aran's 1983 title track "Midnight Pretenders" for the song "Out of Time" from his latest album, and record labels s rush to bring out vinyls from this musical trend.

"It's like disco: a nostalgic sound, but also modern," says Tel Liyanto, a 27-year-old Indonesian who works for a communications agency, dancing to city pop sounds in a Tokyo bar.

"I listen to this when I'm dancing, I listen to this when I'm relaxing," she told AFP.

Starting from private online music circles, the revival has been amplified by YouTube's algorithm, which spots a song when it's liked and shared, and then recommends it to the world.

The most popular titles, such as "Plastic Love" by Mariya Takeuchi, have tens of millions of views on YouTube.

The song's funky bass line and flamboyant horn section evoke the joy of Wham!'s "Club Tropicana," but the Japanese lyrics tell a whole different story, that of a broken heart.

DJ Kei Notoya in his studio in Tokyo, February 2, 2022 Philip FONG AFP

"Why am I suddenly listening to 1980s Japanese pop? And why is it so good?" a fan of the song asked on YouTube.

"Fresh, but familiar"

Kei Notoya, a 33-year-old Japanese DJ, was bewitched by city pop the moment he first heard it at a college party.

He has since collected around 3,000 records of the genre, some of which sell out in seconds on his Tokyo Condition online store.

"Japanese music at the time copied a lot of American rock, soul, R&B," he told AFP.

"It sounds fresh but, at the same time, it's familiar."

DJ Kei Notoya in his studio in Tokyo, February 2, 2022 Philip FONG AFP

"People who weren't born can feel the energy, the atmosphere of the 1970s and 1980s, listening to these songs."

And while the buzz has prompted Japanese record labels to upload more of their old catalog to streaming platforms, the sheer number of gems yet to be rediscovered keeps interest in the genre alive, according to the DJ.

He boasts of "finding new finds every week" at second-hand record stores, and released a compilation, "Tokyo Glow", in December.

sweet melancholy

Gary Ieong, co-owner of record store White Noise Records in Hong Kong, says while fans prefer to seek out city pop originals, the vinyl reissue of "Plastic Love" has been "very popular" in his store.

Young people who have listened to the title on YouTube want to buy its reissue "as a souvenir, or as a work of art", he told AFP.

City pop is also popular on TikTok, where fans pair their favorite tunes with snippets of old Japanese cartoons, or film themselves dancing in 1980s clothes.

City pop records by DJ Kei Notoya on February 2, 2022 in Tokyo Philip FONG AFP

But beyond the fun, new listeners to city pop are also drawn to "the element of melancholy lurking in it," says Patrick St. Michel, a Tokyo-based music critic.

"It's something that creeps into all city pop songs and gives them a certain virality. They give off something sad too, it's not pure hedonism".

However, the early trendsetters who began reviving city pop in the early 2010s have already moved on, like chasing 1990s nuggets, according to Mr. St. Michel.

© 2022 AFP