J-core is the style of

hardcore techno Hardcore (also known as hardcore techno or hardcore house) is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany in the early 1990s. It is distinguished by faster tempos and a distorte ...

associated with Japanese groups and DJs from the late 1990s onward. It is marked by its usage of samples derived from

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

s and

anime is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...

, colorful

kawaii ''Kawaii'' is the culture of cuteness in Japan. It can refer to items, humans and non-humans that are charming, vulnerable, shy and childlike.Kerr, Hui-Ying (23 November 2016)"What is kawaii – and why did the world fall for the ‘cult of c ...

imagery and album graphics, and the general borrowing of elements from denpa and

otaku is a Japanese word that describes people with consuming interests, particularly in anime, manga, video games, or computers. Its contemporary use originated with a 1983 essay by Akio Nakamori in '' Manga Burikko''. may be used as a pejorat ...

culture. The style is featured in video games such as ''

Beatmania IIDX is a series of rhythm video games, that was first introduced by Konami in Japan on February 26, 1999. ''IIDX'' has since spawned 31 arcade releases and 14 console releases on the Sony PlayStation 2. It is the sequel to the '' beatmania'' gam ...

'' and forms a substantial part of the

doujin music , also called in Japan, is a sub-category of ''doujin'' activity. ''Doujin'' are non-official self-published Japanese works which can be based on official products or completely original creations. Such products are sold online on specialized ...

scene. DJ Sharpnel is considered to have pioneered the style in 1998, and in the early 2000s the style spread through Japanese

peer-to-peer Peer-to-peer (P2P) computing or networking is a distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or workloads between peers. Peers are equally privileged, equipotent participants in the network. They are said to form a peer-to-peer ...

networks. As anime became popular in the United States and Europe, J-core would also find appreciation among anime fans there, allowing for the development of a Western, J-core-inspired remix culture, as well as for J-core's contribution to the

nightcore A nightcore edit is a version of a track that increases the pitch and speeds up its source material by approximately 35%. This gives an effect almost identical to playing a 33⅓-RPM vinyl record at 45 RPM. This 35% increase in RPM causes the ...

phenomenon of the early 2010s. J-core is often featured in

rhythm games Rhythm game or rhythm action is a genre of music-themed action video game that challenges a player's sense of rhythm. Games in the genre typically focus on dance or the simulated performance of musical instruments, and require players to press ...

, especially those whose main audience is in Asia or Japan.

History

J-Core's emergence dates back to the mid to late 1990s, in the height of the

hardcore Hardcore, hard core or hard-core may refer to: Arts and media Film * ''Hardcore'' (1977 film), a British comedy film * ''Hardcore'' (1979 film), an American crime drama film starring George C Scott * ''Hardcore'' (2001 film), a British documen ...

and

gabber Gabber (; ) is a style of electronic dance music and a subgenre of hardcore techno, as well as the surrounding subculture. The music is more commonly referred to as Hardcore, which is characterised by fast beats, distorted & heavier kickdrums, ...

techno scenes in Europe. Originally called Japcore, the name J-Core is the combined words "japanese", and "hardcore". J-Core is heavily influenced by denpa and

culture, usually talking visual or audio samples from video games, anime, and general

imagery.

Notable producers

*DJ Chucky * DJ Sharpnel *DJ Technetium *Lemmy *

IOSYS is a Japanese musical ensemble and dōjin circle from Sapporo, Japan. The group is primarily known for producing remixes of music from the Touhou Project series of dōjin game, ''dōjin'' games. They are not signed to a label, instead preferring ...

*m1dy *REDALiCE *t+pazolite *Techn0rch *Moro *Camellia *Laur *USAO *Kobaryo *RoughSketch *Synthion

References

Japanese music history 1990s in music Hardcore music genres {{Japan-music-stub