# J-Melo

J-Melo is a weekly Japanese music television program broadcast by NHK. It is recorded entirely in the English language. It began broadcasting on October 7, 2005. The program is available on NHK's World Service television station, Radio Japan, Digital Educational TV and on its Domestic General Channel.

## History and Programming

The program started broadcasting on October 7, 2005, and was hosted by Mai Takematsu, a Japanese harpist. The name "J-Melo" comes from the words, "Japan", "Melody", and "Mellow". The show is the first Japanese music program produced by NHK to be recorded entirely in English, and presents various Japanese music and musicians to the rest of the world through its global television station, NHK World. The show is also aired in Japan in English with Japanese subtitles. In March 2007, Mai Takematsu left the show in order to pursue her medical career, and in April 2007, she was replaced by Japanese singer, melody. She hosted the show until September 2008, when it was announced that May J. will host the succeeding episodes. The new J-Melo debuted in October 2008, with May J. along with Shanti presenting the program, with an updated set and website and a new opening billboard. It was the first time that the program had two permanent presenters. Shanti, however, left the show in 2010. Aside from music videos, the program features interviews and recorded performances.
In 2009, J-Melo started a music project, a fictitious band called Rough-T with manga characters fronted by Takekawa Ai, produced by Marty Friedman, and with additional production by international independent artists kevn, Kirby and Crazy Dragon. J-Melo features comments from Dave Spector, who hosts most episodes together with May J.

## Segments

J-Melo has a weekly theme, where most of the video content of the show revolve around. These include topics such as "Summer Favorites", "Musicians from Okinawa" or "Summer Rock Festivals". Every other month, the show also has a request special, where viewers send requests through the J-Melo website. (In a June 2007 request special, it was revealed that the most requested Japanese musical act is L'Arc-en-Ciel.) In 2007, the show introduced the segment, "Japan Dance Music Adventure," a monthly dance special, where the host tours Japan in search of traditional and modern dance music.

## Specials

Every year since 2005, the show has an annual special, counting down the top singles of the year. Since 2007, however, J-Melo aired among others, aired a summer special, several "live to the world" specials (filmed in front of a live audience, not aired live), an Okinawa special and a Tokushima special. Occasionally, the show will also broadcast guest highlights every quarter.

### E-mail Special

In December 2007, the program started to air an E-mail special. It counted down the countries where the show received the most e-mail from, as well as the year's top requested artists.

#### 2007

| Rank | Country |
| 1 | Philippines |
| 2 | Peru |
| 3 | United States |
| 4 | Canada |
| 5 | Brazil Mexico Indonesia |
| 6 | Nepal |
| 7 | Japan |
| 8 | Malaysia |
| 9 | Vietnam |
| 10 | Portugal |
| Rank | Artist |
| 1 | L'Arc-en-Ciel |
| 2 | melody. |
| 3 | KAT-TUN |
| 4 | Hikaru Utada |
| 5 | NEWS |
| 6 | Morning Musume |
| 7 | DIR EN GREY |
| 8 | YUI |
| 9 | Ai Otsuka |
| 10 | Namie Amuro |

#### 2008

| Rank | Country |
| 1 | Philippines |
| 2 | United States |
| 3 | Peru |
| 4 | Japan |
| 5 | Indonesia |
| 6 | Brazil |
| 7 | Canada |
| 8 | Vietnam Nepal |
| 9 | Thailand (New) |
| 10 | United Arab Emirates (New) |
| Rank | Artist |
| 1 | L'Arc-en-Ciel |
| 2 | Arashi |
| 3 | Hey! Say! JUMP |
| 4 | melody. |
| 5 | KAT-TUN |
| 6 | NEWS |
| 7 | Tohoshinki |
| 8 | Hikaru Utada |
| 9 | Alice Nine |
| 10 | YUI |

#### 2009

| Rank | Country |
| 1 | Philippines |
| 2 | United Kingdom (New) |
| 3 | United States |
| 4 | Indonesia |
| 5 | Peru |
| 6 | Brazil |
| 7 | Saudi Arabia (New) |
| 8 | United Arab Emirates Vietnam |
| 9 | Nepal |
| 10 | Australia (New) Ireland (New) |
| Rank | Artist |
| 1 | L'Arc-en-Ciel |
| 2 | Tohoshinki |
| 3 | Arashi |
| 4 | NEWS |
| 5 | Hey! Say! JUMP |
| 6 | KAT-TUN |
| 7 | May J. |
| 8 | The Gazette |
| 9 | GACKT |
| 10 | Ayumi Hamasaki |

#### 2010

| Rank | Country |
| 1 | United Kingdom |
| 2 | Philippines |
| 3 | Indonesia |
| 4 | United States |
| 5 | Germany (New) |
| 6 | Chile (New) |
| 7 | Brazil |
| 8 | Peru |
| 9 | Saudi Arabia |
| 10 | Mexico |
| Rank | Artist |
| 1 | The Gazette |
| 2 | Hey! Say! JUMP |
| 3 | L'Arc-en-Ciel |
| 4 | Arashi |
| 5 | May J. |
| 6 | KAT-TUN |
| 7 | NEWS |
| 8 | YUI |
| 9 | SCANDAL |
| 10 | GACKT |

#### 2011

| Rank | Country |
| 1 | Indonesia |
| 2 | United States |
| 3 | United Kingdom |
| 4 | Philippines |
| 5 | Peru |
| 6 | France (New) |
| 7 | Mexico |
| 8 | Chile |
| 9 | Saudi Arabia |
| 10 | Brazil |
| Rank | Artist |
| 1 | L'Arc-en-Ciel |
| 2 | The Gazette |
| 3 | Morning Musume |
| 4 | SCANDAL |
| 5 | YUI |
| 6 | Hey! Say! JUMP |
| 7 | Alice Nine |
| 8 | Arashi |
| 9 | May J. |
| 10 | AKB48 |

#### 2012

| Rank | Country |
| 1 | Indonesia |
| 2 | United States |
| 3 | Philippines |
| 4 | United Kingdom |
| 5 | Brazil |
| 6 | Peru |
| 7 | Saudi Arabia |
| 8 | Mexico |
| 9 | France |
| 10 | Germany |
| Rank | Artist |
| 1 | The Gazette |
| 2 | Arashi |
| 3 | L'Arc-en-Ciel |
| 4 | Morning Musume |
| 5 | Alice Nine |
| 6 | AKB48 |
| 7 | KAT-TUN |
| 8 | Hey! Say! JUMP |
| 9 | SCANDAL |
| 10 | GACKT |

#### 2013

| Rank | Country |
| 1 | United States |
| 2 | Philippines |
| 3 | Indonesia |
| 4 | United Kingdom |
| 5 | Peru |
| 6 | France |
| 7 | Brazil |
| 8 | Mexico |
| 9 | Singapore (New) |
| 10 | Germany |
| Rank | Artist |
| 1 | The Gazette |
| 2 | Arashi |
| 3 | Alice Nine |
| 4 | Morning Musume '14 |
| 5 | Hey! Say! JUMP |
| 6 | L'Arc-en-Ciel |
| 7 | SCANDAL |
| 8 | AKB48 |
| 9 | ONE OK ROCK |
| 10 | KAT-TUN |

#### 2014

| Rank | Country |
| 1 | Indonesia |
| 2 | United States |
| 3 | Philippines |
| 4 | United Kingdom |
| 5 | Brazil |
| 6 | Mexico |
| 7 | France |
| 8 | Malaysia |
| 9 | Australia |
| 10 | Germany |
| Rank | Artist |
| 1 | SCANDAL |
| 2 | The Gazette |
| 3 | Morning Musume '14 |
| 4 | Alice Nine |
| 5 | Arashi |
| 6 | Hey! Say! JUMP |
| 7 | ONE OK ROCK |
| 8 | AKB48 |
| 9 | L'Arc-en-Ciel |
| 10 | Diaura |

#### 2015

| Rank | Country |
| 1 | United States |
| 2 | Indonesia |
| 3 | United Kingdom |
| 4 | Mexico |
| 5 | Philippines |
| 6 | France |
| 7 | China (New) |
| 8 | Brazil |
| 9 | Singapore |
| 10 | Germany |
| Rank | Artist |
| 1 | The Gazette |
| 2 | Scandal |
| 3 | Morning Musume '15 |
| 4 | Arashi |
| 5 | L'Arc-en-Ciel |
| 6 | One Ok Rock |
| 7 | KAT-TUN |
| 8 | Vamps |
| 9 | AKB48 |
| 10 | Babymetal |

#### 2016

| Rank | Country |
| 1 | United States |
| 2 | Indonesia |
| 3 | United Kingdom |
| 4 | Philippines |
| 5 | Mexico |
| 6 | China |
| 7 | Singapore |
| 8 | Brazil |
| 9 | Chile |
| 10 | France |
| Rank | Artist |
| 1 | The Gazette |
| 2 | Scandal |
| 3 | Morning Musume '16 |
| 4 | Arashi |
| 5 | L'Arc-en-Ciel |
| 6 | Babymetal |
| 7 | AKB48 |
| 8 | One Ok Rock |
| 9 | Band-Maid |
| 10 | Silent Siren |

#### 2017

| Rank | Country |
| 1 | United States |
| 2 | United Kingdom |
| 3 | Indonesia |
| 4 | Philippines |
| 5 | Brazil |
| 6 | Algeria (New) |
| 7 | India (New) |
| 8 | France |
| 9 | Turkey (New) |
| 10 | Peru |
| Rank | Artist |
| 1 | Babymetal |
| 2 | Morning Musume '17 |
| 3 | Scandal |
| 4 | The Gazette |
| 5 | Arashi |
| 6 | One Ok Rock |
| 7 | L'Arc-en'Ciel |
| 8 | Hey! Say! JUMP |
| 9 | AKB48 |
| 10 | Silent Siren |

#### 2018

| Rank | Artist |
| 1 | The Gazette |
| 2 | Scandal |
| 3 | Morning Musume '18 |
| 4 | May J. |
| 5 | Arashi |
| 6 | L'Arc-en'Ciel |
| 7 | One Ok Rock |
| 8 | Hey! Say! JUMP |
| 9 | AKB48 |
| 10 | Diaura |

## Guests

Aside from a weekly theme, J-Melo also has a guest at least once a month. Most of the time, guest greetings are recorded on video to thank their supporters from outside Japan. There are also some episodes where the guests will sit down on set for an interview and sometimes, a performance. The theme for these shows will usually be the works of the guest musician. These appearances are rather significant, as the show is primarily recorded for foreign viewers. Interviews and messages are also subtitled in English whenever needed.

### Notable Guests

The following are notable guests who appeared in the show. Those with dates in light blue are guests who appeared on set, while those in light yellow are guests who appeared on video.
| 2006 Title Date Bonnie Pink July 2006 Demon Kogure August 2006 melody. November 2006 2007 Title Date Dir En Grey March 2007 HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR March 2007 Angela Aki April 2007 Sowelu April 2007 M-Flo April 2007 Akikawa Masafumi June 2007 December 2007 L'Arc-en-Ciel June 2007 December 2007 Crystal Kay July 2007 Nora (Orquesta de la Luz) August 2007 Morning Musume August 2007 Monkey Majik August 2007 Terumasa Hino August 2007 Kazumi Watanabe August 2007 Emyli August 2007 Jyongri August 2007 Akira Jimbo September 2007 Soichi Muraji September 2007 Kousuke Atari October 2007 Jesse (RIZE) September 2007 Makoto Ozone November 2007 WISE November 2007 May J. November 2007 | 2008 Title Date Shonen Knife January 2008 indigo blue January 2008 Polysics February 2008 Zeebra February 2008 Tanaka Roma March 2008 M-Flo March 2008 April 2008 Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra April 2008 Hiromi Uehara April 2008 Miyavi May 2008 Yasuji Ohagi May 2008 The Gazette May 2008 GO! GO! 7188 May 2008 Tanaka Roma May 2008 JYONGRI May 2008 Spontania May 2008 Leo Imai May 2008 SoulJa May 2008 Tiana Xiao May 2008 jammin’Zeb May 2008 Yosuke Yamashita June 2008 INFINITY16 June 2008 MONKEY MAJIK June 2008 Leah Dizon June 2008 Maki Ohguro July 2008 Crystal Kay July 2008 Perfume July 2008 Hiromi Go July 2008 RANKIN TAXI August 2008 Ryohei August 2008 JUJU August 2008 |

## Notes and External links

* 1 2 3 J-Melo, Japanese Language Wikipedia. Retrieved on July 22, 2007.
* ↑ J-Melo Official Website, NHK World Service Website. Retrieved on July 22, 2007.
* ↑ "J-Melo Band, Manga Stripes". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2014-01-05.