The Western-Eastern cultural fusion in recent Japanese pop music was not a new issue at all. The cultural fusion began in the Meiji period (1868-1910) when Japan opened their cultural windows to the West. Western music was introduced as military music and then predominantly was used as an educational tool. Unfortunately, since then, the Japanese have not used Western music to enrich Japanese traditional culture. Instead, they began doubting their tradition by considering that Japanese music is primitive. Japanese education diffused this idea throughout Japan. Today, to most Japanese people, the word "ongaku" (music) basically means Western music. More people learn the piano and violin than the koto and shamisen.

Such a cultural metamorphosis is clearly has affected Japanese popular music. Some may lament traditional music's present condition and would wonder why the Japanese can so easily ignore their own culture and turn to foreign cultures.

It is not fair to blame only young people who are following everything outside Japan like crazy, because such a cultural "colonization" is deeply rooted in the Meiji period. Also, imitating other cultures is absolutely not a new thing for the Japanese. Japanese people have always imitated foreign cultures and modified them to fit their own culture. The only change is that today's foreign cultures are Western cultures rather than Japan's mother Asian cultures.

Some Japanese musicians say that Japanese traditional culture has been already far from today's people. Some even say that the traditional music is going into museums and will dying away. I do not agree with that opinion, because of the fact that traditional elements in Kayô-kyoku gives us hope that Japanese music cannot completely lose its traditional flavor.

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