In 1988 (Shōwa 63), Japanese music was released on records, and there were charts, awards, contests and festivals.
During that year, Japan continued to have the second largest music market in the world.Tokita and Hughes. The Ashgate Research Companion to Japanese Music. 2008. p 355.Gronow and Saunio. International History of the Recording Industry. 1998. Reprinted 1999. p 209.(1988) Music Trades, vol 136, numbers 1-6, p 74
Awards, contests and festivals The 30th Osaka International Festival (Japanese: 大阪国際フェスティバル) was held from 5 April to 8 May 1988.1988年度のラインナップ. Asahi Shimbun Foundation. The 17th Tokyo Music Festival was held in May and June 1988.(1988) 803 朝日新聞縮刷版 (Asahi Shimbun shukusatsuban).(1988) 460 每日新聞 The 2nd Teens' Music Festival was held on 5 August 1988.TEENS' MUSIC FESTIVAL '88 全国大会. Yamaha Music Foundation. The 30th Japan Record Awards were held on 31 December 1988.第30回 日本レコード大賞. Japan Composer's Association. The 39th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen was held on 31 December 1988.第39回NHK紅白歌合戦. NHK. The 17th FNS Music Festival was held in 1988.
The 37th Otaka prize was won by Toshio Hosokawa and Toshi Ichiyanagi.尾高賞 in "Archive". NHK Symphony Orchestra.
Rebecca won the grand prix for Japanese artist of the year at the 2nd Japan Gold Disc Awards.Mark Schilling. The Encyclopedia of Japanese pop culture. 1997. ISBN 0834803801. p 230.The Japan Gold Disc Successive Award.第2回 日本ゴールドディスク大賞.
The 19th World Popular Song Festival was scheduled for 1988 but was cancelled.第19回世界歌謡祭. Yamaha Music Foundation. The 2nd "Band Explosion" festival was scheduled for 1988 but was cancelled and held in February 1989 instead.INTERNATIONAL POPULAR MUSIC FESTIVAL BAND EXPLOSION '88世界大会（審査会）. Yamaha Music Foundation.
Live music Club Citta was established.クラブチッタ30周年記念～RCサクセションとバービーボーイズがこの日限りの復活!?. News Online. Nippon Broadcasting System. 9 October 2018.
Number one singles Oricon
The following reached number 1 on the weekly Oricon Singles Chart:See the weekly issues of Oricon magazine1988年3月7日 南野陽子の11枚目のシングル「吐息でネット」がオリコン・シングル・チャートで1位を獲得. News Online. Nippon Broadcasting System. 7 March 2018. Issue dateSongArtist(s)4 January"Glass no Jūdai"Hikaru Genji11 January18 January 25 January""Kiyotaka Sugiyama1 February"Stranger Tonight"Yoko Oginome8 February"Al-Mauj"Akina Nakamori15 February22 February""Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi29 February"You're My Only Shinin' Star"Miho Nakayama7 March""Yoko Minamino14 March21 March""Hikaru Genji28 March4 April11 April18 April25 April""Seiko Matsuda2 May""Yui Asaka9 May"Stardust Dream"Yoko Oginome16 May"C-GIRL"Yui Asaka23 May30 May"Tattoo"Akina Nakamori6 June13 June"Fu-ji-tsu"Shizuka Kudo20 June27 June""Yoko Minamino4 July""Hikaru Genji11 July18 July""Shonentai25 July"Mermaid"Miho Nakayama1 August""Kyosuke Himuro8 August15 August22 August29 August""Yui Asaka5 September""Otokogumi12 September19 September""Seiko Matsuda26 September"Daybreak"Otokogumi3 October"Mugon... Iroppoi"Shizuka Kudo10 October17 October""Yoko Minamino24 October""Hikaru Genji31 October7 November""Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi14 November21 November""Shonentai28 November"Witches"Miho Nakayama5 December"Tonbo"Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi12 December19 December26 December
Number one albums Music Labo
The following reached number 1 on the Music Labo chart: 4 January: - Kiyotaka Sugiyama"Japan" in "Hits of the World". Billboard. 23 January 1988, p 68. 11 January, 18 January, 1 February and 8 February: - Hikaru GenjiBillboard. 23 January 1988, p 68. 30 January 1988, p 73. 13 February 1988, p 65. 20 February 1988, p 69. 25 January: - Yumi MatsutoyaBillboard. 13 February 1988, p 65. 15 February: - BoøwyBillboard. 5 March 1988, p 65. 22 February and 29 February: Catch the Nite - Miho NakayamaBillboard. 5 March 1988, p 65. 19 March 1988, p 85. 7 March: - ShonentaiBillboard. 19 March 1988, p 85. 14 March: Stock - Akina NakamoriBillboard. 2 April 1988, p 61. 21 March: - Tsuyoshi NagabuchiBillboard. 2 April 1988, p 61. 28 March: - Shōgo HamadaBillboard. 16 April 1988, p 63. 11 April: - Yoko MinaminoBillboard. 30 April 1988, p 61. 18 April: - Carlos Toshiki & Omega TribeBillboard. 30 April 1988, p 61. 25 April: - Anzen ChitaiBillboard. 14 May 1988, p 69. 2 May: - Motoharu Sano with The HeartlandBillboard. 14 May 1988, p 69. 9 May: - Junichi InagakiBillboard. 28 May 1988, p 74. 16 May: - BoøwyBillboard. 28 May 1988, p 74. 23 May: - Seiko MatsudaBillboard. 4 June 1988, p 59. 30 May: - TubuBillboard. 11 June 1988, p 77. 6 June, 13 June and 27 June: - Misato WatanabeBillboard. 18 June 1988, p 61. 25 June 1988, p 70. 16 July 1988, p 59. 20 June: Playzone '88 - ShonentaiBillboard. 2 July 1988, p 65. 4 July: - Miki ImaiBillboard. 16 July 1988, p 59. 11 July: - Takako OkamuraBillboard. 23 July 1988, p 61. 18 July and 25 July: Keisuke Kuwata - Keisuke KuwataBillboard. 6 August 1988, p 65. See also 30 July 1988, p 63. 1 August: - The CheckersBillboard. 13 August 1988, p 73. 8 August and 15 August: - Hikaru GenjiBillboard. 20 August 1988, p 61. 27 August 1988, p 61. 22 August: Femme Fatale - Akina NakamoriBillboard. 3 September 1988, p 70. 29 August: - RC SuccessionBillboard. 10 September 1988, p 63. 5 September: CD-Rider - Yōko OginomeBillboard. 17 September 1988, p 68. 12 September, 19 September and 26 September: Flowers for Algernon - Kyosuke HimuroBillboard. 24 September 1988, p 85. 1 October 1988, p 68. 8 October 1988, p 68. 3 October: - Kome Kome ClubBillboard. 15 October 1988, p 68. 17 October and 24 October: Such a Funky Thang! - Toshinobu KubotaBillboard. 29 October 1988, p 87. 12 November 1988, p 69. 31 October, 7 November, 14 November and 21 November: - Tatsuro YamashitaBillboard. 12 November 1988, p 69. 26 November 1988, p 80. 10 December 1988, p 67. 28 November: Goodbye Girl - Miyuki NakajimaBillboard. 10 December 1988, p 67. 5 December, 12 December and 20 December: - Yumi MatsutoyaBillboard. 24 December 1988, p 83. 14 January 1989, p 61. 27 December: Best II - Akina NakamoriBillboard. 14 January 1989, p 61.
Oricon
The following reached number 1 on the Oricon Albums Chart:See the weekly issues of Oricon magazine 11 July: - Takako Okamura1988年7月11日、岡村孝子『SOLEIL』がオリコンのアルバム・チャートで1位を獲得. News Online. Nippon Broadcasting System. 11 July 2019. 18 July: Keisuke Kuwata - Keisuke Kuwata1988年7月18日桑田佳祐のソロアルバム『Keisuke Kuwata』がオリコンのアルバムチャートで1位を獲得. News Online. Nippon Broadcasting System. 18 July 2018. 1 August: Shizuka - Shizuka Kudo 15 August: - Rebecca 19 December: Carol: A Day in a Girl's Life - TM Network
Annual charts Hikaru Genji's was number 1 in the Oricon annual singles chart.シングル年度別のヒット曲 TOP 1. Jipang, from Oricon.
Film and television The music of Rock yo shizukani nagareyo, by , won the 43rd Mainichi Film Award for Best Music.第43回 日本映画大賞 The music of The title "Tsubaki-hime" is a translation of the title "La Dame aux Camélias" (La Traviata) and , both by Shigeaki Saegusa, won the 12th Japan Academy Film Prize for Best Music (awarded in 1989).Prizes. The music of Akira is by Shoji Yamashiro, and the album is Symphonic Suite Akira by Geinoh Yamashirogumi.Hideko Haguchi. "The Interaction of Music and Visuals in Animated Movies". Toru Mitsui (ed). Made in Japan: Studies in Popular Music. Routledge. 2014. pp 174 & 177. The music of the Dominion OVA is by Yoichiro Yoshikawa,Clements. The Anime Encyclopedia. 2001. p 95. and includes the song "Hey Boy"."Dominion Tank Police BSO" in "Ongaku file". Neko. (Seis Asociación, Barcelona). Number 53: July 1999. p 15. The music of The Last Emperor, by Ryuichi Sakamoto and others, won the Academy Award for Best Original Score at the 60th Academy Awards, which were held in 1988.1988年4月11日、坂本龍一が『ラストエンペラー』で日本人初のアカデミー賞・作曲賞を受賞～坂本を苦しめたベルトルッチの"ひらめき". News Online. Nippon Broadcasting System. 11 April 2019.
Other singles released "I Missed the Shock" by Akina Nakamori "Blue Hearts Theme" and "Train-Train" by The Blue Hearts "Just One More Kiss" by Buck-Tick "Dakara Sono Te o Hanashite" by B'z "Get Smile", "The Mi-ha" and "Alone" by Chisato Moritaka "Saigo no Iiwake" by Hideaki Tokunaga "Heart and Soul" by Mari Hamada "Daite Kuretara Ii no ni" and "Koi Hitoyo" by Shizuka Kudo "Beyond the Time" by TM Network "Amaryllis" and "Ai ga Tomaranai (Turn It Into Love)" by Wink "Dear (Cobalt no Kanata e)" by Yōko Oginome 24 February: "Ai Wa Kokoro No Shigotodesu" (Japanese: 愛は心の仕事です) by 早すぎたシティポップの歌姫「ラ・ムー」菊池桃子. Re:minder. 24 February 2019.
Other albums and EPs released Wonder by Akina Nakamori by Anthem Train-Train by The Blue Hearts Seventh Heaven and Romanesque by Buck-Tick B'z by B'z Euphony and Casiopea World Live '88 by Casiopea Mi-ha and Mite by Chisato Moritaka by Dead End Jealousy by Loudness Love Never Turns Against and Heart and Soul: The Singles by Mari Hamada Mind Game, Makin' Dancin' and Angel Hearts by Miho Nakayama Miyuki Nakajima by Miyuki Nakajima Lovely Times: Noriko Part III by Noriko Sakai Bellissima! by Pizzicato Five Here We Are and Let's Get Crazy by Princess Princess Mysterious and Gradation by Shizuka Kudo Turn Over, Glamour and White by Show-Ya Yes, No by T-Square Moonlight Serenade and At Heel Diamonds by Wink Vanishing Vision by X Japan Verge of Love by Yōko Oginome
See also Timeline of Japanese music 1988 in Japan 1988 in music w:ja:1988年の音楽
References Ongaku Nenkan. (Japanese: 音楽年鑑). Showa 63. "Japan '88". Billboard. 9 July 1988. pp J-1 to J-11. (A Billboard International Spotlight). J-POPの歴史「1988年と89年、CDが切り開いたミリオンセラーの時代」. Rolling Stone Japan. 8 January 2020. Oricon Weekly magazine (オリコンウィークリー) Music Labo magazine ミュージック・リサーチ Music Research magazine シンプジャーナル magazine What's In? magazine 1988 オリコン年鑑 Oricon Annual Report. 1989 オリコン年鑑 Oricon No. 1 Hits 500. Clubhouse (Japanese: クラブハウス). 1998. ISBN 9784906496136. vol 2 (1986~1994). Cash Box. 20 February 1988, p 25. 〝笑わないアイドル〟Wink 〝原曲を超える〟必要あった洋楽カバー、たどり着いた『淋しい熱帯魚』. zakII. 1 November 2023. サザンの存在感、デビュー10年目にして音楽界を牽引 「BOØWY」がバンド活動に終止符. zakII. 2 November 2023.