Japanese songs you thought were OPM
I can’t exactly remember when I started liking Japanese pop culture. Was it the first time I watched Voltes V or Dragon Ball back when I was just 7 years old? However, I vividly remember the first time I liked a Japanese song. They used to play it on the radio back then. It was Hideaki Tokunaga’s Saigo no Iiwake. The melody. The voice. The Japanese words that sounded so beautiful. I couldn’t understand it but I knew I was hooked.
And then I remember maybe a month or so later – I heard the same song on the radio again, but this time it was in Filipino (Tagalog)! I was surprised. The song became famous but not everyone knew (at least those around me) that it was a cover of a Japanese song. I just found out many many years later that it was actually a Japanese singer who sang the Filipino version in hopes of making it into the Philippine music industry.
And then came more Filipino songs that ruled the airwaves, dubbed as OPM or Original Pilipino Music. What’s odd is that not all of these were actually original! (Surprise!) I also just learned this later on when my interest in Japan deepened and I discovered songs that sounded 100% like some OPM songs I knew. With the help of the internet (Google, Reddit, Twitter), I have compiled some of these Japanese songs that have been covered by Filipino artists and passed off as OPM, which you probably didn’t know weren’t original.
I won’t be posting the OPM counterparts – but take a guess in the comments below!
And a bonus, this isn’t really a cover song as this is instrumental but a famous Filipino uses the melody from this theme. Coincidence? Maybe.
This means that Filipino pop culture is also influenced by Japanese pop culture. Back in the days (90s), anime and live-action sentai (i.e., Bioman, Mask Man, Jet Man, etc) were big in the Philippines. I grew up watching these making me the Japanophile I am now.
I’m hoping that the Filipino versions of the songs above were done legally, with the original songwriters/composers given credit. I’ve read that some of the artists insisted that their versions were original so I’m not sure what that says about them. Anyway, that’s not the point of this post. I just found this interesting and wanted to share to you all!
If you know of other OPM songs that are actually Japanese originals, let me know in the comments below!
Man, you mentioned those hero shows and now I can’t help singing the tagalized version of MASK MAN hahaha.
I remember back then, during early 2000’s and before the 2010’s, that there’s particularly a Radio station in PH that really BROADCASTS Japanese songs. I would actually tune in that station just to be able to listen to *cough Final Fantasy theme songs cough* and my Mother would be pissed off at me everytime that I turned her radio on that station lol.
From the people I’m around with that so into the rip off of the Japanese songs, nobody really actually asks or care where the lyrics came from, my brother is a perfect example of that. All he cares is that it’s IN now and everyone else is listening to it so he listens to it. Probably they think it like the song ITSUMO. Welps.
Haha I can still sing the Maskman song as well! 😂 They need to bring those shows back!
Haha I can still sing the Maskman song as well! 😂 They need to bring those shows back! Also, talk about Itsumo having similar lyrics as Utada’s First Love! Coincidence? I think not! 😂
So true. Lol.
BTW, the singer of Lumayo ka Man sa akin actually bought the copyright for “Single Again” by Mariya Takeuchi to translate or rather have a Tagalog version of her song. According to the singer’s agent, he personally ask for permission for the song be used and had a Tagalog version of it and buy it’s copyrights from the music record company.
Beatiful name- is translated in filipino and the result is this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RL31hI0ykv0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RL31hI0ykv0 Beautiful name in tagalog
Southern All Stars – Itoshi no Ellie – Honey My Love So Sweet — April Boy
Southern All Stars – Manatsu no Kajitsu – Isang Tanong, Isang Sagot — Donna Cruz
Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi – Kanpai – Minamahal Kita — Freddie Aguilar
GODIEGO – Beautiful Name – Bawat Bata — APO Hiking Society
So far, these are the ones I’m sure I recognize from listening to the original Japanese versions. Thank you for this eye-opening blog. I will update my comment once I remember other OPM counterparts. 🙂