The tragic nostalgia of Citypop and its legacy of melancholia

On the anniversary of Miki Matsubaras death, we revisit the lush, metropolitan sound of 1980s Japan; tracing the tragedy of its rise during the bubble economy, iconic artists like Tatsuro Yamashita and Mariya Takeuchi, and its modern resurgence as a nostalgic soundtrack for a generation longing for lost optimism