In 1985 (Shà Âwa 60), 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.
The Tokyo Music Festival was held on 31 March 1985. The 27th (Japanese: 大éªå½éÂÂãÂÂã§ã¹ãÂÂã£ãÂÂã«) was held from 8 to 24 April 1985. The 29th Yamaha Popular Song Contest was held on 12 May 1985. The 30th Yamaha Popular Song Contest was held on 29 September 1985. The final of the 16th World Popular Song Festival was held on 27 October 1985. The final of the FNS Music Festival was held on 17 December 1985. The 27th Japan Record Awards were held on 31 December 1985. The NHK Kà Âhaku Uta Gassen was held on 31 December 1985. The 1st Tokyo Summer Festival was held in 1985.
A Super Rock '85 concert was held.
The following reached number 1 on the weekly Oricon Singles Chart:
Music Labo
The following reached number 1 on the Music Labo chart:
Oricon
Hitachi introduced new karaoke machines.
Fewer tapes and disks were produced in January 1985, than were produced in January 1984.
The music of Sorekara and , by Shigeru Umebayashi, won the 40th Mainichi Film Award for Best Music. The music of , Fire Festival and Ran (1985), by Tà Âru Takemitsu won the Japan Academy Film Prize for Best Music (awarded in 1986). The music of Night on the Galactic Railroad is by Haruomi Hosono, and includes the theme song by Kaori Nakahara (Japanese: ä¸ÂÃ¥ÂÂé¦Âç¹Â).
43% of LaserVision disk releases were music, and the most popular included "Off Course Budokan Concert".
The highest selling composers were Kyà Âhei Tsutsumi, Hiroaki Serizawa and Tetsuji Hayashi. The highest selling lyricists were Masao Urino and Takashi Matsumoto.
The album Thunder in the East by Loudness reached number 74 on the Billboard 200.