Has anyone noticed an international revival in listening to City Pop recently? I'm hearing 1970s-1980s Japanese songs all the time now outside of Japan and recommended on YouTube, and they're also making their way into memes.

A video of Plastic Love went viral on youtube a few years ago, and inspired many remixes & mashups. Probably both because it works well with a wide variety of styles musically, and because the thumbnail of that video was readily photoshopped.

I think this is what first exposed a lot of people around the world to city pop, and it's led to some exploring the genre further.

Quote from hahhah42

and because the thumbnail of that video was readily photoshopped.

There's actually a story behind that. What happened is that the photographer who took the original picture was desperately looking for money. So, he started a mass DMCA campaign against all uploads of "Plastic Love" because he wanted more royalties from the photograph he took of Mariya Takeuchi decades ago. In response, people just started making their own version of the photograph and re-uploading the song.

[img]http://www.dragonflycave.com/wpay/mew.gif[/img]

Miki Matsubara - MAYONAKA NO DOOR
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hQnns16ICc

A few years ago, a video called Plastic Love went viral on YouTube, spawning numerous cover versions and mashups. Probably because it complements a wide range of musical styles and because the video's thumbnail

YouTube has an algorithm designed to feed you what it thinks you'll watch, so that explains part of it. I'm not experiencing any Japanese music around me, but my location could be weird: I was literally hearing Darude Sandstorm in arenas growing up well before YouTube even existed. Then it became a fad and everyone acted like no one had ever heard of it and all I could do was scratch my head and wonder why everyone was so enamored by it.

So yeah, my experience says it's a you thing, but my experience could also just be a me thing when it comes to music.

...that wasn't a helpful answer, was it?

I'm a jack of all trades but master of none. Too many jars and not enough hands.

I think Plastic Love went viral because there was a comment about lost love & being reunited after decades.
I don't recommend trying it though; my childhood friend was happily married when I looked her up 25yrs later.
it might work in Japan, very few marriages in the last 30-40 years