The , generally known as , was a Japanese popular music contest which ran from 1969 to 1986. It was sponsored by the Yamaha Music Foundation and was held annually (later, twice a year) at the Yamaha Resort Tsumagoi in Kakegawa, Shizuoka, Japan.
The grand prix winners were to be qualified for the World Popular Song Festival.
History 1969: The first competition, as the , took place at the in Shima, Mie, Japan. 1972: The contest was renamed . 1973: From this year, the event was held twice a year. May 1974: The contest venue was changed to the from this year. May 1984: Due to a gas explosion in Tsumagoi the previous year, the Nakano Sun Plaza temporarily hosted the event. September 1986: The 32nd competition was held as the final Popcon event. 1987: replaced the Popcon.
Notable participants The following professional singers have won in some division of awards.
Junko Yagami (1974) Miyuki Nakajima (1975) Motoharu Sano (1978) Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi (1978) Frecuencia Mod (1978) Chage and Aska (1979) Crystal King (1979) Aming (1982) Tom Cat (1983) Akino Arai (1984)
Winners
1st Composition Concours (1969) At the Nemu no Sato Yamaha Music Hall, on November 23, 1969.
Grand Prix Jun Mayuzumi
2nd Composition Concours (1970) At the Nemu no Sato Indoor Hall, on November 5, 1970
Grand Prix Mieko Hirota
3rd Composition Concours (1971) At the Nemu no Sato Outdoor Hall, on October 9, 1971
Grand Prix Hide and Rosanna
4th Popcon (1972) At the Nemu no Sato Outdoor Hall, on October 8, 1972
Grand Prix Chewing Gum, folk duo Awards Yōsui Inoue Yumiko Kokonoe
5th Popcon (1973) At the Nemu no Sato Outdoor Hall, on May 20, 1973
6th Popcon (1973) At the Nemu no Sato Outdoor Hall, on October 13, 1973
Awards Akiko Kosaka
Popcon Grand Prix '73 (1973) At the Nemu no Sato Outdoor Hall, on October 14, 1973
Grand Prix Kouichi Ise and Manji Akiko Kosaka
7th Popcon (1974) At the Tsumagoi Exhibition Hall, on May 5, 1974
Grand Prix Kyoko Kosaka Top Prizes Akira Yamazaki Yuki Katsuragi
8th Popcon (1974) At the Tsumagoi Exhibition Hall, on October 13, 1974
Chewing Gum
9th Popcon (1975) At the Tsumagoi Exhibition Hall, on May 18, 1975
Grand Prix Shichifukujin Best Song Award Shigeru Matsuzaki Awards Miyuki Nakajima
10th Popcon (1975) At the Tsumagoi Exhibition Hall, on October 12, 1975
Grand Prix Miyuki Nakajima Best Song Award Akira Inaba (composer)
11th Popcon (1976) At the Tsumagoi Exhibition Hall, on May 16, 1976
Grand Prix Sandii Best Son Award Yukio Sasaki
12th Popcon (1976) At the Tsumagoi Exhibition Hall, on October 3, 1976
Grand Prix White House II
13th Popcon (1977) At the Tsumagoi Exhibition Hall, on May 8, 1977
14th Popcon (1977) At the Tsumagoi Exhibition Hall, on October 2, 1977
Grand Prix Masanori Sera & Twist
15th Popcon (1978) At the Tsumagoi Exhibition Hall, on May 7, 1978
Grand Prix U・U Best Song Award Motoharu Sano Award Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi and Salty dog
16th Popcon (1978) At the Tsumagoi Exhibition Hall, on October 1, 1978
Grand Prix Hiroshi Madoka Best Song Award Yūko Ōtomo Highest Award Monroes Awards Chage and Aska Crystal King S.E.N.S.
17th Popcon (1979) At the Tsumagoi Exhibition Hall, on May 6, 1979
Best Song Award Ippei Suzuki Awards Chage and Aska C. W. Nicol and his friends Chizuru Matsunaga (Try-Tone)
18th Popcon (1979) At the Tsumagoi Exhibition Hall, on October 7, 1979
Grand Prix Crystal King Best Song Awards Hironori Kaneko Gypsy and Arere no Re (the current Stardust Revue)
19th Popcon (1980) At the Tsumagoi Exhibition Hall, on May 11, 1980
Grand Prix Tomoya Itami & Side by Side (Tomoya Itami and Tomoji Sogawa) Awards Haruhi Aiso Cutie Panchos
20th Popcon (1980) At the Tsumagoi Exhibition Hall, on October 5, 1980
Grand Prix Eddy Yamamoto
21st Popcon (1981) At the Tsumagoi Exhibition Hall, on May 10, 1981
Grand Prix Toshihiro Itoh
22nd Popcon (1981) At the Tsumagoi Exhibition Hall, on October 4, 1981
Grand Prix Aladdin Award Yuiko Tsubokura Kawakami Prize Megumi Shiina
23rd Popcon (1982) At the Tsumagoi Exhibition Hall, on May 16, 1982
Grand Prix Aming Best Song Award Asqua Kawakami Award Carlos Torres & the Sweet Dreams
24th Popcon (1982) At the Tsumagoi Exhibition Hall, on October 3, 1982
25th Popcon (1983) At the Tsumagoi Exhibition Hall, on May 15, 1983
26th Popcon (1983) At the Tsumagoi Exhibition Hall, on October 2, 1983
Grand Prix Midori Karashima
27th Popcon (1984) At the Nakano Sun Plaza, on May 13, 1984
28th Popcon (1984) At the Tsumagoi Exhibition Hall, on October 7, 1984
Grand Prix Tom Cat Best Song Award Sway Award Akino Arai
29th Popcon (1985) At the Tsumagoi Exhibition Hall, on May 12, 1985
30th Popcon (1985) At the Tsumagoi Exhibition Hall, on October 6, 1985
Grand Prix Kazuyuki Ozaki & Coastal City Best Song Award Rika
31st Popcon (1986) At the Tsumagoi Exhibition Hall, on May 11, 1986
Award Jinnouchi Taizō
32nd Popcon (1986) At the Tsumagoi Exhibition Hall, on September 29, 1986
See also Yamaha Music Festival
References
External links Popcon history