J-Fan Radio

[GLACIER]

As an alternative to Japan-A-Radio or other stations, I'd highly recommend J-Fan Radio. Instead of zeroing in on anime songs or a few select artists (Utada Hikaru, Ayumi Hamasaki, T.M. Revolution, L'Arc~en~Ciel, etc.) currently synonymous with said subculture, J-Fan provides a far broader look at what Japanese music has to offer. Additionally, they do a good job of following the latest hits, with new music regularly added as it's released.

Unfortunately, the station's audience has been pretty limited so far. Donations (needed to subsidize the 128Kb stream; unlike JAR, they're completely self-funded except for a music deal with CDJapan) have been slow to come in, so they're trying to find advertising sponsors. However, due to lack of listeners, this has been somewhat difficult.

So please give J-Fan Radio a try. It may not be to everyone's tastes (stations directly catering to anime fans remain far more popular. Unfortunately, they generalize their music as J-Pop, which is apparently as accurate as generalizing Disney songs as American music), but I can honestly say that it has shaken some of my previous misconceptions about Japanese music.

http://www.j-fan.com/radio