This post omits the substantial Japanese contributions to techno and I am not sure why. Technopop was not just some journalist’s genre descriptor for Kraftwerk

This post omits the substantial Japanese contributions to techno and I am not sure why. Technopop was not just some journalist’s genre descriptor for Kraftwerk. It was a rich genre originated in Japan by Yellow Magic Orchestra, who combined Kraftwerk’s sound with a more pop sensibility. Many of the Detroit techno originators have cited YMO alongside Kraftwerk as a key influence. Two key contributions from YMO come to mind, but there are many others: YMO’s “Technopolis,” recorded in 1979, might have been the first dance music track to use the word “techno”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ek1oCwp7oms https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ek1oCwp7oms Their 1981 version of Ryuichi Sakamoto’s “Thousand Knives” is often cited as the first track to use the Roland TR-808: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2d37oySCfk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2d37oySCfk ps: Technopop would later evolve into what we know as city pop, and eventually present-day J-pop. The sound quickly diverged from what we would recognize as techno; the early releases in the genre are the most important for this discussion, especially YMOs since those were by far the most accessible in the US. It’s all interesting to listen to though!