Considered by some to be the grandfather of the genre affectionately deemed "City Pop," Tatsuro Yamashita's music serves as the soundtrack through which Japanese and Westerners alike can gain insight into the post-war cultural economics of Japan's bubble economy and the impact that this unique moment in Japanese history has had on the trajectory of anime as a cultural medium. Using Tatsuro Yamashita's music as an indicator of cultural and economic trends within Japan during and after the era of the bubble economy in the 1980's, this panel will discuss the parallels between the trajectory of Tatsuro Yamashita's music and the medium of anime as a whole, both of which are purveyors of recurring trends in the shifts in Japan's prevailing cultural philosophy since the end of World War II.