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Japanese Bands: The List
Last year, before the good folk at the third-rate hosting company I was using went and deleted this site (oh, I’m not bitter), there was a rather detailed and well-researched article there about music. Anyway, after coming back online, I made some vague promises about posting band-by-band articles on Japanese music. Unfortunately, I kept hemming, hawing and stumbling about just how to organize it; things were at an impasse. In the end, the best thing to do seemed to be to just list them out.
So here it is, a list of the Japanese bands that I like and that I think you will like; I hope my tastes are as universal as I’m assuming, but…whatever 
. Many of these bands are hip-hop or hip-hop-based, but there are other genres listed, too. Where the bands have an English-language equivalent of sorts, I’ve noted it. Enjoy the list, and good luck replacing all your music with Japanese music.
Hip-Hop/J-Urban (Jazzy)
- Rip Slyme
- Rip Slyme are practically in a class of their own. They consistently produce rap music that is both enjoyable and innovative; you always keep wondering what they’re going to come up with next. No matter what kind of music you are into, you will enjoy them. They are the only band I have ever listened to where I’ve liked every single song on the albums, specifically Masterpiece and Epoch.
- Kreva
- Kreva is actually an alumnus of Kick The Can Crew, a rap trio that went their separate ways on January 1, 2005. He’s also an alumnus of a now-defunct duo made up of him and another rapper (Cue Zero), aptly named By Phar The Dopest. He’s kind of remade himself in a heartthrob image, but not so heart-throbbing that it will make you difficult to enjoy him if you’re a guy. He continues to produce fun and interesting music, and he always has cool hairstyles. Another unique thing about Kreva is that his percussion often sounds distinctly African, not African-American, but straight up African. Very cool.
- Kick the Can Crew
- Long-running hip-hop trio made up of DJ Little, MCU and Kreva. Tons of good music, including their last album, Good Music.
- Rhymester
- If university disserations had to be given as raps, then Rhymester would have PhDs from every college in the world. It’s rap music for the literati. Check it out.
- Midicronica
- With a sound and image similar to the Gorillaz, Midicronica first came to most people’s attention with the track San Francisco off the album #501; it was a simultaneously poignant and bouncy piece that was featured on the closing credits of the last episode of an equally poignant-yet-bouncy anime, Samurai Champloo. Whatever the opposite of “disappoint” is (appoint?), Midicronica keep doing that.
- Dragon Ash
- They sound like a cross between G. Love & Special Sauce and Limp Bizkit…but even if you’re “not into Limp”, you’ll like them; between you and me, I bet you are into Limp Bizkit, but, I mean, let’s face it, we all have to fake hating them otherwise our friends would mock us to pieces. Dragon Ash were originally a punk band, but frontman/lead singer Kenji was exposed to the gospel of hip-hop and was instantly converted, taking his entire band with him intact into the illustrious trade of doing rap with guitars.
- Halcali (ハルカリ)
- This is stretching the typical definition of hip-hop, but these high-school girls are produced by Rip-Slyme members, and they do rap on some of their tracks, so here they are! They’re fun. Try them.
Hip-Hop (Thugging)
- Zeebra
- If DMX were Japanese, he would be Zeebra.
- Rappagariya (ラッパ我リヤ）
- Grandfathers of Japanese hip-hop, these guys have been around since back in the day. A definite samurai machismo pervades their work.
- DJ Oasis
- DJ Oasis makes good music and continues to defy those who had once said that it wouldn’t be possible to rap in Japanese (yes, there was such a theory making the rounds). Good for them. Good for you.
- Nitro Microphone Underground
- I don’t know how to explain it. “Their beats are fresh and off the heezy”? Quality music. Go listen.
- Buddha Brand
- Two words: God Bird. ‘Nuff said.
- Shakkazombie
- Perhaps best-known for their song 白いヤミの中(しろい・やみ・の・なか), which an enterprising anime fan used to make an AMV (anime music video) that elegantly combined footage Cowboy Bebop and Trigun. The rest of their music is equally excellent.
R&B/Hip-Hop Hybrid
- M-Flo
- A lot of Japanese hip-hoppers, especially in the “thugging hip-hop” category, have an old-skool aesthetic. As such, their influences predate the wave of bombastic, energetic, rhythmic Southern U.S. hip-hop that gathered energy from the mid-lateish-1990s onward; thus, their music can sometimes lack the polish you may have come to expect in hip-hop. M-Flo have raised the Japanese game in that respect. But they’re not just pretenders, M(ediarite)-Flo have a very unique sound all their own, due in no small part to their unique band structure — a trio of rapper Verbal, DJ Taku and female vocalist Lisa. But then Lisa left (WHY!!!??? WHY DO PEOPLE THINK THEY CAN DO IT BETTER ON THEIR OWN? WHAT MADE M-FLO GREAT WAS THE UNIQUE COMBINATION!!! THE WHOLE WAS GREATER THAN THE SUM OF THE PARTS!!). I am bitter. Since then, M-Flo have collaborated with practically every major female vocal artist in Japan, including (ironically) the reincarnated, solo Lisa and especially Crystal Kay. The ony real problem with M-Flo from a Japanese learner’s perspective is that they do sometimes overuse English.
- Amuro Namie (安室奈美恵[あ・むろ・な・み・え])
- You know, her name, for some reason, is easy to confuse with that of Hamasaki Ayumi (浜崎あゆみ[はま・さき・あゆみ]), at least for me. But there is a huge difference between the two. You see, Amuro Namie is good. Hooooooo. Ouch. Amuro is from Okinawa and it shows — she has rhythm, she uses beats, and she can dance it up! Like bathing with L’Oreal products, get her stuff because you’re worth it.
- Bennie K
- Two women. One raps. One sings. And it is good.
- BoA
- Mostly R&B, almost pop. BoA is actually Korean, but has been singing in Japanese since back before she could actually speak Japanese. If that isn’t heroic, I don’t know what is.
- Crystal Kay
- I remember when I first saw her on a music video, singing in Japanese, and I was like “Dude! That’s girl’s black!”. Now, the thing is, I tend to think everyone I like is black (James Heisig? Spiderman? Rocky? All black), and a lot of Japanese artists who make what some people might call “black music” tend to tan themselves and wear cornrows etc. (please stand up, Kreva and Zeebra), so I actually had to check afterwards to make sure it wasn’t just my natural bias at work. The word is in: Crystal Kay was born in Japan, raised in Yokohama (横浜[よこ・はま]) is half Japanese-Korean, half African-American, and all talent. Tell her Khatzumoto sent you.
Good (not sucky) J-Pop
- Bonnie Pink
- Bonnie Pink walks on the boundary between R&B and straight pop, and she OWNS. Ooo, that silky, hypnotic voice! Eeeeee! She’s everything a female vocalist should be: good to the ears, smart in the brain and…clothed on the body? Anyway, listen to her, you will thank me for it. Unfortunately, like M-Flo, Bonnie Pink sometimes has too much English in her work, but she has plenty of Japanese songs, too. So, go for it!
- Sakamoto Maaya (坂本真綾[さか・もと・ま・あや])
- Perhaps most famous for her work singing anime theme songs (including, but not limited to, the opening theme to 天空のエスカフローネ[てん・くう・の・えすかふろーね, The Vision of Escaflowne]). She has worked extensively with composer Kanno Yoko (菅野ようこ[かん・の・ようこ]) of Cowboy Bebop fame. She has a beautiful voice and great diction.
- Yui
- A female soloist singer-songwriter fresh out of her teens who keeps her clothes on (this is significant because, apparently, Kouda Kumi (幸田 來未) didn’t get that memo…zing!), she is essentially the Japanese version of Michelle Branch or Vanessa Carlton. Very good stuff. Top songs include, but are not limited to, Feel My Soul (2005) and CHE.R.RY (2007).
- Love Psychedelico
- I found out about Love Psychedelico through Momoko. The vocals have a sound similar to Sheryl Crow crossing musical DNA with The Beatles. What more do you need to know?!
- Chara
- You know, sometimes, you just need your Björk fix. But Björk doesn’t sing in Japanese, so Chara to the rescue! When I heard her on the soundtrack to the recent Tsuchiya Anna (土屋アンナ[つち・や・あんな]) movie, さくらん, I knew she had to join my music collection.
- Fukuyama Masaharu (福山雅治[ふく・やま・まさ・はる]）
- Where Sakamoto Maaya has made a career of singing good anime theme songs, Fukuyama Masaharu seems to have quite his share of drama (ドラマ)/soap opera themes under the old belt; or maybe he only did one and I keep hearing it. Anyway, like Sakamoto, he has great diction and a pleasant voice.
Emo/Punk/Ska/Rock
- Asian Kung-Fu Generation
- Someone on a message board somewhere once praised them for having a name suitable for a Japanese band or something like that. It seems “Bump of Chicken” was too weird for him, and he wanted names that were more “Asian”, like “Sushi Chopstick Federation” or “Dave Toyoto Honda Samsung Matthews Band”. Whatever. Either way, it is a cool name for a cool band that sound like Jimmy Eat World (or, “Caucasian European-Ancestry Musical Association”).
- Maximum The Hormone (マキシマム ザ ホルモン)
- Their sound is perhaps best described as KoRn meets The Used. For music that is loud, fast, raging and that will, quite literally, max out your hormones, perhaps none better can be had than ＭＴＨ. I’m still shaking from the last time I listened to them. Having read the lyrics, yes, that is Japanese that they’re singing and rapping, only it’s at about 5 million BPM and very high-pitched.
- Shakalabbits
- Rather like No Doubt, in that it’s a ska-ish/ska-influenced band centered around a cute girl. The sound is a bit different, but it’s still makes for das gut listening.
There you have it. When you’re new to a language, just finding out the names of the bands can be challenging, so hopefully (?) this list has been especially helpful to you beginners out there. Whether or not it has, as always, your own additions, recommendations and comments are welcome .
Disclaimer: If you are Kouda Kumi, Lisa from M-Flo or Hamasaki Ayumi and you’re reading this, I was just showing off to people on the Internet buddies and trying to be cool; I take it all back — please be my friend!
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Read on:
JDog said,
April 29, 2007 @ 10:13
Thanks! Great list (not that I would know, really)! I should be able to actually start replacing my whole collection now instead of playing the same 8-song CD that I mixed from Rip Slyme over and over and over until I get bored out of my mind! I listen to music a lot, so if I don’t have enough music to replace my fairly large collection, I get bored fast and it’s not fun anymore. Also I love the recommendations of other media that you used and have posted lately (books, news, websites, podcasts, etc.).
khatzumoto said,
April 29, 2007 @ 20:26
Thanks, JDog! Sometimes it’s really hard to know whether something is useful or not, or how it could be made better, without feedback. So, thank you very much
!
JDog said,
April 30, 2007 @ 12:11
Late reply – you’re welcome!
tatoeba said,
May 3, 2007 @ 00:08
Great Khatzu! I agree, it’s really useful
Michael DiStefano said,
May 21, 2007 @ 01:07
I can recommend shiina ringo and her new project “tokyo jihen” or “tokyo incidents”. She is incredibly talented and I think the only way to describe her musical style is eclectic.
khatzumoto said,
May 21, 2007 @ 08:14
Oh yeah! She is REALLY good. I like her voice and her music videos, too.
Charles A. said,
October 2, 2007 @ 21:14
Ok, question: What’s your opinion on singing these songs at karaoke while learning Japanese? Think we would be picking up bad habits or getting a better handle on adapting Japanese to the situation at hand?
PS: Finally saw a couple of Rip Slyme videos on YouTube. You’re right, they’re pretty cool even though I’m not into hip hop.
khatzumoto said,
October 3, 2007 @ 01:36
Music is exceptional since it already bends the rules of speech. So go ahead and sing! Sing your heart out!
Potemayo said,
November 10, 2007 @ 16:30
Maximum Hormone scares me…*remembers Death Note OP*
quendidil said,
November 25, 2007 @ 17:18
Just discovered this post. While I’m not much of a hip-hop or rap fan myself, I like a lot of what you posted (especially Bonnie Pink, Amuro Namie, YUI, Sakamoto Maaya, sometimes BoA) and I’ll check out some of those I haven’t heard before. My regular playlist is to a large extent still made up of anime character songs.
I love Love Psychedelico’s style but I find their lyrics quite … incomprehensible?
You didn’t post some of the popular j-rock groups? Like L’Arc-en-Ciel? You hate them too, lol? I personally dislike the whole visual kei movement.
lolz @ Potemayo
That OP rocked.
quendidil said,
November 25, 2007 @ 17:27
Btw, Khatz, aren’t you a Nagase Tomoya fan? Don’t you listen to TOKIO?
Charles A. said,
January 9, 2008 @ 21:53
Update: I’ve been getting these songs via YouTube and the converter program mentioned (YouTubeToMP3Converter). Basically I goto JPopAsia.com for the list of videos to look for (ps: it has kanji lyrics for many of the songs there). Then it’s to YouTube for the download. Some other artists I’ve added: Kouda Kumi (yeah, yeah, but I do like the way she sounds), Hirai Ken (very, very, easy to sing with at Karaoke), Yamasaki (One More Chance came recommended, and I discovered “5cm per Second” anime since it was used as the theme song), Yuzu (well, Harukaze was the first Japanese I learned to sing, what can I say) and Miwa Sasagawa (I’m guessing some corporation sent very nasty e-mails to YouTube cause MOST of her videos are gone baby, gone. Too bad as her voice is amazing).
I’m actually getting upto 100 hours of Japanese audio on my iPod. Slowly, oh so very slowly, more and more of it is making sense.
PS: Bennie K gives me mixed feelings. Not up on the rap half of the Duo, but the singer (Yuki) has a gorgeous voice. The song Joy Trip (Japanese Blue Grass? No freakin’ way) is really a trip.
Phil said,
February 18, 2008 @ 07:47
Hey Khatzumoto !
Do you know Jero ? He’s the new star of Enka and he’s… American, and he’s black
Check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqtgJ5TJi8M
Apparently his curriculum is similar to yours, he’s a computer engineer in Osaka (his grandmother was Japanese though). Quite a feat to be accepted in the traditional Enka domain…
AJ said,
March 20, 2008 @ 06:57
I think you’d like スチャダラパー, Katz. Definitely check them out. They’re like the Japanese Beastie Boys, and have a ton of albums out. It’s really relaxed hip-hop. I love it.
Untouchable said,
October 21, 2008 @ 09:13
hey just thought i’d mention a rock group by the name of The Back Horn. I think their music is amazing. I dunno if you watched the movie casshern, that was what first introduced me to them. Try em out, let me know what you think.
Kris said,
December 8, 2008 @ 04:23
hay khatzumoto you should add a band called UVERworld. they are really good. i recomend them XD
aCChan said,
January 15, 2009 @ 22:09
Kreva’s stufs are crazy hot. I agree abt AKG and KTCC tho.. I can reccomend L-Vokal, Chiharu, and as for R&B I reccomend Shimizu Shota
Jess said,
February 6, 2009 @ 03:03
Maximum the Hormone is amazing (and so is your site)
But where’s the X Japan, hide,SUGIZO, Luna Sea, Gackt, L`arc en Ciel, Hyde, Miyavi, the GazettE, Alice Nine…?
JRock needs some love too
Ed said,
February 14, 2009 @ 08:34
How could a J-rap list be complete without SOUL’d OUT?!!
Also, does anyone have any more suggestions for j-gangsta rap?
Juz said,
February 21, 2009 @ 11:37
gangsta rap/ japanese rap.
Zeebra, K-Dub Shine, Tokona X, Ozrosauraus, AK-69, King Giddra, DJ Celory, Mr Beats, Soul Scream, Uzi.
All Japanese All The Time Dot Com: How to learn Japanese. On your own, having fun and to fluency. » Little and Often said,
March 11, 2009 @ 05:04
[...] we were allowed overhead music. Guess who managed to get them to play Dragon Ash and other sterling Japanese bands? I took a road trip with my wife’s parents; they don’t speak Japanese — yet; I [...]
RJ said,
May 21, 2009 @ 14:21
Hey, your story is really spiffy.. I just started my quest to speak Japanese 2 days ago..started with the V3 Rosetta stone Japanese…I already feel like it’s gonna make me speak like a robot and get laughed at or weird looks with it’s cleanness. I, like you, am a computer science major…I think I’ll learn japanese if I do what you did
In the 2 days I memorized all the kana so I guess replacing music and kanji is next..I never watch TV, and I can’t give up PVK II even though it’s not Japanese…but…one day I Want to be a software engineer living in Japan like you
Brin said,
May 26, 2009 @ 04:10
Miyavi should always be included. He has such a varied style you can’t even classify him…he’s done heavy metal, bubbly pop, spanish sounding songs, slow ballads, rap(ish) songs, and rock.
He’s amazing…I’ve yet to find anyone else I like as much as him. Anyone have any advice? Other than Gackt. Sorry, but I just don’t like him as much.
Thanks for the list though Khatz! I’ve found some on there that I like.
And thanks for the site…I’m loving it so far.
juze said,
June 7, 2009 @ 08:36
I totally agree with Jess!!(my name is Jessica btw
) I love The Gazette,Alice Nine, Gackt, LM.C, and above all Miyavi! He use to be more or less soley Jrock/Visual kei but in the last few years he has incorporated so many different styles into his music. Check him out all! and thanks Katz as always ^-^
Paula said,
June 12, 2009 @ 03:47
Electronic music: capsule, Perfume… okay, this applies more to capsule: not ALL of their stuff is ENTIRELY in Japanese, but with all the English they like to use… there are some really great songs in Japanese by them too (most of them). If you look back in the history of capsule, you’ll find unexpected Shibuya-kei (which has influence from many styles, like bossa nova)… in Japanese… then all Perfume songs are (99%) in Japanese… with some English phrases (and of course, katakana lyrics). Try some Ami Suzuki as well (Supreme Show is a great album of hers, and the song FREE FREE is amazing, but beware of some English). MEG… is also good. I like anything produced by Nakata Yasutaka, that’s my fault, but for someone else: immi. She’s great too.
By the way, thank you so much for this site =)
Mitch said,
August 19, 2009 @ 14:59
I’m enjoying the tunes a lot! I even went as far as to find out (while attempting to read poorly in japanese) that AKFG is called Ajikan for short. And Maximum the Hormone is great too! Heavy, with some more poppy, rock parts in their music. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction Khatz!
Only thing is, I’m having trouble finding new bands that are of the same calibre. Know any other bands that are like these two?
Dano said,
September 1, 2009 @ 18:43
By the way you can get bucket loads of Free Japanese music from: http://japanesemusicdream.wordpress.com/
Special shout out to B’z for being the best
Norwegian said,
September 2, 2009 @ 17:09
@ Untouchable: that band called The Black Horn was actually quite good, maybe I should check out casshern as well…
Anyway, it’s quite hard finding good metal in Japanese music without the kind of whiney visual kei stuff like Dir En Grey or Nightmare (not that they’re bad), or those singing in English. So far I’ve only come up with Onmyouza, Japan X and the movie soundtrack to Detroit Metal City, but I want mooore:(
Any tips to where I can find some?
Sarah said,
September 5, 2009 @ 08:50
Holy ****! Thanks so much for the rec on Rip Slyme. I think I can actually feel it making me excited to learn more Japanese…
Sutefeni said,
June 9, 2010 @ 07:26
WOW! I can’t believe I didn’t read this when I was on your site. Thanks for sending me here via tweet!
九日 | My Japanese is A.com said,
June 30, 2010 @ 18:40
[...] definitely on my list as well. I’m already getting a little tired of Boa and Utada. Thanks to Khatzumoto-san, I’ve added Rip Slyme and Kreva to my playlist. Also my friend Mikey suggested Ken Hirai who [...]
Anthony said,
July 2, 2010 @ 21:03
Metal:
Mucc (ムック) – Very good *** metal with lyrics that are understandable
Metal/Shoegaze:
Coaltar of the Deepers – Hardish to understand, i.e. hear, lyrics
Shoegaze (with mostly understandable lyrics):
Cruyff in the Bedroom
Hartfield
Honeydip
Luminous Orange (very good, but maybe not so understandable and with English)
There are plenty of good Japanese shoegaze and post-rock bands that are great, but most won’t help with learning the language. Examples include Mono, Cosmicdust, and Clams.
Khatzumoto, you are one of the main reasons that I’m still learning Japanese… and neglecting my graduate school studies.
Rebekah said,
August 29, 2010 @ 04:48
Hey Khatz,
Thanks so much for the list! I was just wondering, where do you buy your music? I use iTunes but it doesn’t have a huge selection of Japanese artists. Other places I’ve seen ask as much as $40 or $60 to ship you the actual CD (when it still only has around 15 songs). I’d still like to support the artists, but I think $40 is a little too much support than I’m willing to dish out.
Thanks.