EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT MODERN JAPANESE MUSIC

Who Is the Biggest Star in Japan?

Oricon provides accumulated physical sales of all entries on its singles and albums charts. According to their records, Japan’s bestselling artist are B’z, a rock duo known for hard rock tracks and pop rock ballads. They’ve released a staggering 49 consecutive No. 1 singles, 25 No. 1 albums and have sold more than 100 million records worldwide.

The bestselling artists in terms of the number of singles sold are contemporary japanese music supergroup AKB48 with 50.8 million. Whilst Ayumi Hamasaki – dubbed ‘The Empress of JPop’ - holds the record for being the biggest-selling solo artist - and for being the first female and solo artist to sell more than 80 million records.

Where to Download Japanese Music

Looking for Japanese music? The Sounds of Japan collection showcases high quality, authentic music from shamisen-based rock to JPop, and delicate yet powerful Japanese instrumental performances.

JPop

JPop refers to Western-influenced Japanese pop music, which has, over time, become highly influential in its own right. As with pop in the West, however, it’s an umbrella that covers lots of different sounds. Whilst plenty of bands have the classic cutesy, ‘bubble-gum’ sound, others are more on the edgy, dance, R&B or funk spectrum.

In common with Western pop stars, band members and singers such as Morning Musume, Arashi, Perfume, Scandal, and Kyary Pamyu Pamyu (dubbed ‘Japan’s Lady Gaga’) attract legions of devoted fans and are trend setters for fashion and style.

The Top-Selling Jpop Band

AKB48 are literally the biggest band in the world, featuring a rotating cast of over 130 members, who have their own theatre in Akihabara, where they perform nightly. The band first formed in 2005 as a girl group – in a world where superstars seemed unattainable, music producer Yasushi Akimoto wanted to create ‘idols you can meet.’ The first 20 members, ‘Team A’, debuted in December 2005, and in early 2006, 18 new members formed ‘Team K’ – by October of that year, ‘Team B’ had joined.

The theatre shows have expanded to an AKB48 café, ‘meet and greet’ events with the fans and special collector’s edition music – plus spinoff groups, such as BNK48 (Bangkok), MNL48 (Manila) and TPE48 based in Taipei. The original band are now a cultural phenomenon, appearing in manga, video games and on their own weekly TV shows, while their YouTube channel has 2.38 million subscribers.

JRock

Most JRock bands are guitar and drum-driven. One of the biggest, L’Arc-en-Ciel, have sold over 40 million records and were the first Japanese act to headline at Madison Square Garden. Sub-genre Visual Rock has a focus, as you’d expect, on how the band looks, with vibrant costumes, bright, flamboyant hair and make-up and a fair bit of drag. Visual Rock bands to check out include DIR EN GREY, the GazettE and X Japan.

JSynth

Japanese electronic music has flourished both in Japan and abroad in recent years. Japanese artists such as Takako Minekawa, Fantastic Plastic Machine, and Kahimi Karie are creating ground-breaking beats.

Hatsune Miku: Japan’s Virtual Pop Star

She started as a personification of vocal synthesizing software, but now turquoise-haired Hatsune Miku is a bona fide star in her own right. She has over 100,000 original songs under her name, over two million Facebook followers – more than any individual Japanese pop star or group - and she’s fronted campaigns for top global brands including Toyota and Google.

Within a month of Crypton Future Media’s release of its computer software application in 2007, it became the highest-grossing software of the time and Hatsune Miku rapidly became part of ‘idol culture’. She now ‘performs’ as a hologram in concert, backed by a live band.

If you’ve seen the Black Mirror episode Rachel, Jack, and Ashley Too, where Miley Cyrus’s popstar character Ashley O is transformed into a hologram whom her handlers find easier to manage than the real thing, or read about Whitney Houston’s upcoming tour, eight years after the star’s death, then you’ve seen the ‘reality’ of holographic stars. Is it the future of music? Don’t bet against it.

Anime Music

In the 1960s, anime became a stand-alone music genre, and it’s now one of the most popular types of Japanese music. JPop and JRock stars often lend their talents to anime music – such as the cinematic rock ballad Red Swan, which is the opening theme of Attack on Titan season three. This was created by Yoshiki, the leader of X Japan, and Hyde, L’Arc-en-Ciel’s vocalist.

Spotify’s Global Cultures initiative was launched in 2018 to promote culturally diverse music by surfacing hits from different countries, spotlighting popular tracks that cross cultures. This has definitely created a global audience for anime music, as Noriko Ashizawa, the Head of Content for Spotify in Japan, highlights.

‘The music streaming era only came over to Japan recently, mainly because physical sales are still strong here,’ she explains. ‘However, more and more Japanese artists are finding a lot of potential listeners of their music outside of the country - where physical sales aren’t as popular anymore - on Spotify. Anime is one of the most effective channels to attract global listeners to Japanese music. We’ve started creating a variety of Anime playlists dedicated to each popular series such as Attack on Titan and JOJOs Bizarre Adventure to help promote J-Tracks and spread them around the globe, similar to the recent rise of Latinx music and K-Pop.’

Whether you’re new to anime or a die-hard fan, get a taste with the Attack on Titan soundtrack.

Japanese Music Facts

Did you know that:

• It used to be illegal to dance in Japan! The ‘Fueiho Law’, also known as ‘The Flashdance Law’ was passed just after World War II, making it illegal to dance inside music venues which didn’t have a certified ‘dancing licence’. The law has been lifted in recent years, in an attempt to be a bit more tourist-friendly
• Japan lays claim to the world’s shortest pop hit. The viral hit PPAP, aka Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen shot Japanese comedian Pikotaro into the Billboard Hot 100 – the first time in 26 years that a Japanese singer had made the US list.
• Despite their love of tech, the Japanese still love CDs – 85% of all music sales in Japan are CDs
• And it’s illegal to sell a CD for under $25 – leading to a huge market in CD rental services

Wrapping Up: The Sounds of Japan

Japan's music scene is a vibrant mix of diverse genres, from chart-topping rock acts like B'z to the phenomenon of AKB48. JPop, JRock, JSynth, and Anime music all contribute to its rich catalogue.

In this ever-evolving landscape, Japan's music continues to captivate audiences at home and across the globe. Whether you're a long-time fan or new to Japanese music, there's something exciting waiting for you to explore.