Nao Yoshioka recently won the inaugural stage of the McDonalds Gospel Festival, propelling her forward into an international scene. Thanks to an artist visa granted in the US, she now plans on spreading her music worldwide.
Toshi Kubota speaks with an accent but sings funk music with ease. Her style blends the old sounds of Sam Cooke and Stevie Wonder with smoothed-out funk from D’Angelo.
City pop
Japanese City Pop, a style combining Western music with lyrics depicting modern urban lifestyle, draws its inspiration from various genres including funk, disco and 80s R&B; its sound has been described as a fusion of elements dubbed “Japanese future funk” or “vaporwave”. You may already have come across Japanese City Pop without knowing it: you may have heard its sound for example in Playboy Carti’s popular Japanese rapper Playboy Carti’s song Kid Cudi which perfectly showcases Japanese City Pop’s sound!
Japanese City Pop was an emerging genre that found great success during the 1980s due to rising consumerism, leading to young people engaging in an affluent lifestyle characterized by buying brand clothing and attending parties. City Pop artists capitalized on this shift by creating singles and albums of music that featured an upbeat tropical feel along with synthesizers and electric guitars.
One great place to begin exploring Japanese City Pop music is with Miki Matsubara’s song, “Plastic Love.” This laid-back tune, featuring English lyrics and an irresistibly catchy bubblegum bassline, provides an ideal introduction. Recently it has experienced a revival due to a viral TikTok trend that featured it.
Eiko Kawashima released “Stay Aquamarine” in 1984 with tropical flair. Considered one of the classic City Pop tunes and sometimes classified as vaporwave, its synthesizers and violin-like sounds have made this song an extremely popular selection among modern music producers.
City pop has quickly become popular in the West due to its combination of Western music and Japanese lyrics. It’s attractiveness lies in its ability to evoke nostalgia for specific places or times both familiar and unfamiliar; providing the ideal soundtrack for an imagined urban utopia.
Gospel
Gospel music originated in the United States. Influenced by ancestral African music, its style employs call-and-response and handclapping. Worship services that center around this style emphasize salvation through Jesus Christ as its focal point. Gospel has recently gained popularity in Japan due to popular performers like Mahalia Jackson as well as musical productions such as Broadway musical “Mama, I Want to Sing”.
Gospel choirs have seen unprecedented popularity in Japan, where only about one percent identify as Christian. This phenomenon is likely fueled by Whoopi Goldberg’s movies Sister Act and Sister Act II as well as increased interest in American culture from young Japanese who are open to foreign ideas.
Many churches have turned to gospel music in order to reach Japanese people who may otherwise be resistant to its message. Music breaks down any barriers between message and audience that would otherwise prevent hearing it, while at the same time sharing its relevance to Japanese culture and customs.
Gospel music in Japan draws heavily from both United States and Japanese traditions, creating an exciting blend of culture. Not only has gospel become part of many schools’ curriculums and attracted new listeners but its influence can even be felt evangelistically.
Understanding the influence of culture on Japanese churches is vital before endeavoring to communicate Christ’s love to them. By researching their unique typologies, we can develop effective strategies for evangelizing Japan. Key characteristics include harmony, uniformity, interdependence and politeness – which should all help in our attempts at sharing His love among them.
Gospel’s rise in Japan may also be attributable to its ability to allow Japanese citizens to express themselves freely while remaining socially acceptable, which makes it the perfect medium for spreading religious messages that aim to transform an otherwise secular society.
R&B
Rock, hip hop and jazz music combine into this genre that spans the United States’ South as its roots are deeply influenced by black church music. Hot beats and passionate emotions remain central elements in its sound today. R&B artists first collaborated with rappers during the 1990s to blend their sounds together – this trend continues today as many young Japanese musicians incorporate hip hop into their works.
Lex, RYKEYDADDYDIRTY, JP THE WAVY, Lamp Eye and KOHH are among the many R&B artists popular in Japan and their popularity illustrates hip hop’s impactful presence in its musical culture and fashion scene – including Tokyo’s Harajuku district.
Furui Riho made headlines when she released her debut album Green Light in 2022 and it has been streamed over two million times on Apple Music and Spotify – this success places Furui among Japan’s most promising newcomers and often draws comparisons to Utada Hikaru who also had an enormous impact in her music scene.
Other well-known Japanese soul and funk artists include Mariya Takeuchi, Fuji Kaze and Aimi Matsui, all well-recognized artists throughout Japan with diverse talents and impressive resumes spanning multiple areas. These musicians have performed alongside well-known American acts like Snoop Dogg, Chris Brown, Jim Jones Lloyd & Trey Songz to name but a few.
Gen Hoshino is another notable R&B artist making waves since the start of 2010. He boasts an eclectic sound palette spanning J-Pop and alternative genres to soft rock and rhythm & blues. Dubbed as one of Japan’s “next big things”, his songs have gone viral on TikTok reaching an even wider audience with their sound.
Soul
Japan has long been home to an extensive culture of soul music, and its influence can be felt across many genres and artists. Jazz fusion and Japanese soshi enka have both found great inspiration from it; numerous musicians have taken these sounds and integrated them into their own works for creating some of the most distinctive Japanese tunes ever heard.
In the 1970s, 10-year-old Toshi Kubota found inspiration in American TV shows and the music of Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye. Inspired by rhythm and melodies of R&B music from American soul legends Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye, Kubota set out to become an R&B singer himself; after years of hard work he has sold 11 million albums worldwide! Kubota’s success has inspired other Japanese artists to explore this genre as well.
In Japan during the 1970s and 80s, Japanese rhythm and blues (R&B) artists flourished to great success, featuring elements of R&B, jazz and disco into their music. Many singers such as Mariya Takeuchi, Seiko Matsuda and Hi-Fi Set became immensely popular – they even went on tour around America! This made their names known worldwide.
Japan also embraced jazz fusion-a heady mix of jazz rhythms combined with electric instruments like guitars-in the late 70s. This genre more closely resembled Herbie Hancock than it did Miles Davis during Bitches Brew-era; nonetheless it remains an amazing listen. Today jazz fusion continues to enjoy huge popularity throughout Japan.
MISIA has become one of the most beloved Japanese groups since their debut in 1998. Since then, they have released over 22 albums and collaborated with several artists such as Toshinobu Kubota and Kuraki Mai.
Nao Yoshioka, best known for her neo-soul songs, recently reached No. 32 on Billboard Urban Adult Contemporary chart and received widespread acclaim from critics.
Japanese soul, funk and city pop singers who first emerged were female. Male R&B singers began emerging during the 1990s and 2000s; their popularity has only continued to increase since.