This isn’t a sponsored post y’all, I’m just a Spotify stan. I listen to it at work, in my car, at home… (kind of, my iTunes library is deeper lol).
Last year I set out to listen to more Japanese music outside of my favorites, and I’m pretty happy about that choice! With some effort, I was able to discover a lot of new and great artists. Japanese music is notoriously difficult to find (even with an Amazon JP account there’s a region block, so buying digital music is impossible), but Spotify Japan’s presence has made it just a bit easier. Some playlists I like to follow:
– Tokyo Super Hits!
– Tokyo Rising
– Road Trip To Tokyo
– Early Noise
You can find more on their page. It really is just a treasure trove of stuff — just now I found Asano Tadanobu’s band (SODA!)…
Unfortunately there’s still a lot that’s widely unavailable, but I think it’s getting better. I’m hoping there will be a big shift come Tokyo 2020, but ANYWAY. Here are my favorites for last year:
Albums
1. Namie Amuro – FINALLY
2. Suiyoubi no Campanella – Superman
3. Indigo la End – Crying End Roll
4. Taichi Mukai – BLUE
5. Taichi Mukai – PLAY
6. PAELLAS – D.R.E.A.M
7. AKLO x JAY’ED – Sorry… come back later
8. Chara – Sympathy
9. Ohashi Trio – BLUE
10. Gesu no Kiwami Otome. – あなたには負けない
11. chay – chayTEA
Songs
1. Vickeblanka – Moon Ride
2. Attractions – Knock Away
3. AKKOGORILLA – GREEN QUEEN x PARKGOLF
4. Hiroomi Tosaka – WASTED LOVE
5. Utada Hikaru – 大空で抱きしめて
6. Utada Hikaru – あなた
7. A.I. – The One You Need
8. AmPm – Traveling (feat. Nao Kawamura)
9. Koda Kumi – Bassline
10. Suiyoubi no Campanella – Gala
11. Miliyah Kato – Utopia
12. Tatsuro Yamashita – Reborn
13. Creepy Nuts – 教祖誕生
14. Toki Asako – Beautiful Day (it was on her best of, so I’m counting it lol…)
15. Gesu no Kiwami Otome. – 勝手な青春劇
16. ShuuKaRen – LOVE YOUR LIFE
17. Hoshino Gen – Family Song