Japanese songs and singers

Let’s talk about popular Japanese artists overseas. First I’ll talk about woman singer songwriter, Lisa. She is a Japanese singer songwriter. Actually she she is from Gifu, Seki city. Her full name is Lisa Oribe. She is 37 years old. Besides her singing career, she has also tried her hand at playing the guitar and voice acting, and is proud of her competitive nature. She was ranked number one in the “Most Played Japanese Artists Overseas” list on major music streaming service Spotify. Do you know “Demon Slayer”? This is a very famous anime in the world. The opening theme song for this anime is her song, Gurenge. In 2020, the Demon Slayer and Gurenge craze swept the world. Moreover it was also hugely popular in Japan. For example in the “DAM Annual Karaoke Rankings 2020,” Gurenge ranked first in the “Anime Song Ranking” and second in “Song Ranking.” The second is ONE OK ROCK. They are a Japanese rock band. Their label is Warner Music Japan in Japan and Fueled by Ramen overseas. They have been active since 2005. The members are Taka, Toru, Ryota, and Tomoya. Their total YouTube views are 1,843,456,685. In 2016, they won the SPACE SHOWER MUSIC AWARD OVERSEAS (an award given to the most successful artist overseas). As of 2024, they are still doing extensive world tours in 7 countries. The reason for their international fame was the success of the live-action version of the popular anime “Rurouni Kenshin,” which made their song, the theme song, famous. From there, they became explosively known overseas. From there, people all over the world were attracted by the voice of Taka, the vocalist of the song. His native English pronunciation makes it possible for people from overseas to listen to their music without feeling any peculiarities, which I think is one of the charms of ONE OK ROCK. Next, I will introduce some Japanese songs that are popular overseas. I’ll talk about two songs. The first one is “Shinogaiiwa” (I Love to Die). This song is by Japanese singer-songwriter Fujii Kaze. It was released in 2020. In 2020, posts using this song became popular, mainly among Thai TikTok users, and the song became world famous. The catchy and unique rhythm fascinates people. This led to a huge hit, and the following year it became the most played song by a Japanese artist overseas. The most played countries and regions were the United States in first place, India in second place, and Japan in third place. In this way, the song became popular around the world, both at home and abroad. The second is “Yorunikakeru”. This song is by the Japanese music unit YOASOBI. This song was released in 2019. Within a month of the song’s release on YouTube by YOASOBI member Ayase, it had over 1 million views. The song was written and composed based on the novel “The Temptation of Thanatos” by Mayo Hoshino. The song depicts the protagonist, a man who receives a “good-bye” message from a girlfriend who is fascinated by “Thanatos,” the lust for death, and the protagonist’s wavering feelings as he tries to stop her from committing suicide by jumping to her death. The modulation of the rhythm is very popular both at home and abroad. Its popularity overseas is so explosive that an English version of “Yorunikakeru” has been created. In 2022, the most-played song by a Japanese artist overseas was ranked No. 2, following No. 1 “Sinunogaiiwa”. YOASOBI also ranks as the #1 most played Japanese artist overseas.