Breaking Down 15 Japanese Song’s Chord Progressions

To most people around the world, Japanese music has a way of making your ears perk up. Occasionally, it may sound a bit familiar, but most of the time, the unexpected melody and progressions will take you on a journey and make you feel something, like nostalgia or melancholy.

Previously, I did the same thing Breaking Down 15 Anime Progressions. In anime music, I find the songs to be more energizing, using rock instruments, electronics, or an orchestra to convey the feelings of the characters or the story. Some songs can be quite experimentative with their chord progressions, with quite a few modulating and changing keys throughout the song.

On the other hand, I find Popular Japanese songs to be a bit more calming and easier to listen to. Not to say anime music is hard to listen to (cause I could listen to that all day, everyday), but if you’re on a car trip headed to the beach and you just want something everyone can listen to in the background while they talk and laugh, Jpop seems to be the better choice. Some songs are quite simple in their progressions, but a few will have longer and more beautiful progressions than Anime songs, and may also borrow a few chords.

If understanding Japanese music and creating Jpop inspired songs is something you’re interested in, definitely check out my Japanese Music Resources Page. Some other articles you may be interested in is Why Japanese Music Sounds Different, and Japanese Song Structure, Japanese Lyric Dictionary.

I highly recommend having my Why Japanese Music Sounds Different article open in another tab as you go through this article. I will be using music theory terms like Borrowed Chords, Secondary Dominants and Cadences, which I won’t be going into detail on this article. That article explains these concepts and also has supplementary Youtube videos so you can hear these chords and progressions more clearly.

And if you’d like to learn more about music theory and Japanese chord progressions for the sake of creating Japanese inspired music, check out my eBook and Course!

In this article, I’ve chosen 15 very popular anime songs to break down. I will include the key, chords, and the degree of the chords, along with notes on what is happening. If you’re new to music theory or want a refresher, please check out my beginner series that starts with how scales and modes are made, followed by how chords are made, and finally, chord progressions and functions.

Note: An Astericks (*) will be used to represent all non-diatonic/borrowed chords. In general, every key has 7 chords that naturally belong to the key as they are built off the scale of the home note. Anything outside of those 7 chords don’t belong to the key, but can be used to change the feel of a song as you will hear in these songs.

Let’s get to it!!

“Lemon”

Artist: Kenshi Yonezu
Release Year: 2018

Key of Song: B

Chord Progression:

G#m F#	E B	E B	Ddim* D#*	G#m F#	E B	E B	F# B
vi V	IV I	IV I	ii#o* III*	iv V	IV I	IV I	V I

Notes: This song starts off with a falling progression with vi-V-IV-I. After it repeats the IV-I, which is a very comforting cadence, it goes in totally unexpected direction with not just one, but two back-to-back borrowed chords. The rest of the song takes a similar approach, switching between pleasant phrases and some uneasy ones.

While rarely used in Western music, the diminished chord is quite common in Japanese music, especially in anime songs. It is usually used as a passing/transition chord, but I like that they spent a few moments on it in this song.

“Yoru ni Kakeru” / “Racing Into The Night”

Artist: YOASOBI
Release Year: 2019

Key of Song: C Minor

Chord Progression:

Ab Bb	Gm7 Cm7	Ab G7	Cm7 Bbm7 Eb7	Ab Bb	Gm7 Cm7	Ab	G7
VI VII	v i	VI V7*	i vii* III	VI VII	v i	VI	V7*

Notes: I initially analyzed this song from Eb major, and the first couple bars was clearly the Royal Road progression, more commonly referred to as the anime progression (IV-V-iii-vi). However, the song does carry a minor tone throughout, so it only makes sense to look at it form its parallel, C minor.

What I like about this song is that each bar switches from major chords to minor chords. We also don’t spend much time actually resting on the i chord, which can make the song easily go on and on.

“Sayonara Elegy”

Artist: Masaki Suda
Release Year: 2018

Key of Song: A#m

Chord Progression:

A#m Fm7	F# G# C#	A#m F#	G# C#	A#m Fm7	F# G# C#	A#m F#	G# C#
i vi*	VI VII III	i VI	VII III	i vi7*	VI VII III	i VI	VII III

Notes: It was tempting to look at this song from the key of C# Major as it does feel like home at the end of each phrase in the chorus, however, the song starts with A#m on almost every phrase and it carries a minor tone throughout.

For the sake of analysis though, VI VII III in the minor key is IV-V-I in the major key, which is a very common and beloved cadence. It’s especially satisfying since we started with minor chords.

“Neko” (Cat)

Artist: DiSH//
Release Year: 2020

Key of Song: Eb?

Chord Progression:

Eb Bb	Ab Eb	Ab Eb	Fm Bb	Eb G7*	Cm Bbm7 Eb	Ab Gm7 Cm	Fm7 Ab/Bb
I V	IV I	IV I	ii V	I III7	vi v7* I	IV iii vi	ii IV/V

Notes: I like how this song starts off focused on the big major chords, I IV and V, but then it starts to change things up a little bit. The ii-V-I progression shows up a couple times, and it makes use of the borrowed dominant III chord to move to the vi chord, a very common trope in Japanese music.

“Cinderella Boy”

Artist: Saucy Dog
Release Year: 2021

Key of Song: A

Chord Progression:

D E	A	C#7	F#m7	D E	A	D E
IV V	I	III7*	vi	IV V	I	IV V

Notes: This is a simple but effective progression. Each line starts on the IV, which you’ll see a lot in anime progressions. The IV chord has a steady sound as it is a tonic chord with the I note inside it, but it isn’t I, so it also wants to move. This progression also uses the borrowed dominant III chord, which moves beautifully to vi.

“Marigold”

Artist: Aimyon
Release Year: 2018

Key of Song: D

Chord Progression:

D A	Bm A	G D Bm	G A	D A	Bm A	G D Bm	G A
I V	vi V	IV I vi	IV V	I V	vi V	IV I vi	IV V

Notes: This song only has about 5 chords throughout, but it gets the job done. One common progression they used is in the 3rd bar, IV-I-vi. They use the I as a short passing chord, but it’s really effective! Transitioning straight from G to Bm doesn’t have the same sound or feel. They could have also just do a normal G to D (IV-I), but by going back to Bm (vi), it allows the progression to continue a bit longer.

“Hanabi” (Fireworks)

Artist: Mr. Children
Release Year: 2008

Key of Song: C#

Chord Progression:

A#m F#	G# C#	F# D#7	G# F7	A#m F#	G# C#	F# D#m	G#
vi ii	V I	IV II7*	V III7*	vi ii	V I	IV II7*	V

Notes: I used the main progression at the intro and pre-chorus for this one as it’s a bit more memorable. I haven’t really heard this progression much elsewhere, but I still see some recognizable traits. I would think of it as the ii-V-I progression with some variations.

“Suihensen” (Horizon)

Artist: Back Number
Release Year: 2021

Key of Song: Bb

Chord Progression:

Bb Eb	F D7	Gm Dm	Eb F	Bb Eb	F D7	Gm Dm	Eb F
I IV	V III7*	vi iii	IV V	I IV	V III7*	vi iii	IV V

Notes: This chorus has a mix of the stereotypical rising progression I-IV-V, but also mixes it with the Royal Road Progression, IV-V-III-vi. The dominant III really makes that chord stick out, creating a strong impression. Especially considering, the diatonic iii is there as well.

I find it quite common for Japanese songs to have different versions of a chord in the same section of a song. I have seen both C major, C minor, and C dominant used in the same phrase, for example.

“Cherry”

Artist: Spitz
Release Year: 1996

Key of Song: C

Chord Progression:

Am Em	F C	Am Em	F C	Am Em	F C	Am Em	F G C
vi iii	IV I	vi iii	IV I	vi iii	IV I	vi iii	IV V I

Notes: This song bases it’s chorus on the vi-iii-IV-I progression. Despite it being a pretty simple repetitive 4-chord progression, it’s not really something you see often. I even found a Reddit Thread where someone brings it up and says its underrated.

We could also look at this progression from a minor perspective, making it a i-v-VI-III progression. The song does have underlying minor tone, and you may decide to view the song in Am, but I think the song feels most at rest when it lands on that C major chord.

All in all, I find it sounds both hopeful and melancholic, and I think this is due to the progression going the opposite way we would expect it. Usually iii will move up to vi, and IV likes to move up to V, but the song goes the opposite way for both.

“Chiisana Koi no Uta” (Little Love Song)

Artist: MONGOL800
Release Year: 2001

Key of Song: B

Chord Progression:

E F#	G#m D#m	E B	F# B	E F#	G#m D#m	E B	F# B
IV V	vi iii	IV I	V I	IV V	vi iii	IV I	V I

Notes: This song has an alteration of the Royal Road/Anime Progression. Instead of going IV-V-iii-vi, it keeps raising, then falls back to iii. It also has a very fun IV-I-V-I cadence that feels like it’s teasing ‘we’re not done yet!’.

“Dried Flower”

Artist: Yuuri
Release Year: 2022

Key of Song: G

Chord Progression:

C G	D B7 Em7	C G	D D#dim Em7	C G	B7 Em7	Am7	Cm D
IV I	V III7* vi	IV I	V V#dim* vi	IV I	III7* vi	ii	iv* V

Notes: This song loves borrowed chords as we can see them in every other bar. I find it quite amusing how most phrases start with a IV-I cadence which is one of the most satisfying and beautiful progressions, but it is followed up with a progression that changes the mood drastically due to the borrowed chords.

In Japanese music, as mentioned above, the iii-vi progression is quite common, more so using the dominant III-vi for an even stronger sound. Another common progression I see is using a #dim chord between the IV and V, or the V and vi chord. Using these will add just a bit more drama to what would otherwise be a pretty predictable chord progression.

“Dakara Boku wa Ongaku wo Yameta” (That’s Why I Gave Up On Music)

Artist: Yorushika
Release Year: 2019

Key of Song: E

Chord Progression:

A B	G#m7 C#m	F#m7 B	E C#m	A B	G#m7 C#m	A B
IV V	iii vi	ii V	I vi	IV V	iii vi	IV V

Notes: After the notes above, this one is pretty easy to analyze. It starts with the Royal Road/Anime Progression, then switches to the jazz ii-V-I, before going back to vi to loop once more.

This is definitely one of those songs where you can totally mix up the key because the I chord isn’t really around, however, because there aren’t really any borrowed chords, it’s easy to see they all fit in to the key of E perfectly.

Adding on, by not using I much, the song feels quite energized throughout as you don’t really get to rest, which is why you’ll see this a lot more in anime music.

“Ao to Natsu” (Blue & Summer)

Artist: Mrs. Green Apple
Release Year: 2018

Key of Song: E

Chord Progression:

E B/D#	Cm B	A B	E	A B	Cm G#m7	A B	E
I V/VII*	vib* V	IV V	I	IV V	vib iii	IV V	I

E B/D#	Cm B	A Cdim	Cm G#m7	A B	Cm E	A B	E
I V/VII*	vib V	IV vibo*	vi* iii	IV V	vib I	IV V	I

Notes: This song is certainly a rollercoaster of chords! It does have a falling feeling as it goes E-D#-C-B-A. It also has some the very satisfying cadence at the end of a few phrases.

The song does include Cm quite a bit, and even a Cdim at one point. I did consider I may have the key wrong since they borrow this chord consistently, but any other key would have even more borrowed chords, so E made the most sense.

Because the Cm borrowed chord is used so much, it doesn’t sound as out of place as other borrowed chords when uses sparingly.

“Pretender”

Artist: Official Hige Dandism
Release Year: 2019

Key of Song: Ab

Chord Progression:

Ab	Eb C7	Fm	Ebm7 Ab Dbmaj7	Cm7	Bbm	Eb	Ab
I	V III7*	vi	v* I IV	iii	ii	V	I

Notes: This song doesn’t have as many chords as others on this list, but thanks to the few borrowed chords, it has a way of packing a punch. The first borrowed dominant III chord really sticks out, and it actually puts you on edge. But then the borrowed minor v comes in, and that has a softer effect than the regular major V would.

After going back to the I home chord, the rest is smooth sailing. We go to IV and have a falling progression to iii and ii, then we end off with the ever-so-sweet ii-V-I progression.

“Maru no Ichi Sadistic”

Artist: Sheena Ringo
Release Year: 1999

Key of Song: Eb

Chord Progression:

Ab G7	Cm Eb	Ab G7	Cm Eb	Ab G7	Cm Eb	Ab G7	Cm
IV III7*	vi I	IV III7*	vi I	IV III7*	vi I	IV III7*	vi

Notes: This song has a pretty simple and repetitive progression throughout, but that doesn’t mean we can’t learn from it!

As mentioned above, staring on the IV instantly gives the song energy. It’s a subdominant chord so it wants to go somewhere, usually to the I. The IV then falls to a borrowed III dominant chord, which gives it that extra kick, and that naturally progresses to the vi chord.

Whether you’re a theory nerd or not, from the above examples, you can see that most songs and progressions will use the IV or V to go to I. Any chord could go to I, but the IV and V are the most satisfying, thus the most used.

But for a song like this, we keep getting a vi-I cadence progression. We then go back to IV and it makes us want to keep listening, hoping something will change, and perhaps we’ll get a more satisfying ending. Do we get that though? Iunno, how about you listen til the end and find out? 😛

Conclusion

I hope this article has given you some insight into what some songs are doing. If you’re more interested in Anime Songs, check out this article as well. And if this and my other articles have answered some of your questions, feel free to leave a tip for me on Ko-Fi!

If you’re interested in more progressions and tips that you can adopt into making your music sound more Japanese, consider buying my Japanese Music Progressions eBook or my Japanese Music Theory Course!

I write a lot about Japan and Japanese music, along with beginner guitar tips and more, so definitely check out my other articles on my blog, and consider liking my Facebook page for alerts on future articles.

Thanks for reading!~