Japan has the 2nd biggest music industry in the world and anime has been mainstream for decades! The world may have opened up their ears to their pop, rock, anime, electronic, funk, and other various genres, but beneath all this noise is a smaller group of Japanese Christians making Christian music for a country that doesn’t really know the gospel.
Japanese Christians have faced persecution in the 1600’s which prevented the faith’s growth on the island. Christianity was seen as an attack against their emperor who they considered a deity, and thus they made it their mission to persecute and kill Christians, reject immigrants, and keep the country ‘pure’. But even after opening their gates and incorporating more Western influence, Japanese culture is still deeply rooted in Shinto and Buddhist traditions and beliefs. With Japan’s conformist society, sticking out in anyway often causes one to become an outcast, thus Christians have often been isolated and/or had to practice their faith in secret. Foreign religions have also gained a bad rep due to cults and extremists doing illegals things in the country. Many Japanese people insist on calling themselves ‘non-religious’ even though they visit shrines, believe in spirits (kami), pray to ancestors, and look to good luck charms for help.
Despite all this, there was always a remnant of believers, and the number continues to grow via missionaries, children of Japanese Christians, and international students bringing home the gospel. And out of those groups are Japanese singers and musicians creating Christian music for worship, for edification, and to hopefully reach the lost through messages of life, love, hope, and freedom in Christ. The only thing is, if the mass majority of Japanese natives aren’t Christian, and the outside world doesn’t even know this genre of music exists…who is going to help promote and spread these hymns and spiritual songs so they can reach those who can benefit most from it Thus the mission of this project!
Chromatic Saints started with just one article where I tried to compile every Japanese Christian artist I could find. When I first attempted to find groups years back, I only found a couple, and a few random old videos. When I searched Reddit threads, they would often throw around the same 4-6 artists. I knew there had to be more, and I wanted to create a resource for it. Before I knew it, thanks to Youtube and Spotify recommendations, and some Japanese Christian Facebook groups, the list got to 30, then 50, then almost 100! I have created Youtube playlists to help others explore the genre without much thought, and also a Facebook group for those who want to share and connect as well!
As I was exploring one of the bigger active artists, 4.5 Music, they recently uploaded a video asking for funds to help with their production costs. I reached out for an interview in hopes to learn more about what it’s like to be a Christian artists in a nation like theirs, and also gain them more publicity so they could raise funds. RAM’s Voice was also part of the Facebook group where I asked for recommendations, so I interviewed them as well. I would love to interview more as I know there’s very few platforms for these artists to get their name out.
Let’s bring the hope of the gospel and the love of Christ to more Japanese people together!
If you’re new to this blog, let me give you a quick intro. My name is Nostalgia, and I picked up guitar to bring my childhood band dream to life. I tried to make a band a couple times but it never got anywhere. So for my 3rd band attempt, I decided to work with other rookie or inexperienced musicians, people who aren’t caught up with other bands and projects and were quite desperate for that experience and called the band “Chromatic Dreamers”. In 2021, we started practicing together, and we made our dreams come true in 2022. As a duet, we also performed at a festival!
Since then, I was truly born again and stopped listening to secular music, which also meant there wasn’t much to do with this blog….until I discovered Japanese Christian Music, and even Japanese Christian Rock and Pop music!
I know that Japan doesn’t have much of a Christian population, and thus this music isn’t being talked about or spread around to those who would benefit most from it. Thus, the Chromatic Saints project was born.
“Chromatic” still applies this time around, but I’d like to focus more on the “Chrome” side of it, being silver, like a sword.
“Saints” came to mind first for a couple reasons. For one, all Christians/born again believers are called Saints in the bible (Romans 1:7, 1 Corinthians 1:2, Ephesians 1:1, Philippians 1:1, Colossians 1:2, Revelation 14:12).
My main goal is to help spread Japanese Christian music to help further the gospel to the Japanese population.
I have compiled the first Japanese Christian artist list ever. I, like many, found it difficult to find even a handful of artists, but with enough digging and persistence, along with help from online communities, I have found over 100!
CCM, Worship, and gospel groups are a given, but I’ve also found artists who make Christian pop, rock, jazz, and hip hop!
Secondly, I would love to bring together local Jpop fans to cover songs and help bring more attention to Japanese Christian artists. It was hard finding Jpop musicians the first time around, but it’s worth a shot! If you’re a Christian musician in Toronto and are interested, please email me at chromaticdreamers@gmail.com!
Below is a clip of me and a couple friends from out of town testing a 1-day practice-and-perform idea in November 2024.
Then I decided to record some of my favourite songs that I was learning for fun in May 2025.
Praise Him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise Him with the harp and lyre, praise Him with timbrel and dancing, praise Him with the strings and pipe, praise Him with the clash of cymbals, praise Him with resounding cymbals.
After playing the ocarina at my church for over a year and making the effort to memorize quite a few hymns, I thought about playing for the elderly, sick, or dying. Music has so many benefits such as improving memory, lifting moods, and encouraging hearts. When played live, they can also provide a sense of community and connection. I know hospitals and care homes bring in secular musicians all the time, but I had a sense they were lacking in consecrated Christian musicians. When I thought about how musicians in the bible would help to prophesy, bring down God’s presence, make tormenting demons flee, and cause walls to fall, I think we really underestimate the power of music that truly glorifies God.
I have created 5 playlists for this service, which include Traditional, Melancholic, Joyful, Contemporary (CCM), and East Asian. It’s been a pleasure digging into the Japanese Christian music scene, and I’ve made sure to include some of my favourite Japanese songs like “Flowers ( 花も)” and “Jesus, I’m In Love With You (慕い求めます)”. I was aware that Japan and Korea shared and translated the same songs, and groups like Jworship would also do bilingual versions of the songs, so why not include them? And if I’m doing Japan and Korea, may as well include China too! Especially since they have the biggest population. I first stumbled across a fanmade Japanese translation for a song from Singapore called “Come Holy Spirit”, so I wanted to include it too. And while researching the history of East Asian music, I came across a song called “Many and Great” from the Philippines which is considered the first pentatonic Christian song of it’s time. Then there are other Western songs that have been translated across all these countries like “Give Thanks” by Henry Smith and “Still” by Hillsong.
Anyways, I hope a few people, whether they are East Asian themselves, or just curious, will consider ordering this playlist. If you’re curious about the songs I have chosen to memorize for this service, you can listen to them here!
