Japanese Christian Alternatives For Jpop And Anime Music Fans ⋆ Chromatic Dreamers

Hello! Nostalgia here! If you’re someone like me in that you grew up with or have come to really love anime, or perhaps you stumbled across Jpop and became obsessed with it, it’s certainly a whole new world to discover. But when you realize the themes or spiritual aspects don’t align with your faith, what do you do? Where do you go?

As a Jmusic fan for more than half my life, it was a bit bittersweet to distance myself from Japanese music once my spiritual eyes were open. The main reason I got into Jmusic was because of the unique chord progressions, the instrumentation, and just how much it made my ears perk up. Most songs are unpredictable, taking you through a story and making you feel the emotions of the singers. Even though I didn’t pay attention to lyrics, it touched me through the music itself.

The second reason was because it had more positive themes. Compared to the West which was either focused on romantic love or sin (lust, greed, pride, violence), I found Jmusic promoted a variety of stories, ideas, and positive traits and ideas like friendship, standing up for what is right, being courageous, helping those in need, and becoming a better version of yourself. It was a source of hope, encouragement, and strength.

But when you consider that Japan is built on Shinto and Buddhist beliefs and to this day, still has less than 2% Christians, you really have to wonder where exactly their hope is, or what ‘god’ they are referring to in their songs. I have noticed more than once that if ‘kami’ (god or spirit) is mentioned, it’s usually to blame them, or accuse them of doing nothing which is an understandable stance from their cultural views.

When you also consider that music is an outlet for Japanese youth, and they have means of creating and positing songs anonymously like with Vocaloid, it’s not surprising that so much depressing and suicidal music goes viral. But once again, Japan doesn’t recognize a sovereign God who loves them nor knows about a savior who died for them. Thus, all they can do is hope in themselves and try to save the world on their own. More on this in my “Is Anime/Japanese Music Safe for Christians?” article.

But back to my own story, I lost all interest in secular music around new years 2023. It was like the Holy Spirit just wiped my mind. My mind only thought about God and I preferred silence. A couple months after, my singer was actually inspired for once and pushed me to make another band. I said no at first, but when she suggested a duet, I figured I owe her one for helping my dream, and I could use the practice to truly develop my acoustic skills, so we did one more round for a few months.

But in the 4 months we were learning our setlist of 25 Jpop/Anime songs, I realized just how much time I have to put into listening, learning, practicing, and singing to these tracks…time that I could spend focusing on God. So I told God that after the Japanese Festival in August 2023, I wouldn’t play guitar again unless for Him. Then in January 2024, I was asked to volunteer to help a church plant as they had no musicians of their own (they would borrow or pay people), and even got to be the guitarist in a gospel music video.

But still, I missed the vibe and feel of Jmusic. Despite listening to various CCM songs and artists for my church, and even going back to gospel songs I grew up with, nothing could replace it. So in early 2024, I started working on an article that compiles all the Japanese Christian Artists I could find. I was hoping to find at least 10, 15 at most…..but as of now, I have gathered over 100 artists! And to my surprise, I even found Japanese Christian artists who make music in other genres like Rock, Hip Hop and Jazz!

Since that article has gotten quite lengthy, I decided to make this one to help those who are just discovering Japanese Christian music exists, and are hoping to find suitable substitutions that would allow them to grow in their faith without compromise. We all have genre preferences, and we’re not always going to be in the mood for a praise and worship song, so at least now, we can surround ourselves with positive messages anytime from other artists that align with our beliefs <3

I’ve chosen 3 songs from each artist so you to get a feel for them. Some artists have such a huge discography and a variety of sounds, so I may have opted to share 6 to showcase their range and genres. I’m still working through that list and actually listening and getting a feel for so many artists, so I have no doubt this list would grow as I get to understand what makes each Christian artist unique.

If you’d like to know more about any artist on this list or find other links for them, please check out the main article. I have also made a Youtube playlist with all the songs that have that true Jpop, anime feel, so it has more eamples from some artists on this lists, but not as much hip hop, EDM, or jazz.

If you’d like to learn more Japanese words that are used in these songs, check out my 350+ Common Words in Japanese Christian Music article. And if you want to be part of a community of Japanese Christian music fans, please join my Chromatic Saints Facebook group.

Enjoy!!~

J-Pop / Anime

Jpop spans a wide variety of genres because any kind of music can be popular in Japan, and a lot of bands and artists like to incorporate a variety of sounds, instruments and ideas into their songs as well. So in general, artists under this category either have that clear pop rock sound that many anime fans will recognize (that high energy opening vibe or that slower sentimental closing vibe), OR the artist is so blended and creative that I can’t exactly label them as a ‘rock-mainly’ or ‘hip hop-only’ creator….but you definitely wouldn’t have assumed these songs were Christian if you heard them in public either. It has that Japanese sound most of us have become accustomed too, just with Jesus at the centre of the message.

J-Pop / Anime

O&Dan

Miura Sammy

Sakura Yamakawa

4.5Music

Night de Light (ナイトdeライト)

Sumito Tomiyasu

AIM (Abide In Me)

Samuell Soung (Samuelle)

Takafumi Nagasawa

Praise Station

Cherish (チェリッシュ)

Kanade Ishihara (石原奏)

Jolly Polly

Sambi Hayashi (林賛美)

Rock / Metal

Night de Light (ナイトdeライト)

CLOD

Imari Tones

Takafumi Nagasawa

Ko & Saori

Yona Ishikawa

Hip Hop / Rap / EDM / Lo-Fi

Shin A.K.A. Mamiya

Yoshi Blessed

Tweli G

Nagg Rock The P

Akilimali

Osamui Jordan

Reneh

35108 Beats (三五十八Beats)

4.5Music

Jazz / R&B / Funk / City Pop

Magnify Studio/Tokyo

Motoaki Yasutake (安武玄晃)

Chu Kosaka (小坂忠)

Yoko Matsuoka

Love Divine

Lauren Horii

Takafumi Nagasawa

GOSPEL SMITH

Yuto Torimasu

Heavenese

Classical / Instrumental

Sora Tori

Euodia Ensemble

Hideo Kobori (小堀英郎)

Group Name

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