Hey, Nostalgia here! I’ve loved Japanese music since I was in middle school and this whole blog was created to explore and share Japan’s music and the theory behind it, along with just writing about their artists, why certain things trend, and just any thing that I got curious about but couldn’t find much (if any) information on. Japan’s unusual obsession with black gospel music is certainly one those topics.
Since 2023, when I was born again and came back to my faith more seriously, this blog has taken a turn to bringing more attention to Japanese Christian artists. If you didn’t know, Japan has a 1% Christian population, so for those of us who liked Jpop and anime openings but wanted something a little more uplifting and encouraging for our souls, we didn’t really have anywhere else to turn to.
Japan is just very unique when it comes to it’s chord progressions, use of instruments, and just being fresh and unpredictable. Part of that is because, while most countries take from the blues which has a very basic I-IV-V progression, Japan is greatly influenced by jazz which is crazy and unpredictable to the untrained ear, but makes music so much more exciting for the musicians involved in it.
So, for the record, I’m not surprised that Japanese gospel music exists, of course they would love it! But logically, if Japan has only had a 1% Christian population for ages……..How? Why?
A couple days ago, I was doing research on a totally different topic, and stumpled across this article which caught my eye “God is using gospel music to draw Japanese people to himself“. I was like, ‘wait, hold up….gospel music is trending there? Since when?’
The article was actually quite informative stating that Japanese people are drawn to gospel choirs, and while they aren’t saved when they join, the churches would teach them the meanings of the songs, the pastor would shepherd over them, and they’re just praying and hoping that God will touch them through the music and they’ll eventually convert.
In general, I agree with quite a few Christians that unsaved or fake Christians shouldn’t be in ministry because they can’t worship in spirit and in truth and they can be wolves and lead others astray and so on, but I’m also aware that the bible tells us to let the wheat and tares grow together until the harvest and Paul says that as long as the gospel is preached, he rejoices! As we’ve seen with Judas, he was still able to heal the sick and cast out demons along with the other disciples, even though Jesus was never his Lord, so the faith or spiritual purity of the individual doesn’t get in the way of God reaching His sheep.
When it comes to Japan where most people don’t really care for religion and Christianity has somewhat of a bad rep (again, more on this in the next section), I’m certainly more supportive of letting them join choirs since they will hear the gospel message and be around other Christians. And either way, even in churches over here, we don’t know who is truly saved within it. Some just joined out of fun, some were signed up by their parents, some may be living a totally sinful life outside of church, but for others to see so many people united in glorifying God can still make an impression, and God can still bless the listeners
But back to this topic, the article mentioned that Japanese people in general just love choirs and gospel music and would join these choirs just because of that, but that still left a question in my mind? How did they even stumble across this music if they’re not Christian to begin with? It would be one thing if they were talking about Contemporary music which has been trending even on social media, but gospel? Which is pretty much only heard within black churches? I’m not mad or anything, just puzzled.
Up to this point, there were only a couple times I was aware gospel at least reached Japan. The first was this trending video long ago of a black choir singing the Evangelion theme song “A Cruel Angel’s Thesis’ on a Japanese broadcasting show, but it’s not a full choir imo. The second was when I was creating my Japanese Christian Arists article and came across Ronnie Rucker, a black man who has created a few Japanese christian albums and he is seen with a Japanese choir behind him….but none of those things prove anything. It’s just black people taking their culture and their musical preferences wherever they go, right? At least that was my assumption.
And just in case you’re on your phone and can’t see my side intro, I AM BLACK, so I’m not even hating or anything like that. In fact, I grew up with gospel at home and in my church, and loved artists like Kirk Franklin, Cece Winans, Donnie McClurkin, James Fortune, and so on. I’m aware many churches have choirs, but not the loud, swaying, clapping, jumping choirs I’m used to. And even amonst the Christian community, most churches either do hymns or CCM, but not really gospel. So if gospel isn’t even that common in our churches, how the heck is it trending in Japan? I just had to investigate this odd phenomemon.
How the Gospel Boom Started in Japan
A quick Google search states that it’s spread started via 2 main reasons:
1. The “Sister Act” Phenomenon
According to Google, the 1992 film Sister Act and it’s sequel in 1994 ‘sparked a massive national fascination with African-American gospel choir traditions’. I did a little extra research to see why was it so popular, and it really boiled down to the music. I only recall a few scenes from when it was playing on TV when I was a youth (I was born when the 2nd movie came out), so I had to find a few scenes on Youtube. A few songs are just classics among black churches like “Oh Happy Day” but yeah, I totally get why the movie would spark general curiousity and hype.
As I said before, Japan loves high energy, they love full bands, cool or complex chord progressions, crazy vocals and harmonies, and just anything new and unique, so I’m not surprised. I’m sure one person heard it and was quick to share the genre with their friends. What can I say, black people have made a lot of things Japan really likes, including rap/hip-hop and jazz, fashion, and ***. As much as the world may hate us due to negative stereotypes, Japanese people are usually between the completely ignorant elders who live in the countryside and are just curious why our sin is black, or they’re intrigued often confusing us for celebrities and asking if we can do what most black people are known for.
I will also say, since the move was marketed and accepted as a secular movie despite featuring nuns in a church, it makes sense why Japan also wouldn’t think much of it being such a spiritual thing, which I’ll go into in the next category on Japan’s Spiritual Apathy. But one thing I will say about that now is that, this is why many Christians are more strict and concerned about blending holy things with secular things to appeal to the world, or having non-Christian serve and be members of the worship team, as it could certainly cause confusion and a lack of reverence for our God.
In my original intro, I brought up the Disney Channel Original Movie “Let It Shine”. I watched it quite a bit when it originally came out, and since Camp Rock 3 was trending and I was watching reviews for that, I also watched a YouTuber review that movie. I was thinking that I’ve never seen that kind of hip-hop infusion in my church, so I totally understand the main character’s father (who is the pastor) being against it, but I was also thinking this is movie made for a worldly audience so it can’t be real…….but I didn’t think Sister Act had the same idea over a decade before. Now I have to wonder if this is an actual trend in churches or it’s just these movies trying to appeal to a wider audience. And for the record, my church does have dances, but it’s more liturgical dances than full-on hip hop lol
2. Gospel Lessons Are Offered At Institutions
This was a surprise to me. I’ve written a whole article about Japan’s music education and how all students grow up taking music and appreciating it, thus why they have more real bands and orchestras. But had no clue ‘Yamaha and other institutions commercialized the trend by opening hundreds of gospel-singing classes and community choirs across Japan’ (Google). According to Academia, 7000 people initially participated in gospel singing classes by Yamaha within 10 years!
It was hard to look directly into gospel choirs as general choirs are also popular, but here’s a clip of a black lady (dNessa) being brought in for a Japan vocal workshop with various ages.
My Thoughts On Why It Spread
Okay so, we understand how it entered Japan and how people learned but why would it be a lasting trend? After all, the initial boom was from a movie that debuted over 30 years ago. I get that there will always be subgroups of people who are interested in weird, unique, or foreign things, but for something to be popular enough that you can get 50 or even 200+ people to come out and practice regularly, it needs to be not only attractive enough to the general Japanese population, but also sustainable enough that it can keep on running. I already talked about Japans musical interest above and in other articles, but here’s my theories on how and why something so foreign and religious like black gospel music could somehow spread in a ‘non-religious’ and culturally tame population.
Japan’s Religious Apathy
(Aka While Gospel is “Christian”, They Don’t Attach The Activity with the Religion)
In general, when it comes to religion, Japan is both open and apathetic towards it. What I mean by that is, Japan is open to religions, Christianity was previously banned but has been accepted, and no religions are being persecuted by authorities or the people. But even despite having religious freedom, Japanese people just aren’t that interested in it. The average person doesn’t really know what they believe nor do they think about it because they are a collectivist society (more on that below).
If you know about Japan though, buddism and shintoism is certainly ingrained in their culture, things like visiting shrines on new years, having buddist funerals, and respecting both food and nature because they believe in many gods (kami). But at the same time, they’ve also adopted and been celebrating Christmas (christmas trees, gifts and all) for centuries, and more recently, younger people have been getting married in churches, white dresses and all. So if I had to try to label them, I would say there are a small number of people who truly embrace the religion of Japan and believe in spirits and good luck charms and so on, but the rest are just apathetic and agnostic.
They are generally ignorant of religions due to Japan being closed off until more recently, and thus when someone religious commits a crime, such as the Tokyo Subway Sarin Attack in 1995 where cults dropped bags filled with sarin that killed 13 and left thousands suffering long-term health problems, Japanese people as a whole will fear religions and people with more strong. opposing beliefs. Additionally, one argument I’ve heard from videos about why Japan is a ‘missionary graveyard’ is that, while we claim Jesus is the answer, Japan in general is generally safer, healthier, and more peaceful than the West which has a bigger Christian population.
But despite their general opposition for religion, they seem to enjoy the wisdom, symbolism, and history of various faiths. In art and media for example, I’ve seen Christian symbolism all over the place. I watched Digimon before I ever read through the bible, but many, it was crazy re-watching it after because I realized how many Digimon were named after them. They even have a whole arc where devimon (ie devil-mon) is trying to take over the world and the kids have to solve a riddle regarding the ‘time of the beast’ and so on. In season 6 (Xros Wars), Lucimon (Lucifer-mon) appears to be a beautiful, innocent angel to get the votes of the Digimon of his land, but then shows his true colours once he gets power, literally taking inspiration from the bible.
More recently, I watched Vinland Saga, probably the first anime (outside of Superbook which actually retells stories from the bible) that has a variety of Christians who are portrayed quite accurately, and I was even surprised to see actual scripture shared throughout the show…..but is the creator Christian? Not at all. He was just interested enough to do his research and wanted to create a more historically accurate series since Christianity was prominant in that region at that time. And he’s not the only one. Many anime artists draws inspiration from anywhere, and they seem quite informed on the topic too, but they don’t claim any attachment to the religion, just a keen curiousity or interest.
I make this point because in other countries, especially in the West where religion is dear to most people’s hearts and people would die for it (whether killing others or accepting persecution), you don’t have that same freedom to explore or adopt without being judged, ridiculed, or even put on blast for it. A lot of non-Christians wear crosses for the sake of fashion, but more people have become more vocal about it because the cross should be taken seriously. We also like to label and put people in boxes, so if a muslim who is wearing a hijab was ever caught eating a pepperoni pizza, even non-muslims would question and judge them for it. We hold high expectations once someone claims to be of a certain faith or belief, and people love to ‘expose’ people who don’t exactly follow those teachings well.
But then you have Japan where no one really knows enough about religion to care and rebuke others for their fake faith or hypocritical fashion, As I just said. the whole country celebrates Christmas and church weddings are trending, trending so much that they literally have created churches just to have wedding services….that would make no sense over here and many people would be offended, but no one blinks an eye over there. And perhaps that’s also why people can join a Christian gospel choir and same thing. Everyone just adopts what they like, they enjoy the fun or cool aspects of it, and that’s that. Neither the participants nor the witnesses around them think of it much.
And hey, I’m not judging or hating them for this because I personally get it. I grew up in Toronto, a supermulticultural country. I also went to public school in a low income area with other kids of immigrant parents. In our case, we all had our own cultures and religions, and we may follow and observe traditions and rules well, but we didn’t feel a need to push it onto others. Our schools promoted understanding by having cultural assemblies, or making us to do presentations on our cultures, so we were able to talk about it openly, but we would never bash someone else for who they are or what they do. Our schools would also celebrate various holidays, so I remember during Chinese New Year, some kids in a dragon suit would go around the halls and give everyone a red envelope, during Hanukkah, our teachers would give us dradels to play with, for Christmas we’d write letters to Santa and sing carols, valentines day we’d give cards and candy to each other, and so on. The multicultural assembly was always kinda taken over as multiple middle eastern kids would do indian and similar dances, along with a fashion show, and once or twice a year, they would set up a shop at lunch and do henna tattoos on whoever wanted them. My first exposure to Kpop was in high school when a group did a cover of “Nobody” by WonderGirls, and the whole song was singing and doing the dance for at least a couple weeks. So for me, I really didn’t know the religious background nor understood the pagan influence in any of these things until I was born again, and I had to repent.
So imagine being in Japan where 95% of people ‘believe’ the same thing. They don’t really understand the religious or spiritual aspect, but everyone does the same thing. If you grew up with Christmas where you eat KFC with your family, get together with friends for a party, or preferably have a date with your boyfriend on the most romantic night because of all the pretty lights and such, then Christmas really is nothing more than just a holiday. “Christ” is in the name but it means nothing to do them, it doesn’t imply anything or have any religious weight, so even though gospel is “Christian” they are apathetic/ignorant about what that implies or means as well. Japan has the 2nd biggest music industry and they have countless genres, so what’s one more?
Desire For Community
(Aka When you’re out of school and don’t have friends at work/are retired, you can connect in choir)
For the most part, humans love to sing….we just don’t like singing alone or being the center of attention, especially if we know our voices aren’t that great. Additionally, people, especially the older generation, are quite lonely and are always looking for community, to work together and achieve something. Choirs is the perfect in between, where you can sing and perform while blending in to create beautiful music, and you get to connect and bond with the other members.
For Japan, Community is ingrained in them from a young age, students in each class often work together to clean and compete, and it’s mandatory for students to join a club in high school. Because music is such a big thing in Japan (2nd biggest music industry, quite a few instrument brands are made there as well such as Yamaha, Pearl, Roland, Ibanez, Suzuki, etc), students grew up taking music class and have a fond appreciation for it. I’ve written an article about why there are so many bands in Japan and part of that is because kids actually grew up playing instruments, but I didn’t explore the choir side of it as well.
I recently rewatched “A Silent Voice” an anime movie, and they had a short scene of one of the main characters, a deaf girl, trying to sing in her classes’s choir, and how her classmate was worried about the choral competition, and here’s also a clip of various acts from a Japan choir competition.
I was in both my middle and high school choir, along with a musical, and those were certainly some of my fondest moments so I’m speaking from experience. At my current church, only the pastor’s wife and another lady would sing alone or together for the special song. When I came to play guitar for one of them, I somehow got swept into a trip, and when other new members came, she convinced them to join as well. While I really don’t like singing on stage unless I have to (I prefer to just focus on my instrument, and do backup vocals if needed), I will admit, rehearsal time was the one time some of us got to really bond since only a couple others come during mid-week bible study, and most people come just before service and leave not long after. Rehearsal is where you can really get to know each other, where you have to be a little more vulnerable (especially if there’s only 5 people in choir, you can’t exactly hide), and you have some inside jokes as well, so I get it. Compared to other ministries that may require more personal sacrifice or spiritual training, choir can be a little more laid back and of course fun!
So imagine, in Japan when you’re young, you and your classmates eat together, clean together, and compete together against other classes. Then as an adult, everyone works really hard at their job and ensures everything is done right and respectfully, and then there is a culture where you would go out an drink together (even with your boss) quite regularly. For elderly people, while some are certainly lonely, I’ve also seen countless videos of elderly people continuing to run their restaurant alone, and they are just so excited to talk to the foreigner and learn about them. A lot of them don’t want to retire, and I’m sure part of that is losing the joy of seeing and serving other people, especially their regulars who they have formed a bond with.
So what better way to be part of a community, make friends, and challenge themselves than to join a choir? Choirs are happy to have as many people as they want. Not only do they look better with more people, but the more voices than can blend, the more majestic it sounds. Even if you can’t sing that well, you can just sing a little quieter, but honestly, if the person is placed in a good vocal range (soprano, alto, tenor, bass), and given enough time to practice, anyone truly can sing well enough for their part. Practice makes improvement!
Collectivist Society/Group Mentality
(Aka Choirs support their natural tendancies to be part of a group and do things together)
Similar to community but very different mentally. Community is just enjoying being around the same group of people and having those connections, having people to do things with and share a bit of your life with. Collectivist thinking is where everyone tries to be on the same page for the sake of peace and unity.
In my other article about why Japan has so many girl bands, I dug deep into the idea that, thanks to them always prioritizing the group and learning to work together from a very young age, bands are much more successful and manage to stay together for much longer. The west is know for bands breaking up either very early due to differences and power struggles, or later on due to egos (ie electric guitar is a show off) and people wanting to make their own music. There really aren’t many all-female bands in the West, partly because not many girls actually play instuments, and we can certainly be dramatic and end friendships over petty issues, and yet Japan is bustling. Scandal, a Japanese girl band, more recently broke the world record for the longeset all-girl band with the same members, and I believe many are not far behind them when it comes to time.
So if Japan is that focused on unity and working together, choirs are certainly high up there on enjoyable passtimes. There are certainly a lot of hobbies and interests, but there really isn’t that many where you are literally doing the same thing or working on the same project as someone else, let a lone a group after you finish school. The closest may be people who do sports like running or yoga together, but they are still more independent journeys. If you’re talented at like dance and such, you could also be on a team, but if we’re talking about the older generation, singing is definitely something that really doesn’t require prior training or time to be part of the group. Choirs really do accept anyone, and the more, the merrier!
Desire For Freedom/Self-Expression
(Aka Gospel music encourages these things. They don’t have many opportunities otherwise)
Seems contradictory to my above point but it’s actually not. One thing I’ve noticed in my years of studying Japanese culture is that, because they are often bound by society standards and expectations, and that can often control how they dress, do their hair, their career paths and so on, and most of them are too scared to rebel lest they bring honour to their families, there’s very few opportunities where they could break free and try other things.
For example, part of why Harajuku Fashion is so out there is because Sunday was the only day students got to wear something outside of their uniform, so why not go a little overboard with layering and colours and accessories? Another example is anime which can some of the most messed up stories, often including magic and violence and being reincarnated in another world and even sexual assault or beyond, and in a way, it’s likely a output for the creator to bring to life their craziest imaginations that could never or would never do in real life. I find it funny as their form of rebelling never actually breaks the law, for example the cuter bubbly hiragana writing style we enjoy now was actually girls wanting to rebel against their more straight and serious writing style, but it caught on. And that’s usually the case, once someone is brave enough to be different, it can start a trend and they will find like minded people, and then Japan eventually just accepts it as the norm or even promotes it.
So for individuals who are generally pretty quiet, gentle, and strict when it comes to behaviors and customs in public, if they have an opportunity to ‘go crazy’, to be loud, to dance, to express themselves more openly, and to not get in trouble or be judged for it, a lot of them would take it. In my **why Japanese people love rock music**, a big appeal to them is that rock music expressese the anger, frustration, depression, and loneliness a lot of them feel but are never able to talk about or express in their everyday lives. As well behaved as the average Japanese business man may appear all week long, they’re the first to jump and scream at rock concerts, or even dance crazy with light sticks at idol shows.
There is just this deep desire for Japanese people to remove their fake social face now and then and just be free! And no, I’m not calling them fake, Japan themselves have what they call Tatemae (public behavior) and Honne (true feelings). As Taka from One Ok Rock in the clip mentions, Japanese people are very closed and often need alcohol to loosen up (Japanese drinking culture is very big, and is even expected when coworkers go out after work and at other gatherings), but music allows them to do that as well. Rock music will never die because people want to ‘expload’, so when they see band members on stage doing so, they feel free to do so as well.
Ado, one newer artist who instantly top charts for screaming out about how much she hates society and such (which isn’t new at all in Japan) is a great example. Japan honestly makes music about anything and everything, both the highs and lows, and the various emotions in between, which is what attracted me to their music…..but I wasn’t expecting when I started my research into this topic was to stumble across the “Complaints Choir of Tokyo”. Please, PLEASE, if you don’t watch the entire video, at least listen to their song between 1:30-4. I laughed and sympatized cause these are legit complaints. I have a feeling everyone in the choir added their personal complaint and they made a song of it, allowing everyone to truly sing with passion. The bit after where the music pauses and single people direectly voice their opinions is also interesting and entertaining, these are things people have been holding in for so long. Anyways, Japan’s creativity and seriousness for even the silliest topics or ideas never ceases to amaze me.
While gospel music certainly isn’t as crazy as rock music, I think it is a wonderful opportunity for many people to loosen up, to dance a little, to sing or shout as loud, and be a little more free in a space where others are also doing the same thing. A huge contrast from the more stiff and serious choirs that schools or catholic churches appear to have. In fact, the more energetic and ‘into it’ you appear, the more ‘annointed’ people would think you are in these spheres. Japanese people love to dance, don’t get me wrong, but they are usually highly choreographed so everyone still looks together. While impressive, it doesn’t allow for the same freedom and self-expression that gospel music invites people to explore. You don’t have to be perfect, you don’t have to perfectly match each other, but you’re given some direction and otherwise can do what you feel.
Below is just a little comparison between a traditional choir in Japan vs one that specializes in gospel music. The left is definitely more natural to the Japanese people, so it’s even suprising for me to see them get into the groove and have fun with it.
Check Out Some Japanese Gospel Choirs~
While it’s hard for me to really understand what’s going on in another country half way across the world, I decided to see what’s the oldest videos I could find on Youtube, whether it’s school rehearsal or performances.
Japan Mass Choir
This cover of “A Wonderful Change” was surprising by the Tokyo Mass Choir was surprising. If I wasn’t watching them, I would actually think it was a black group performing. In general, I’m used to Japanese singers having a higher pitch, but this was pretty standard. Additionally, their pronunciation is pretty good too considering how common Japanglish is in their own music. They seem to be one of the biggest or oldest choirs in Japan as I am able to find quite a few videos from them.
Awano Gospel Choir
Below is a clip from Awano Gospel Choir singing “Oh Happy Day”. It was uploaded on 2007, but not sure when it was recorded, same with a lot of these clips as they have little to know description.The Awano Gospel Choir is a Japanese choir led by composer, arranger, and director Yasumasa Awano. It was formed by uniting several regional groups Formed in 2018 by uniting several regional groups led by Awano, including Gospel Tokyo, Gospel Shonan, Ginza Graceful Choir, and Mito Gospel Class.
GQ Family
When scouting for a cover photo for this article, I saw one from GQ Family. I usually don’t open links, but I figured it would be smart to reference whoever I decided to put on the cover of this article. While I didn’t use theirs, the first line of their website indicates that they’re Japan’s biggest gospel group with more than 2000 Members! ” just happened to come across “Jenna, the founder, is a Japanese Christian choir director & songwriter who believes that the Gospel music is for all people. She joined a choir at an international church on an American base in Tokyo at the age of 19, was inspired by the power of the Gospel music and started her own Gospel studio for the local people in 2008, at the age of 26.”
Clumsy Chorus
The cover photo of this article is from the Clumsy Chorus. They don’t seem to have much videos online, but I love their energy. It’s only fair I give them a shoutout.
Japan Gospel Choirs Fellowship
Only after I mostly finished this article and was trying to find more resources and examples did I stumble across this video highlighting performances of the Japan Gospel Choirs Fellowship 2026. I didn’t watch the whole thing just yet as it’s 35minutes long, but I will! As I was clicking through to see the contents of the vide, I heard a glimpse of a black lady being interviewed around 10-15minutes which is relevant to this topic. She tells us that their culture is very closed and that they’re very private people, thus they need an opportunity where they can express themselves. A bit later, she is teaching her choir to just feel whatever emotions come up like joy, thus confirming one of my theories. Something new that I haven’t though about much was her saying that Japanese people are like sponges, “they receive everything they give them, and they’re so appreciative of this music, and they cultivate it, they grasp it, they learn it, they respect it”
Conclusion
There really wasn’t much point of this video besides my own curiousity and fascination. I was actually in the middle of updating my Christian Artist list and one person I added also had a gospel choir, which reminded me of the article I read a couple days ago, and my interest in the topic pulling me off course, but yes back to work! I hope if you were also curious, this article at least helped to satisfy your questions as well ^_^
Last thing I’ll share is this video about Harlem’s Japanese Gospel Choir. Don’t assume gospel is only spreading in native Japan, Japanese people around the world seem to be quite invested too!