If you’re just dipping your foot into this countries wide variety of amazing, interesting, and beautiful music, boy! Are you in for a ride! Well…a potentially rocky one for sure.
I first discovered Japanese music around 2006 when I discovered my favourite childhood ‘cartoons’ were actually animes and I came across their original Japanese openings.
However, my family didn’t always have internet, and Youtube had yet to become what it is today. It was all about luck, and my Japanese collection (and music collection in general) barely had 50 songs on it.
Lucky for you, everythings online now, and both artists and labels have made their music accessible via the internet. It can still be a bit hard if you’re not familiar with the language as artists and titles of songs may only be in Japanese, but one step at a time, right?
Here’s various places where you as can find, listen to, and/or buy Japanese music!
And if you’re interested in learning more vocabulary and kanji so you can watch anime and dramas, read manga, sing J-pop at karaoke, or play raw Japanese video games, check out my 250+ Kanji for Japanese Media (+Sentences) article and my Japanese Study Guide!
Listening
Youtube
What better place to find music, especially music videos than Youtube! Nowadays, a lot of individuals are walking thin lines as Japan tends to take down some songs and others are country/region restricted as well (just look at Spotify for example), but it’s still an amazing place. It’s rare I can’t find a song I know on there.
A lot of bands do have their own Youtube channel these days, so it would help to have a list of artists. You can definitely check out my article, 50 Anime Bands To Check Out, or explore My Sampler Playlists on Youtube to get started. Otherwise, check out these label channels to discover a variety of new and unique artists:
- A-Sketch
- Across The Pop Records
- AFD’s Music Entertainment
- Avex
- B.P. Records
- Being
- Bogus Records
- Columbia Music JP
- Danger Crue/Maverick DC Group
- Dead Funny Records
- Felicity
- Flying Dog
- Fueled By Ramen
- Full20/Kick Rock Music
- Gil Soundworks
- Hip Land Music
- iENECO
- Jirokken Fever
- JMSTV
- KiliKili Villa
- Kilk Records
- King Records**
- Ladder Records
- Lantis Global Channel
- Low High Who
- Mirai Records
- No Big Deal Records
- One Big Family
- Pinefields Kobe
- Ricco Label
- Sambafree.inc
- Sony Music Japan
- Space Shower Music
- Spincoaster
- Starwave Records
- The Ninth Apollo
- TokumaJapan
- Twilight Records
- Undead Record
- University Music Japan
- VAP
- Victor Entertainment
- Virgin Babylon Records
- Warner Music Japan
- Zankyo Record
- Zany Zap Official
Ontop of labels, a few channels have popped up during the pandemic where various artists, groups, and bands will be a guest and perform on their channel.
One popular one is The First Take where groups get one chance to perform live in their studio. They will usually do a more intimate acoustic version of their songs. This channel has English subs so you can understand they lyrics. Sometimes the artist will talk a bit more about the artist and what the song represents as well.
There is also Blackboard, where the artist or group will perform in front of a blackboard in a class or a screen that displays their lyrics or relative images.
Spotify
Whatever place to find music than Spotify? I know my exposure to new artists has grown exponentially since I got my own account in 2021. While I have my favourites, Spotify will create playlists or just continue to play similar music, so you have an easier chance of being exposed to new artists and songs you may like.
I created an article on the best Spotify Playlists to find Japanese music. I included both popular playlists and I also have playlists for specific genres, so check it out!
Radio
Even if you personally don’t listen to the radio much, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Even though you don’t like in Japan, there are various Japanese stations, along with western stations featuring Japanese songs, that are being streamed online and are free to check out.
You can either use a radio app like Radio Japan, or use these free sites to listen directly from your computer. You should see about the same list of channels on these sites and programs. Online Radio Box, Tune In, and My Tuner Radio seem to be the least ad-intrusive.
Purchasing
Digital Downloads
Ototoy
Upon research, Ototoy appears to be a popular and trusted site among international fans. The site contains enough English to get around. Not only is the site active with news and recent releases, but you can also purchase merch, speakers, and headphones!
Itunes
There really isn’t many options for downloading Japanese music, but according to research, Itunes is one trusted and loved option. The amount of artists available is limited, but that’s probably more to do with Japan’s Geoblocking more than anything else. If you don’t have an apple product, don’t worry! Itunes is a free software available to anyone. If you want more tips on how to purchase Japanese music through Itunes, check out this site!
Physical Copies
CD Japan
Another very popular and well esteemed online shop is CD Japan. While the name has CD in it, the site carries a variety of other goods as well, such as anime, figurines, beauty products, and apparel.
Yes Asia
If the above site is just a little too busy for you, try out Yes Japan. The site is focused on the music and comes with international shipping. If you’re interested in Kpop or Chinese music, or you would like to purchase other media like anime and magazines, this site has it all!
HMV Japan
Unlike CD Japan and Yes Asia, HMV is a big corporation. If you can’t find a CD you’d like on those pages, you can definitely find it here.
Amazon Japan
By changing the end of Amazon’s site to .co.jp, you’ll gain access to Japan’s Amazon site. According to netizens, you can order from here regardless of your country, as long as the item itself is shipped by Amazon (as opposed to a third party seller). You can just type in CD to look around, or type in your artist. The Amazon column for filters is in English, and you can always translate the page.
Here’s some sites for advice on purchasing through Japan’s Amazon:
–Remambo: How to Order from Amazon Japan
–Kachi: Order, Buy & Shipping from Amazon Japan
Ebay
One other place others highly recommend is Ebay. Unlike Amazon, eBay is ran by independent individuals and businesses, so you never know what you may find. You may be able to get a brand new CD from a reputable seller/business in Japan. If a CD is sold out elsewhere, there are bound to be individuals on here putting them up for auction. You may also find old CDs that are no longer being produced. Just be sure to buy from a seller with at least some positive ratings before purchasing from them. But if anything happens, eBay tends to take the side of the buyer.