Knowing where to start with Japanese music can be a bit of a minefield. On top of that, finding songs you can study Japanese with is even harder. Or perhaps you often go to karaoke, but never know what songs to sing? Look no further – here is a list of 15 easy Japanese songs to get you started!
The songs on this list have been chosen because they are popular songs which also have simple Japanese lyrics. Similarly, I’ve tried to include a mix of older and newer songs.
I wanted to write this post to show the wide range of Japanese music. Sometimes I worry that it can be hard to see past the idol music sometimes! I hope that this list will be a helpful starting point for discovering all sorts of Japanese music.
1. 上を向いて歩こう by 坂本九 // Ue wo Muite Arukou by Kyu Sakamoto
This is the oldest song on the list but a definite classic. Known as “Sukiyaki” in English, this is one of the best selling singles of all time. I’m not sure why this is because it has no connection to the lyrics!
It is also one of the few foreign language songs to reach the top of the US Billboard Top 100 chart.
The upbeat sound of the song contrasts with the sadness of the lyrics. The song tells the story of a man who looks up and whistles to stop tears from falling. The lyrics are simple and repetitive, which makes it a fun and easy Japanese song to study with!
2. 世界に一つだけの花 by SMAP // Sekai ni Hitotsu Dake no Hana by SMAP
The recently disbanded boy band SMAP were very much a national institution, having a career spanning almost three decades. Besides music, the band’s members expanded into acting and hosted one of the most popular variety shows of all time, SMAPxSMAP.
Their biggest song (The One and Only Flower in the World) was released in 2003. It was an instant hit, selling over a million copies. The song’s simple lyrics and pacing make it a karaoke
3.手紙〜拝啓十五の君へ by アンジェラ・アキ // Tegami ~ Haikei juugo no kimi e by Angela Aki
This single by singer-songwriter Angela Aki was released in 2008. Originally featured in a NHK documentary, it became popular again after the March 11 tsunami disaster and is still heard at graduation time today.
I think it perfectly encapsulates what a lot of us would write a letter to our younger selves. It’s a song with a great message and certainly one to listen to when you’re feeling a bit down.
By the way, 拝啓 (はいけい/ haikei) is how you traditionally start off a letter in Japanese.
4. First Love by 宇多田ヒカル // First Love by Utada Hikaru
Utada Hikaru is one is Japan’s most famous contemporary artists – it was tricky to pick a song from her many albums.
First Love was Utada’s third single, taken from the album of the same name which went on to over seven million copies in Japan. That’s not bad considering she was just 16 years old at the time! This easy Japanese ballad has a mix of Japanese and
5. PONPONPON by きゃりーぱみゅぱみゅ // PONPONPON by Kyary Pamyu Pamyu
Kyary Pamyu Pamyu is the stage name of Kiriko Takemura. Takemura started as a blogger and model before entering the music industry. Her 2011 single PONPONPON was the first of her singles to become a viral hit.
The catchy beat is the invention of famed producer Yasutaka Nakata, who is also the creative force behind pop trio Perfume. The song and music video are the epitome of cute. Together with the simple lyrics, this is a very easy song to get stuck in your head (you have been warned!).
6. ありがとう by いきものがかり // Arigatou by Ikimonogakari
Ikimonogakari are a pop-rock band that have been around since 1999, although they are currently on hiatus. The band’s name refers to the group of children assigned the task of looking after plants and animals in Japanese primary schools.
Arigatou is a song they released in 2010 and is about treasuring a loved one. The lyrics are very sweet, and the tempo of the song makes it a good choice for singing at karaoke!
7. ORION by 中島美嘉 // Orion by Mika Nakashima
Mika Nakashima is a singer and actress from Kagoshima prefecture who debuted in 2001. As an actress, she is probably most famous for her role in the live-action adaptation of the shojo manga Nana.
Her single Orion was released in 2008 and is one of her many popular singles. In this song, Mika sings wistfully about a past love. The lyrics here are slow and not too difficult which makes it a nice song for Japanese learners.
8. リンダリンダ by ザ・ブルーハーツ // Linda Linda by The Blue Hearts
The Blue Hearts were a punk rock band popular in the 80s and 90s. Linda Linda is one of their most popular singles and remains a karaoke
Originally released in 1987, the song was a key part of the film Linda Linda Linda (2005), where 4 high school girls form a band which covered several songs by The Blue Hearts.
9. 恋に落ちたら by Crystal Kay // Koi ni Ochitara by Crystal Kay
Crystal Kay is a singer hailing from Yokohama, who released her debut single at just 13 years old. Koi ni Ochitara was her seventeenth single released in 2005 and was the theme song for a drama of the same name. This pop ballad is probably the least well known on the list, but it has simple but sweet lyrics perfect for karaoke!
10. 涙そうそう by 夏川りみ // Nada Sou Sou by Rimi Natsukawa
Nada Sou Sou is an Okinawan phrase which means “large tears are falling”. In standard
The original song was performed by Ryoko Moriyama, but it is Rimi Natsukawa’s version released in 2001 that steadily became a hit. It was so popular that broadcaster TBS made two dramas and a film between 2005 and 2006. The song is sad but beautiful and certainly a Japanese song worth knowing about.
11. KARATE by BABYMETAL
Babymetal
The group’s 2016 song Karate is from their second album Metal Resistance and is all about never giving up in difficult times. A lot of the main phrases are repeated and overall the lyrics are not too tricky. This is a definite crowd pleaser at karaoke!
12. Monster by 嵐// Monster by Arashi
I don’t think it is possible to escape Arashi, the five-piece boyband who have been together since 1999. Like SMAP, each member is involved in TV hosting and acting.
Released in 2010, Monster was the theme song for the drama adaptation of the manga Kaibutsu-
13. Best Friend by Kiroro
Kiroro
The song Best Friend was released in 2001, and was the theme song for a drama called
14. キセキ by Greeeen // Kiseki by Greeeen
Greeeen (the 4 e’s represent the four members of the group) are a pop-rock band originating from Fukushima prefecture. Kiseki was released in 2008 as the theme song for the baseball drama Rookies, and quickly became a bestseller.
The title
15. 恋するフォーチュンクッキー by AKB48 // Koi Suru Fortune Cookie by AKB48
[Note: there are options to have Japanese or English subtitles on the video!]
AKB48 are a massive girl group with several best-selling songs to their name. Named after the area in Tokyo where the group are based (Akihabara), the idol group is split into teams that hold performances there every day.
Released in 2013, the message of Koi Suru Fortune Cookie is to try positive about the future, because you never know what will happen tomorrow. I am not the biggest AKB48 fan but you cannot deny that this song is incredibly catchy, upbeat and has a fun dance to learn too!
So this turned out to be a very long post! It’s always good to have a shortlist of songs when going to karaoke. Here’s a handy Spotify playlist for the majority of the tracks:
Hopefully, this post has given you a few ideas of easy Japanese songs (it was certainly fun writing this post). If in doubt, you can’t really go wrong with good old Disney songs in Japanese!
What is your favourite Japanese song? Let me know in the comments!
I sang in a band while i lived in Japan and I swear at every live we did they would always want us to sing 上を向いて歩こう. I swear they should just make it the national anthem. Everyone knows it by heart.
It must have been a great experience in a band – what kind of songs did you sing?
上を向いて歩こう should definitely be the national anthem haha!
We had a variety. Some English some Japanese. Some old some new. One of the favorites was 花束を君に by Utada Hikaru, and I would probably say the second was the Locomotion
That’s pretty cool – there was always something for everyone then 🙂 You can’t go wrong with Utada!
Here’s a site where you can play lyrics game with Japanese songs. Sorry if you already knew about it..https://lyricstraining.com/ja
I didn’t know about that site, thanks for sharing 🙂 That is a pretty fun way to memorise lyrics!
I remembered that my sensei always used either Sekai Hana and Kiroro songs to raise our mood to learn Kanji lol
That’s great – our teacher used to play Studio Ghibli songs, which I thought was pretty cool 🙂
Great post. I’ve been looking for some karaoke suggestions for a long time so I’ll certainly take a look at these. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for commenting Rebecca, I’m glad you liked the suggestions. This was such a fun post to write!
The only SMAP song I really like is シャレオツ because it’s so catchy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyeFQaYuTac
also i like morai naki better than namida sousou. I liked minegishi’s cover
and as much as i love sashihara i hate the fortune cookie song because it’s so boring. akb has so many songs since they’ve been around for so long and so of course i’ve found songs i love like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgsJmKTLvTk and
Thanks for the recommendations 🙂 I don’t really listen to SMAP or AKB48 much so I’m sure there are better songs (like the ones you’ve mentioned) to showcase both groups at their best!
I love how you can learn from lyrics easily due to pop-up dictionaries like rikai-sama, yomi-kun. you can’t do that for korean lol
Gessakai, by Buck Tick and also theme song of Nightwalker. The lyrics include simple, repetitive phrases. It’s a slow beat, so it can have its place at the end of a karaoke night! I noticed this song while studying Japanese language, Beginner 1 level. I used it to relate to many beginner level notions (particle の, verb and verb forms, colours, etc). Very easy to sing along!
Thank you for the recommendation Mariko! I had heard of Buck-Tick but had never listened to any of their songs…
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‘ue o muite arukou’ is known in English spoken countries as Sukiyaki, and this was transmitted to our country too (Brasil). After many years, I thought it was due to Sukiyaki being a term used as jealousy in japanese. But The truth is kind of comic, kind of tragic. It has that an English producer, heard the song and told his staff that he want to sell the song in Britain, but couldn’t remember the name of the song, and tod them ;;; about that “sukiyaki” song … (is a japanese dish prepared on the table… that’s what he remembered about japanese… sooo.
Thank you for commenting. I didn’t know the story behind the name Sukiyaki… very interesting!
Ah yes First Love was one of the first songs I very quickly understood upon learning Japanese. A very good song for the basics indeed. I think Namie Amuro’s Can You Celebrate is definitely iconic and great for beginners too.
https://youtu.be/5LPXnBLBZpo
Can You Celebrate was nearly on this list – I am a big fan of Namie!
まるまるもりもり is my go-to easy Japanese karaoke song! Super easy, lots of onomatopoeia, cute kids and a talking dog.
Hi Rachel, sounds great – I am going to check it out for sure!
My favorite Japanese song is 犬のおまわりさん (Inu no Omawari-san). I learned it in Japanese language class, andused to sing it to my niece. She was probably wondering “Who’s that blonde? And why is she signing that Japanese song??”
I just remembered that I learned that song in Japanese class as well – thank you for reminding me of it!
Thanks a lot!
Thank you, I’m glad you like the post!