I love Japanese music, especially the 90s and 00s - Asian Kung Fu Generation, Sambomaster, Sheena Ringo, Bonnie Pink, Utada Hikaru, L'arc en Ciel, Luna Sea, Alice Nine, Kanon Wakeshima, Capsule, Perfume, Sakanaction, Anna Tsuchiya. And classical musicians like Joe Hisaishi and Ryuuichi Sakamoto...
There's so much great music in Japan. It saddens me that a lot of Japanese musicians aren't well known outside Japan.
Roselia, ReoNa and amazarashi are by far some of my favourites~! But there a lot others I like too, even putting aside other music anime groups, Kishida Kyoudan, LiSA, Aimer, Eir Aoi, Konomi Suzuki, nano... a lot I like~ Basically any rock artist whose done at least two songs I know...~
im surprised you didn't mention lamp, they've got some cools stuff. Serani Poji's also got some underrated tracks, most of which aren't on most streaming platforms. you should give it a listen if you like cutsey stuff! /ᐠ｡ꞈ｡ᐟ\
There's a lot to go around, although I mostly stay with 70s and 80s stuff. The ones I mostly go back to more frequently are Anri (citypop/jpop), CASIOPEA (jazz fusion), DJ Kawasaki (2000s house/lounge}, Fishmans (indie/dub), Gontiti (acoustic guitar duo), Mio Fou (minimal/experimental), Mioko Yamaguchi (80s city pop), Pizzicato Five (shibuya-key), Susumu Hirasawa (electronic), T-Square (jazz fusion), Takako Mamiya (released one banger of a 80s pop album, then disappeared), Toshiki Kadomatsu (fusion/city pop) and obviously YMO and their solo output).
Then there's a lot of anime soundtracks with very good incidental music, some by those previously mentioned, like Hirasawa who worked with Satoshi Kon and did the music for Berserk, Gontiti (Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou, with Choro Club), others like Shiro Saguso (Kimagure Orange Road), Sugiyama Takuo (Maison Ikkoku), Toshiyuki Omori (Dirty Pair), Kenji Kawai (Patlabor), Makaino Kouji (Rose of Versailles), Nishimura Koji (Stop!! Hibari Kun), and this without getting into op / ed.
Hello. I hope you're finding Renshuu useful. In the future, please post your own post in Anything Goes or in a thread for introductions so you don't make other threads confusing
If you like classical or instrumental music, I would highly recommend compositions by Yuhki Kuramoto. I found the "Warm affection", "Lake Louise" especially magical.
I also liked the songs by "7 billion dots" ("Fingers crossed", "Nightmare" are favourite) and songs by different singers/groups, for example, "you n me" by Chilli beans, "Twilight" by Sano Ibuki, こんがらがって by 吉田山田, "Happy" by DISH//, "Kaikai kitan" by Eve, "One day" by SPYAIR (haven't watched the anime this song was in, but found this song at the page with Japanese music :D ), 遠い国 by 上野大樹 (special feature of this song: it has quite unusual time signature for pop-music - 3/4. It's more often can be found in classical pieces, waltzes, for example. I think, because of it song feels unhurried and thoughtfully-philosophical in some way :) ).
There is also music group "ONE N' ONLY", their songs are also nice, and the style reminds of k-pop a bit. My friend who likes k-pop recommended it :) ("Step up" is very uplifting song).
A lot of wonderful music can be found thanks to Japanese dramas :) For example, main theme from "Sherlock. Untold stories" (played on the violin), "君が言うようにこの世界は" by Hakubi, "Pray" by Eve, "Shima Kazumi" by Masahiro Takuda from "MIU 404" (instrumental too). "Himura Hideo no suiri" has great soundtracks, that add a lot to the unique and mysterious atmosphere of the series.
kenshi yonezu is a really talented Japanese composer who has composed songs like spinning glove from the boy and the heron, and my personal favourite - uchiage hanabi
i also recommend the songs of ymo/yellow magic orchestra. they're a band from late 1970 to the 80s. one of the members, ryuichi sakamoto, was also a composer of songs like energy flow and merry christmas mr lawrence. (by the way, merry christmas mr lawrence is also really fun to play in the piano for any piano players reading this, although I guess it depends on the arrangement)
edit: oh wait i just realised that you've mentioned ryuichi sakamoto in the original post, sorry about that
That's fantastic! CASIOPEA is renowned for their fusion jazz sound, and Japanese music indeed has a unique charm, blending traditional elements with modern styles. Anime soundtracks, in particular, often evoke powerful emotions and add depth to the storytelling. It's great to see appreciation for such diverse and impactful music!
Music helps me a lot in my learning process, imo it takes the stress out of it;
As for my favorite japanese artists, I'd say my most listened genres are 80s City pop and jpop but my artists/bands are: Ado, Aimer, Sayuri, The pillows, and I'm a BIG fan of Vocaloid.
lately i've been listening to ザアザア a lot! i used to be a big visual kei fan but they're definitely my favorite band i still listen to after years of not being that much into visual kei anymore. i'm also a huge vocaloid listener, i have a big list of producers i love most notably though, i've loved syudou's music for a good while, even after he branched from his vocaloid stuff i also love ado and 宮下遊
most notably though, i've loved syudou's music for a good while, even after he branched from his vocaloid stuff 
i also love ado and 宮下遊