The Japanese music thread , All Genre , New and Old.

[ChefBrunch]

I listen to a pretty good amount of Japanese artists , lots of them sing in English even in many genre new and old. I did not find much Japanese music mentioned on the forums and thought it could be a subject of interest for many members looking to branch out into some well recorded and produced music.

So feel free to post and ask questions , lets share some good Japanese music.

Well to start things off I'll start with what I'm listening to right now.

Japan has a lot of classic Vocal Jazz female singers, I'm very much into

Junko Mine w/Sleepy Matsumoto - I wish you love -

this is one of my favorite Vocal Jazz Albums if not my favorite and IMO one of the best there is. Recently remastered to CD and also available fairly easy on Vinyl with IMO the 1985 reissues being the best versions on Vinyl because they have been done with a very audible pre-echo on the cut...it just works with the music IMO.....if you don't like pre-echo get the originals or CD remaster...the CD remaster I'm sure is available for HI-Res streaming. I own all versions of this on CD and LP.

this first one is the 85 digital cd uploaded to YT

this one is my upload of the 85 vinyl cut with pre-echo on my humble setup.

 

[ChefBrunch]

I follow this YT channel that features relatively unknown Japanese artists , The station is called LIV. The station sort of sets up Live recording scenarios for artists to showcase their music in a kind of "Live Studio" way.

I found this Group "Sucola" watching the channel and they will be soon releasing their first CD available on pre-order. I highly recommend checking them out. Both "Sucola" and the "LIV" yt channel

here is the video that prompted me to start following Sucola, the Female singer has an incredible voice and delivery especially in live performance

just a live performance short I like

from the new album they made a nice MV just 11 days ago

 

[ChefBrunch]

I also really dig this Group I found on LIV, more of a urban beat jazz funk thing. But they recorded this sweet jam while floating on a boat at night and its just SICK. I have not hade time yet to dive deeper into this group but plan on it....too much good music too explore.

but more great new Japanese music too be found.

just to showcase what one might find on LIV channel, but tons of different genre on the channel lots of acoustic also.

 

[ChefBrunch]

Spinning this CD

Idk if you call this Japanese music , classic vocal jazz really but I don't think the singer is much popular outside of Japan.

Ron Carter performed with a lot of Japanese singers and toured Japan a lot.

 

[Bruce B]

I travelled to Tokyo with Winston (FIM) and we recorded the Tsuyoshi Yamamoto Trio. We did the recording/mastering in DSD/DXD and felt it turned out quite good. I still listen to that Trio. I think their biggest hit was "Midnight Sugar".

 

[slowGEEZR]

I travelled to Tokyo with Winston (FIM) and we recorded the Tsuyoshi Yamamoto Trio. We did the recording/mastering in DSD/DXD and felt it turned out quite good. I still listen to that Trio. I think their biggest hit was "Midnight Sugar".

Bruce, the Tsuyoshi Yamamoto Trio recently re-recorded their hits, including "Midnight Sugar"(2 takes) and "Misty", using a lot of the original techs from their TBM days. The album is a 1- step, by Audio Nautes Recordings, from "Original Master Source" so I don't know if it was analog or digital tape. The name of the album is, "Blues for K" and is four sides, 45rpm. I like it.

 

[ChefBrunch]

I also have the albums Midnight Sugar and Blues for K .

Some info you might be interested in for up coming releases.

This previously unreleased recording is being released on Jan 1 2026. I have it on pre-order.

Junko Mine W/ Tsuyoshi Trio at the " Basie" 1976.

Junko Mine recently had a few albums remastered and reissued on CD. This is a continuation i feel...amazing singer.

UVWA-4004 Tsuyoshi Yamamoto, Junko Mine / Live at "BASIE" 1976 (Title subject to change) [Limited Low-priced Edition]
CD 1800yen
Released: January 21, 2026
Availability: Pre-order:Usually ships by the release date

 

[ChefBrunch]

- Jun Fukamachi - 1983 - Final Yamato - Digital Trip synthesizer fantasy

Huge Jun Fukamachi fan.

These Digital Trip Synthesizer fantasy albums are done by many different artists. It's a whole Japanese genre in itself.

Jamming with my vintage cd portable setup. Sounds a lot better than it should.