When Japanese artists, creators, and innovators do something – they do it well.
Half measures are unheard of, and eclecticism, theatricality, and eccentricity reign supreme.
Most newcomers to the fertile canon of Japanese music are stunned silly by the extensive catalog of creative anthems and jaw-dropping visual experiences they encounter.
One theme you will notice throughout is a high representation of visual kei bands, a movement unique to Japan that mirrors, but exceeds America’s glam rock movement.
Frivolity, avant-gardeism, and surrealism feature heavily in the themes, styles, and ethos’ of the bands listed below.
The meticulous allegiance to aesthetics is enviable and could teach us all a thing or two about commitment to the craft.
Enjoy our list of the best Japanese bands of all time.
1. B’z
Although B’z is a two-man act they have the attitude, exuberance, and stadium-ready hits for a small army.
HMV Japan has voted them the 30th most important Japanese pop act in history and the numbers bear this out: they have sold more than 100 million records around the world. They are one of the bestselling bands in the world.
They are known for pop ballads and catchy, addictive hard, blues-infused rock, and guitarist Matsumoto’s style has drawn comparisons to Deep Purple, Aerosmith, and Led Zeppelin.
2. RC Succession
One of Tokyo’s most influential rock bands, RC Succession was one of the original heavyweights, formed in 1968.
They embodied the bluesy, folk rock tendencies of their temporal provenance, but they adapted to seventies conventions with a more electric, glam-forward ethos.
They were renegades in that they took a decidedly political approach, condemning nuclear power, and war, and advocating for Tibetan freedom – controversial topics indeed.
Their poignant, intimate vocals are stirring and allow listeners to access an elegiac emotional place.
3. The Pillows
Cooler than you, and cooler than me, The Pillows were formed in 1989, during a tempest of creative production and a fertile swell of experimental references.
They may style themselves as anti-society slackers but they are nothing if not hardworking and prolific – they’ve released 22 albums and 41 singles in their time.
Their well-crafted, intellectually curated imagery is part of the cult they’ve built up around themselves.
If you want to go full fan, check out their gothic teddy bear logo, Buster-kun, the Japanese equivalent of the Grateful Dead’s dancing bears, am I right?
“RIDE ON SHOOTING STAR” is an intoxicating mix of nineties garage instrumentals and offbeat, playful vocals.
4. Luna Sea
Formed in the theatrical and excessive eighties, Luna Sea is regarded to this day as one of the most innovative and influential visual kei bands in Japan.
They dabbled in outrageous outfits, showstopping makeup, and attention-grabbing live sets for most of their careers, until they embarked on a more alt-rock path in the late nineties.
Their tenth album Cross, released in 2019, topped the Billboard Japan charts and demonstrated to stunned onlookers that they had lost none of their earlier verve and magnetism.
5. X Japan
Formed in Chiba in the heady, flamboyant days of 1982, X Japan was a pioneer of visual kei, a glam rock style that swept the nation during the early years of that decade.
Founders Yoshiki and Toshi created X Japan as a speed metal band with symphonic, instrumentals, and progressive ballad-like flair.
Yoshiki told Billboard Magazine about their controversial, brazen beginnings: “Because of our hardcore outfit and make-up, critics didn’t take the music seriously.”
Their atmospheric, piano ballad “Endless Rain” is a lightly melodramatic starting point.
6. L’Arc-en-Ciel
Named after the French word for “rainbow”, they got their start in early 90s Osaka, when alternative, slacker rock was capturing the attention of the world.
L’Arc-en-Ciel certainly embodied the spirit of the time, with a decidedly post-punk, alt-rock style, topped off with flamboyant vocal flourishes.
They have sold over 40 million records and were the first Japanese band to headline NYC’s Madison Square Garden, evidence of their international appeal among the world’s discerning listeners.
7. the GazettE
Kingpins of the visual kei glam rock movement, they got their start in 2002 and embraced theatricality and stagemanship without fear.
Their first single “Wakaremichi” garnered them immediate critical buzz and they didn’t disappoint with subsequent recordings, which all demonstrated their industrial, nu-metal sound.
They have released nine albums and their most recent tour sold out in Japan within minutes.
Expect fast tempos, unbridled drums, and electric riffs that stun the senses.
8. Scandal
Scandal is an all-girl group from Osaka, that has achieved international acclaim for its garage, alt-rock, and pop-punk sound, which is packed with sheer energy and showmanship.
They capitalize on the anime-inspired, elaborate costumes that are unique to the Japanese cultural canon, infusing it with California punk accouterments and schoolgirl accessories.
Their 2008 single “Doll” garnered them critical attention, and they have since released ten spirited, visionary albums.
9. Radwimps
Radwimps are one of the most compelling, idiosyncratic bands to come out of Japan since the turn of the century, and they play nicely with an enviable melange of genres: indie, post-punk, funk, jazz, emo, and even rap.
Their flippant, cheeky explanation of their band name gives credence to their nonplussed brand of cool – according to the band it means alternately “excellent weakling” and “superlative coward.”
Their tempos are meticulously constructed and enviably composed, belying their intellectual leanings.
10. Buck-Tick
Founded in 1983 in Fujioka, Buck-Tick is credited with popularizing visual kei, and they have been nothing if not experimental throughout their four-decade tenure.
They have flirted with industrial, punk, and gothic arrangements and conventions, always pushing the limit of popular music.
They are chameleons like none other, and in the early noughties, they began to experiment with the Gothic & Lolita Japanese aesthetic subculture, releasing densely theatrical gothic fare.
They are also radically prolific, having released 22 albums since their inception.
11. GLAY
Rock and pop powerhouses GLAY are the ultimate creatives bringing prog rock, ska, folk, electronic, and reggae into their eclectic, inimitable fold.
They began as a visual kei band in the late eighties but they shed their more ostentatious aesthetic as the nineties progressed.
Their 1997 album Review is the fifth best-selling album of all time in Japan and they have sold over 50 million records, rivaling the reach and influence of American and British peers.
Their piano and guitar power-balled “However” is rousing, soaring material, and “Soul Love”, released in 1998, positively drips with the nostalgic chords of the eighties.
12. Babymetal
A Japanese kawaii metal band par excellence, Babymetal is an all-female band that blends curios, campy vocals with hard, high-voltage instrumentals.
Their 2013 debut Ijime, Dame, Zettai, was a hit with its melodic speed metal sound and its conceptual focus on ending bullying.
These gals are nothing if not fearless, making a hard-hitting, high-voltage impact with their intransigent blend of metal and their zany, sour candy vocals.
13. Dir En Grey
Dir En Grey, a heavy metal band formed in the heyday of nu-metal, in 1997, is hard to pin down, producing elusive sounds that defy labeling.
When the brave among us venture a try, they usually categorize them as avant-garde, gothic, death metal, or just pure alternative.
Their sixth album The Marrow of a Bone is a sturdy point of departure for those wanting to access their sound.
14. Asian Kung-Fu Generation
A 90s alternative rock band out of 1996 Yokohama this band has a high-energy name with an indie, punk flair.
Their influences oscillate between Western alt-rock and Japanese punk, with power riffs and rapid-fire tempos.
They veer towards the motive lyrics-wise and they flirt with both mainstream and indie sensibilities, ensuring a loyal audience in both scenes.
The riffs on “Re:Re” will have you wanting to lock yourself in your childhood bedroom and moan about how life is so hard – alt-rock bliss.
15. Dimlim
One of the newest acts to grace this list, Dimlim got their start in 2017 as a visual kei band with a pioneering djent, math rock sound.
Core member Sho suffers from dissociative disorder and is candid with his experiences in his songwriting.
Their sound is potent with carnal rage and sonically mediated themes of pain, alienation, and uncertainty.
Songs like “Malformation” are not for the weak of the heart while jangly, electro thrillers like “Vanitas” will bend the mind.
16. Boøwy
Boøwy brought a new wave and post-punk to Japan in the early 80s, and they made a big imprint on the currents of music and culture in that decade.
Their surrealistic, uncanny silhouette was distinctly arthouse, with sunglasses at night and opulent furs.
They were named Artist of the Year in 19989 and were ranked the 22nd most important pop acts by HMV Japan.
In 1988, they were the first Japanese male band to have three number-one albums within a single year and they were credited as the source of the “band boom” that swept over Japan once they broke up at the end of the decade.
17. Mr. Children
If you haven’t heard of Mr. Children, what the heck are you waiting for?
Time to catch up.
They are one of the best-selling Japanese artists of all time and they have sold over 75 million records in their progressive, pop-rock careers.
With over 20 albums under their belt, they have captivated arena-rock fans and have maintained a curiously dedicated fan club for thirty-plus years – no small feat in our harried, distracted world.
18. Malice Mizer
The Japanese band for the intellectual and obscurantists among us, Malice Mizer is a poignant, pensive sonic experience.
They blend classical influences with French romanticism and literary Gothicism for an academic, lush artistic sound.
Their stage presence was unparalleled with debauched, opulent historical period costumes.
They were active from 1992 to 2001 and were considered one of the big four of nineties visual kei with peers Fanatic Crisis, Shazna, and La’cryma Christi.
19. Hide
Before his tragic suicide, Hideto Matsumoto, known professionally as Hide, was the poster child for ingenuity and reckless creativity in the Japanese music scene.
He was the lead guitarist for X Japan for a decade before embarking on his solo career, exploring the visual kei style he helped originate in his own eclectic way.
He was a counterculture, antisocial youth icon and he was perceived as a figurehead for the ennui inherent in Japan’s conformist, capitalist society.
20. D’espairsRay
While many of their peers have careers that span decades, the exasperatedly named D’espairsRay made their indelible mark in only twelve – 1999 to 2011.
They embodied the conventions of the visual kei aesthetic but they produced disconcerting, throbbing industrial, nu, and gothic metal arrangements.
With album titles like Mirror, Immortal, and Monsters they bring to mind a hybrid of System Of A Down soundscapes and disturbing, dark metal thematics.
21. Jiluka
A visual kei metal band with an ostentatious aesthetic and campy goth silhouette, Jiluka is a must-listen for lovers of darkness, intrigue, and the avant-garde.
Their first album, 2018’s Metamorphose garnered them critical success on the charts and brought their spooky blend of screamo vocals and unflinching intensity into the mainstream.
Their melodic sound is heavy and saturates a room with relentless drums and uncanny hip-hop and classical references.
22. Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra
Fancy yourself someone at the cutting edge, someone who happily imbibes in the offbeat?
You will be all over TSPO like a rash.
With a potent, off-kilter blend of ska, reggae, and gregarious instrumentals a sense of conviviality and breeziness dominate their sound.
They bring vigor and playfulness to the orchestral mode and they allow the instruments to do most of the talking.
23. Deviloof
For starters, their band name means, in their own words, the “omittance of devil’s proof” and fans have dubbed them the most “brutal” visual kei act.
If the shoe fits, right?
Deviloof is all darkness, gore, and macabre symbolism and they maintain a consistent allegiance to mystery and obscurity.
Their live acts are violently deathcore and their silhouette is frightening, redolent of The Misfits at their campy best (or worst).
24. Plastic Tree
Plastic Tree embraced many of the currents of alternative nineties rock like shoegaze, arthouse, noise, and dream pop and put an emboldened, introspective originality on it.
Fuzzy feedback combines with lush melodies for a raw, emotive sound redolent of The Cure or the late eighties Jesus and Mary Chain.
Tangents of sculpture, art, and design infuse their silhouette and lend them a preternatural, well-curated sense of hip indifference.
25. The Back Horn
J-pop icons for those in the known, The Back Horn got their start in 1998 in Tokyo with a distinctly alt-rock sound that draws comparisons to other alienated, downtempo icons like Nirvana and Radiohead.
Their ennui and cynicism are well-received, and they dabble unapologetically with unpleasant subject matter like social decay, decadence, war, and emotional isolation.
Their indie, post-grunge credentials have established them as a band for the cooler-than-you set, but their mainstream credentials are evidenced by their inclusion in various film soundtracks.
26. Maximum the Hormone
A chronic blend of groove and death metal, Maximum the Hormone chart their own path with a surly individualism and a radically unusual vision.
Their offbeat, unrepentant style is at once sardonic and ironic, drawing comparisons to the industrial rock icon System of a Down.
The color is way outside of the lines, drawing funk, ska, punk, and hip-hop tempos into their eclectic metal sound.
27. Dadaroma
An alternative metal, visual kei wunderkind, Dadaroma is a relative newcomer to the Japanese music scene, getting its start in 2014.
They are distinguishable with their garish, gothic makeup, campy silhouettes, and cartoon-inspired outfits.
They thrive on creating a dissonance between their relentless, enraged sound and their dazzling, intricately colorful stage costumes.
“Risley Circus” will be your new fave track if you love hardcore screamo. If not – beware.
28. Shazna
One of the big four visual kei bands of the nineties, Shazna embraced a distinctly post-punk, elusively romantic gothic style.
They were active from 1993-2000, and they experimented with more overtly gothic sounds until 1996 when they took their music in a new wave direction.
Their beautiful, pensive maturity can be accessed in wildly underappreciated songs like “Melty Love” and the surrealist “Raspberry Time.”
29. Yorushika
Yorushika is a thoughtful, imaginative dreamer’s ideal band with their ethereal instrumentation and moody, heavy lyrics.
Literature and enigmatic, they explore themes of human emotion and the ravages of love with their poetic fare.
Their name is a riff off a lyric that means “I can only sleep at night”, a heartening example of their moody, secretive nature.
They’ve never publicly revealed their faces, adding to their elusive cache since their 2017 inception.
30. One OK Rock
Formed in Tokyo in 2005, One OK Rock dabbles in emo, hard rock, post-grunge, and pop-punk, capitalizing on the audacious currents that rock was taking in the early noughts.
Their internationally acclaimed 2012 hit “The Beginning” brought them near-instant acclaim and their album Ambitions hit the U.S. charts.
Their current sound is less angsty and surly and more pop-rock focused with some electronic arrangements thrown in for good measure.
31. Mucc
A visual kei powerhouse founded in 1997, Mucc has released sixteen studio albums and charted a diverse range of genres: nu-metal, punk, metalcore, and dance-rock.
Their unexpected, disruptive anthem “CLASSIC” gives you a good taste of their ethos: melodic intros with hard-hitting, aggressive instrumentals and histrionic, soaring laments.
Their blend of double bass, harmonica, and piano is riveting, and demonstrates their ability to release heartfelt, opulent sounds, like those in “YESTERDAY ONCE MORE.”
32. Bump Of Chicken
Quirky, intransigent, and wildly popular, their pop cred can be felt in every angle of Japanese culture, from video games to anime to film to products and beyond.
Formed in 1994 in the cultural tempest of Chiba, they have released ten albums in their time and they’ve released 27 singles.
They cut a hip and intimidating figure with mop-like hair and minimalist black n’ white get-ups but their sound is inviting and addictive.
33. Band-Maid
Taking the Harajuku, anime-doll costumes to meticulous new levels, Band-Maid is a visual, musical, and cinematic experience.
Though they dress like maids their sounds are decidedly anarchic and unapologetic – submission be damned.
They blend sugar-sweet vocals with unrepentant, jackhammer instrumentals.
They were awarded the Best Musical Act at the 2020 Neo Awards.
34. Uverworld
Known for releasing Japan’s first 3-D music video for their song “Gold” Uverworld is a fusion rock band with a slick, industrial-chic silhouette and enviably coiffed hair.
They captivate the mainstream with smooth, honeyed vocals and urban credibility.
Palatable and fashionable anthems like “ODD FUTURE” and “CORE PRIDE” showcase their edgy ingenuity and willingness to dabble in jazz, electro, screamo, and pop.
35. King Gnu
Hipster, eclectic, and unpolished, King Gnu is all about organic beats, approachable aesthetics, and thoughtfully-crafted instrumentals without all the bells and whistles.
In 2019 they won the Best Japanese Act at the MTV Europe music awards, garnering them critical attention on both sides of the Pacific.
Their songs are dissonant and take uncanny tangents, creating a captivating, uncommonly groovy listening experience.
Best Japanese Rock Bands of All Time – Final Thoughts
If you’re chastising yourself for overlooking the stellar repertoire of Japanese rock and pop, don’t.
But remedy that situation stat – go take the day off work and listen to this wide-ranging selection.
You’ll be booking a flight to Japan, like, yesterday.
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