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A Foolproof Guide to Finding Japanese Song Lyrics (Plus:Discovering Your Genre)

Hey, music lovers.

Yeah, could you take off the headphones for a second?

Just a second.

Cool. So what were you listening to just now?

Metallica? Rage Against the Machine? Imagine Dragons? Taylor Swift?

Doesn’t matter.

Here’s where we combine your love of music with your love of Japanese.

In case you were unaware of the epicness of learning Japanese through music, take a look at that first. And it is epic.

Why Learn Japanese Through Song Lyrics?

If you find you’re not entirely into kyary pamyu pamyu’s personal asylum, then delving into the diverse world ofJapanese music is going to give you greater insight into different facets of Japanese language, culture and (perhapsmost fun) counterculture.

You’ll get listening and reading comprehension practice at the same time — not a bad two-for-one deal. Once you’recomfortable enough with some favorite tunes, you can practice your linguistic memory by recalling lyrics withoutmusic tot follow. You could go the traditional karaoke practice route and sing along with the music to improve yourpronunciation, fluency and spoken vocabulary. You could even write down lyrics from memory or while you’re activelylistening, better ingraining them in your brain! There’s tons of ways to strengthen your various Japanese skills throughsongs and song lyrics.

Not to mention, a lot of songs contain the same similes and metaphors, so you’ll get used to the ones that crop up alot. This repetition is bound to an understanding of Japanese sentence structure .

So, c’mon. There’s loads of great reasons I could give you. Just admit that now it’s definitely time to try learningJapanese through lyrics.

But how to find them? You’re not satisfied with reading romaji and you don’t want to frequent the fan-girl/fan-boyhaunts.

You need to think outside the box.

You need to be a net ninja.

A Foolproof Guide to Finding Japanese Song Lyrics (plus: Discovering your Genre)

1. Anime/Drama Theme Songs

This is, hands down, a literal gold mine for finding Japanese song lyrics. Not only do anime and dramas often feature

whatever musician was popular at the time of their release, but they also tend to be dutifully recorded, translated andplayed along with the show’s ever-colorful opening sequence — all thanks to those wonderful independenttranslators. Thank you kind gods and goddesses! In these you’ll have the written Japanese, the pronunciation fromthe music and the English translation in case your Japanese-English dictionary is on the fritz. Best part: if you likewhat you’re hearing, you can pick up the artist’s name and find all kinds of beautiful new Japanese music to bask in!

2. YouTube Karaoke

This is an insanely entertaining way to get those Japanese lyrics down, though it does take a little bit of net-ninjaing. Ifyou look up “Japanese songs karaoke” on YouTube, chances are good that you’re in for a pretty narrow array ofsongs. Beyond that, you’ll be lucky if you even find a vague reference to some Japanese person who sang it, if theirname is listed at all.

What you really want to try is finding an artist you’re interested in (who’s also likely to be in karaoke booths) andswitching your keyboard to hiragana. Once you’re ready to type, enter in the artist’s name, the specific song and theword カラオケカラオケ(からおけ – karaoke) after it. Voila! You’ve finally cracked the code to the secret garden of Japanesekaraoke songs! The only downsides are (1) you’ll have to have a pretty solid handle of hiragana and katakana(though a lot of the song titles are in English anyway) and (2) the tinny elevator music カラオケ renditions of yourfavorite songs might make you cringe just a little bit…but hopefully they won’t destroy your faith in music.

3. Fan Blogs

When in doubt, look to the fans. Not just the ones who hang around conventions in Pikachu costumes but theinvested, hardcore, Japanese music enthusiasts who have lovingly transcribed and translated all the lyrics to theirfavorite musicians’ songs. This is also a good way to start recognizing the genres that those previously unheard-ofband names fall into. A great start to finding your personal favorites! Speaking of which, here’s a few of the bestwebsites to check out:

AnimeLyrics.com

While not really a blog, this is one of the best, most user-friendly websitesto find popular j-pop/j-rock artists often featured in anime. But don’t let thename fool you. This site also boasts a number of artists unrelated toanime, with songs complete with lyrics in English, romaji and often kanji.The often “open-faced” display style (with romaji in the left column andEnglish translation in the right) makes it a breeze to compare theJapanese sentence structure with the English. Make sure you’ve got atranslation app handy!

Entry No.1

If you’re into indie, folk and experimental music, this calm, pensive sitecreated by a high school Creative Writing teacher catalogs a number ofJapanese song lyrics, poems and manga. All of it’s translated into Englishwith the original kanji displayed. It’s especially great if you’re practicingyour kanji, but you might want to keep your translation app ready to go.

J-Sounders

This one highlights more of the popular mainstream artists you’re likely tosee on the Top 100 of Japan type of lists. Although all (or most) of thelyrics are written in romaji, it’s a great way to learn some new vocabularyor to keep noticing recurring words among songs.

…VOICE

This is a very comprehensive site, with lyrics mostly in the pop and rockcategory. What’s really interesting about this blog is that the lyrics arecategorized both by artist and by anime, so if you’re looking for who didthe opening theme for “デュラララ！！” (“でゅららら ！！”-“Durarara!!”), look no further! Also, very helpful for those looking to studykanji, the lyrics are shown in English, romaji and kanji! This blogger’s gotthis Japanese music thing down pat.

These are some of the more user-friendly sites which have aconsiderable amount of study material, but there are many more to befound (or started!).

4. Japanese Song Lyrics Sites (in 日本語日本語/にほんごにほんご – Japanese!)

I’m sure you’ve got your go-to lyrics sites that you frequent whenever you hear a great song with unclear lyrics,however, they might not be the best source when you’re trying to find your lyrics in Japanese. So how do you finddecent, mostly accurate Japanese lyrics? I’ll answer my question with another question, if I may: where do Japanesepeople find them? Why, Japanese lyrics sites of course! Ready to put your Japanese reading skills to the test? Hereare a couple of popular sites:

うたまっぷうたまっぷ (utamap)

This site has every search option known to man! We’ve got artist name, song name, search by phrase, search bycategory (sports, movies, anime, TV shows), popularity ranking, everything. Good place to start: click on the orange歌詞検索歌詞検索 (かし けんさく – lyrics search) button, and click the pink characters that say 本日の注目歌詞ランキング本日の注目歌詞ランキング (ほんじつの ちゅうもく かし らんきんぐ – today’s popular lyrics ranking). What you’ll find is a virtual smorgasbord ofJapanese song lyrics with the most hits of that day. Dig in!

Uta-Net

This site is arguable the best. If utamap doesn’t have it, Uta-Net does. Expect to find the more alternative bands’ lyricshere, including a ranking search by genre and even by karaoke ranking! So if you want to see what people are beltingout in the karaoke booths right about now, this is the place to find out!

5. FluentU Music Videos

FluentU takes real-world videos like music videos, movie trailers, news, and inspiring talks and turns them intoJapanese learning experiences. On FluentU, you’ll find a growing selection of Japanese music videos subtitled inkanji, furigana and English. You can stop the video at any time by rolling over it with your mouse. This will immediatelydisplay the translation for the Japanese words that you’re seeing and hearing, along with useful example sentences.

The coolest part? FluentU’s learn mode takes music videos and turns them into Japanese learning lessons. Yourquestions will come from music videos themselves, and they’ll be personalized based on your history on FluentU.There’s no better way to learn than through real-world context.

6. Be Wary of Major Pitfalls

Inaccurate Lyrics

We know that none of us is perfect. Occasionally you’re going to come across some lyrics that aren’t exactly right. Ifyou can’t find a Japanese word in the dictionary, chances are it hasn’t been transcribed properly. That, or theconjugated verb form is difficult to find. Armed with a good Japanese translator app, the song in question all queuedup, the websites above and a discerning mind, the inaccurate lyrics will actually prove to be a great learningopportunity!

Nonsensical Lyrics

While a lot of songs are going to be great sources of new vocab, there are quite a few Japanese bands who tend tofavor nonsense. They may just use sounds that are fun to sing and that go with the beat, but these aren’t going tocome in too handy when asking for directions on the streets of Yokohama. A few examples include certain songs bythe likes of Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, Polysics and Maximum the Hormone. While all belong to very different genres, themajority of the lyrics of these songs consist of made-up words. That said, they’re a BLAST to listen to or sing to!

The Alluring Romaji

While it’s so deliciously easy to rely on the romaji on a lot of these lyrics sites, for the sake of your well-roundedJapanese study it’s highly recommended that you try to delve into the original kanji when reading lyrics. You’ll get abetter idea of how to read those frequently used words! When searching for lyrics in kanji, you’ll want to try theJapanese lyrics sites listed above.

Discovering your Genre: Learn with What You Like!

Think of this less of a comprehensive list and more of a “taster” of each genre. Also, as a disclaimer, the artists listedmay fall into more than one category. Artists were also chosen based on the availability of the lyrics on the site above.However, use this opportunity to expand your Japanese musical repertoire! Have fun!

1. Pop

きゃりーぱみゅぱみゅきゃりーぱみゅぱみゅ (Kyary pamyupamyu): the queen of bizarre music videos, andwhere most westerners get the idea that Japan isinsane, she churns out incredibly catchy, mostly-nonsensical bubble-gum smash hits which seemto please everyone. She’s out there, but seemsto know what her audience wants!

ユイユイ (ゆいゆい - Yui): think of Yui as the Avril Lavignethat never sold out. Her pop/rock sound and herballads are tied together with her very likablevoice.

赤西仁赤西仁 (あかにしあかにし じんじん - Jin Akanishi): here’s avery pretty member of the boy band KAT-TUNgone solo. He’s got a pop/R&B sound that seemsto be popular for the moment.

2. Punk

I might get shot by punk diehards for this, but Ichose based on the availability of the Japaneselyrics. A lot of great underground punk bands are,by nature, harder to track down.

ザ・ブルーハーツザ・ブルーハーツ (ざ・ぶるーはーつざ・ぶるーはーつ - The BlueHearts): you may have seen these guys onanother one of our posts, but they’re an extremelypopular punk-ish band, famous for the song “リンダ リンダ” (りんだ りんだ – Linda Linda). Youcan find their lyrics easily on rankings lists.

ザ・スターリンザ・スターリン (ざ・すたーりんざ・すたーりん - The Stalin):these guys are pretty hardcore, lots of punk grit inthere to keep you occupied and they have lyricsavailable on Uta-Net.

ザ・スタークラブザ・スタークラブ (ざ・すたーくらぶざ・すたーくらぶ - The Star Club): this band is a very well-known punk rock group from the late70′s-80′s. Fun, dirty and a whole lotta punk.

少年ナイフ少年ナイフ (しょうねんしょうねん ないふないふ - Shonen Knife): often referred to as Japan’s female answer to the Ramones, thesegirls from Osaka are a super-fun pop punk, alternative band that you might find you’ve already fallen in love with.

3. Jazz

A note on the “jazz:” as a lot of jazz doesn’t havea lot of vocals in it, these were chosen for theirjazz-ish qualities.

ピチカート・ファイヴピチカート・ファイヴ (ぴちかーと・ふぁいゔぴちかーと・ふぁいゔ- Pizzicato Five): quite popular in the 90′s, if youwant to groove out, these guys have got your fix.

東京事変東京事変 (とうきょうとうきょう じへんじへん - TokyoIncidents): the immensely talented SheenaRingo’s voice is just so cool. Complex musicalcomposition, jazzy drumming and a touch of indiemakes them a joy to listen to.

ヌジャベスヌジャベス (ぬじゃべすぬじゃべす - Nujabes): what thelate, great Nujabes (or Seba Jun) produced were more R&B beats, but fit the jazzy bill just fine for our purposes. Thesound is pensive, chill and ridiculously beautiful, and you might notice that MINMI who’ll be mentioned below is doingthe vocals for this one!

4. Indie

サカナクションサカナクション (さかなくしょんさかなくしょん- Sakanaction): a five-piece indie/alt-rock/electronic mishmash of interesting sounds.

ザ・ピロウズザ・ピロウズ (ざ・ぴろうずざ・ぴろうず - ThePillows): nostalgic, pleasant and wonderful, ThePillows have your perfect grooves for relaxationtime.

アジアンアジアン カンフーカンフー ジェネレーションジェネレーション (あじあんあじあんかんふーかんふー じぇねれーしょんじぇねれーしょん - Asian Kung-FuGeneration): now, these guys are a lot of fun.Smooth and hard vocals, pleasing composition.At times they can even seem Weezer-ish. Lyricsare great!

5. Rock/Metal

ギターウルフギターウルフ (ぎたーぎたー うるふうるふ - Guitar Wolf):loud, distorted, shout-y goodness. They’ll haveyou shouting along — and they’re still active!

セックスマシンガンズセックスマシンガンズ (せっくすせっくす ましんがんずましんがんず- Sex Machineguns): good-ol’-fashioned moshing music. The vocals have got ahair metal feel at times, and the drum changescan’t be beat.

マキシマムマキシマム ザザ ホルモンホルモン (まきしまむまきしまむ ざざ ほるもんほるもん- Maximum the Hormone): what’s there to sayabout ホルモン? This kickass group with afemale drummer can spanpop/metal/alternative/rock/rap-metal in a single song. Overwhelming and high-energy, they’ll get you riled up, noquestion.

6. Alternative

ゆらゆら帝国ゆらゆら帝国 (ゆらゆらていこくゆらゆらていこく – Yura YuraTeikoku): quirky, punchy, psychedelic-like rock.The guy has no eyebrows and a cool, relaxedsort of voice.

ポリシックスポリシックス (ぽりしっくすぽりしっくす - Polysics): knowthat song Rock Lobster by the B52s? Addsynth/pop/rock insanity to that and you have thecolossal energy and hyperactivity of Polysics.And they’re oh so weird.

ラッドウィンプスラッドウィンプス (らっどらっど うぃんぷすうぃんぷす- Radwimps): narrowly missed being called popdespite their massive following of teenaged girls,these fellows have catchy tunes, surprisinglydeep and plentiful lyrics and a little bit of an indiefeel to them. Dare yourself to try and sing おしゃかしゃま (oshakashama) in Japanese. So FAST.

7. Reggae (-ish)

ミンミミンミ (みんみみんみ - Minmi): described by Wikipediaas “a Japanese hip-hop, soca and reggaemusician” she’s got a kind of upbeat, dance-ablerhythm in some songs, and an awesome hip-hoprap vibe going on in others. She also collaboratedwith Nujabes in the song above!

リョー・ザ・スカイウォーカーリョー・ザ・スカイウォーカー (りょー・ざ・すりょー・ざ・すかいうぉーかーかいうぉーかー - Ryo the Skywalker): a bigreggae name in Osaka, from Osaka. He’s gota decidedly raspy, gravelly voice and a fun-lovingfeel.

パパ・ビーパパ・ビー (ぱぱ・びーぱぱ・びー - Papa B): feel-goodjams from the 90′s, throw on Papa B on a sunnyafternoon.

8. Folk/Enka

トクマルトクマル シューゴシューゴ (とくまるとくまる しゅーごしゅーご - ShugoTokumaru): a thoughtful artist who falls moreinto indie folk, with a dreamy, playful, music box-like quality to his music. Try to guess how manyinstruments he plays!

水森かおり水森かおり (みずもりみずもり かおりかおり - Kaori Mizumori):a famous Enka performer with a lovely, classicvoice. Her songs have a nostalgic, “old Japan”feel.

五木ひろし五木ひろし (いつきいつき ひろしひろし - Hiroshi Itsuki):when you mention Enka, it’s hard to findsomeone in Japan who won’t chime in with thisfamous singer’s name. Incredibly prolific andwildly popular, his pleasant, velvety voice willcatch your fancy.

9. Electronic

カプセルカプセル (かぷせるかぷせる - Capsule): in a word? Ablast. Her whimsical voice and the the synthpop/electronica will leave you feeling dance-y.

パフュームパフューム (ぱふゅーむぱふゅーむ - Perfume): thiselectro/pop girl trio feels like being trapped insidea laser show. In a good way.

エイティーキッズエイティーキッズ (えいてぃーえいてぃー きっずきっず- 80Kids): unfortunately no (or sparse) lyrics, butwill bring to mind Daft Punk in a truly, truly greatway. Inclusion was necessary.

10. Hip-Hop/R&B

ジブラジブラ (じぶらじぶら - ZEEBRA): raspy-cool soundwith a whole lot of Japanese lyrics to explore.

ライムスター (らいむすたー - Rhymester): goodstuff from a 90′s group of MCs, with fullsentences for studying cool words like 美学 (びがく – aesthetics).

リップスライムリップスライム (りっぷりっぷ すらいむすらいむ - Rip Slyme):well-known and perfect for those who likethemselves a little Jurassic 5. Or Beastie Boys.

That’s all.

Now put those headphones back on and runamok!

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