Cool, easy songs in Japanese.

January 20, 2015 3:00 PM

One of the activities in my Japanese class is learning and singing songs in Japanese, and I think I just exhausted my playlist.

I need songs that don’t need much singing ability and are not ridiculously cute (no Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, no Disney), no super sexy lyrics. Female voices preferred, YouTube availability a plus.

These are some songs I've sung in class (most would be considered indie pop, I think):

· Asobi Seksu - I’m Happy But You Don’t Like Me

· Katamary Damacy - Lonely Rolling Star

· Pizzicato Five - Such A Beautiful Girl Like You

· The Konki Duet - Planete Sauvage

· Paranmaum - Linda Linda

Thanks!

posted by clearlydemon to Media & Arts (14 answers total)

Might as well teach them Story, it almost seems like it's the unofficial Japanese national anthem. I hear it multiple times every time I go play karaoke in Japan and it always makes the whole place sing along. So they'll be ready. :)
posted by ctmf at 3:12 PM on January 20, 2015

This is the original Linda Linda, by The Blue Hearts.
Train-Train is another song by them which makes everyone sing along in karaoke.

Many of the songs on this list (by Joysound, a Karaoke device company) would work well.

Nagai Aida - Kiroro
Hello Again - Juju (originally by My Little Lover)
posted by xmts at 3:33 PM on January 20, 2015

The one Japanese song I know is thanks to MeFi, though it may be for younger students than you're teaching: Teru Teru Bozu
posted by XMLicious at 3:40 PM on January 20, 2015

What about Sakura by Moriyama Naotaro? The original version is here but here is a female cover version.
posted by poxandplague at 3:52 PM on January 20, 2015

SMAP - Sekai ni Hitotsu Dake no Hana, everyone knows it and it is easy to sing.
posted by betweenthebars at 3:55 PM on January 20, 2015 [1 favorite]

I loved singing Hotaru Koi in high school. Some people do it slower if the speed could be a difficulty problem.
posted by foxfirefey at 4:04 PM on January 20, 2015

Katachi by Shugo Tokumaru is one of my favorites and as a bonus has a killer video.

And this one, Tsubasa I used to sing a slowed down version of it at Japanese camp.
posted by KernalM at 4:59 PM on January 20, 2015

Anime OP songs should be a good source for you. If you don't do torrents, then this isn't going to be as useful to you.

For instance, I think the OP to Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou would be pretty good. (It was released in North America with the redundant title "Demon Lord Daimaou".

Here's a torrent for the show. (Play the second episode to hear the OP; it has subtitles both in English and in Japanese.) Here's an OST which includes an instrumental-only version of the OP, suitable for Karaoke... (The song is called "Realove, Realife".)

There are loads of other shows that have awesome OP's (and ED's!), some more singable than others. I think the "Girls und Panzer" OP is awesome, for instance. Here's the OST. Here's a torrent for the show.

In all of these, the subs include both Japanese and English, so you'd have to download at least one episode to get the Japanese lyrics. (Sometimes they alternate, with odd-numbered eps having one language and even-numbered eps having the other.)
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 7:04 PM on January 20, 2015

Consider this old chestnut.

In your class, you'll use its real title, and you can all have a good laugh about how it was renamed in America.
posted by JimN2TAW at 9:10 PM on January 20, 2015

Two that always worked for me:

Nada sou sou (female lyrics, nice and slow, slightly miserable)

Shima uta (Nice and slow, a few bits in Okinawa-ben so maybe confusing, good shout-along finish)

Shima uta seems to be off youtube, so the second link is to Dailymotion instead.
posted by fizban at 4:46 AM on January 21, 2015

When there's nobody to hear me, I love singing along to these two songs by Pink Martini:
Taya Tan (lyrics)
Kikuchiyo To Mohshimasu (lyrics)
posted by hat_eater at 5:00 AM on January 21, 2015

Karaoke standby: Ashita ga aru sa and Ue o muite arukou.
posted by Jeanne at 10:14 AM on January 21, 2015

Maybe YELL by Ikimonogakari?

Not female, but Arashi songs tend to be easy and well-known.
posted by LoonyLovegood at 11:43 AM on January 21, 2015

Response by poster: Thanks, everybody! Great options all around, I look forward to singing them in class!
By the way, I was not clear but I'm a student in the class, not the teacher.
posted by clearlydemon at 11:04 AM on January 28, 2015