Been steadily learning Japanese enough that now I can read some articles and understand advertisement on Youtube on the spot. But I require 100% focus in other to quickly get whats being said as its being spoken out at a rate almost as quickly as I hear it.
So as someone into music I ask what are some great bands, songs, singers, and other music artists you would recommend for someone who has gained about the same level of proficiency as I am at right now? I ask if possible not to include stuff aimed at little kids (though I’m OK with traditional rhymes and so on taught at school).
Also please as much as possible I’d rather avoid artists and bands that are associated with anime music. Its pretty tiring getting exposed only to otaku stuff on Youtube when you search for music.
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> Also please as much as possible I’d rather avoid artists and bands that are associated with anime music.
That’s an enormous portion of Japanese popular music you’re excluding there.
A little hard to rec without knowing what kind of music you like, but Pizzicato Five is the first band I remember understanding entire songs from once I started learning Japanese. They tend to have [simple lyrics](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLH6V0ZKy28) that are [very clearly articulated by singer Maki Nomiya](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKJVdir6aHQ).
Old school love songs are beautiful and usually have simple lyrics.
All songs by Ken Hirai （平井坚）
桑田佳祐 – 明日晴れるかな
宇多田光 – First love, Flavor of Life
This may not be the answer you want, but: Babymetal. Their main singer is incredibly clear and precise in her enunciation. Lyrically pretty simple as well – try their latest album to avoid the cutesy-poo stuff.
Check out [The First Take](https://www.youtube.com/@The_FirstTake) – they have a lot of different popular artists on.
I recommend PUFFY, happy end, and the blue hearts. The lyrics are great and usually not too difficult to figure out. No J-pop. No Anime-esque sound. Just awesome tunes
You can try MISAMO (have only released one album) called Masterpiece. Songs are in Japanese/english so they are more easily consumed. I myself have used their songs to practice lyrics. Fun music videos too! (And not related to Anime).
I love Shota Shimizu, hige dandism , yuuri, yoasobi, imase, one ok rock, back number, vaundy, Fuji kaze, Marcy, macaroni empitsu to name a few.
Yamasaki Hako, Sakamoto Shintaro, or Ayano Kaneko should give you a decent start depending on what you like
If you’re into a more R and B sound, I’ve always found Crystal Kay relatively easy to understand pronunciation wise
Hate to break it to you, but listening to music in your target language doesn’t further your learning. An entirely different part of your brain is being used when you’re listening to music in comparison to doing something such as watching a show in your target language.
If you’re looking to passively learn Japanese through listening while you’re working, driving, etc, you’re better off listening to eng/japanese vocab videos. It still doesn’t provide that great of a return but it will do more good than listening to music will, especially at your beginner level.