A City Pop masterpiece! A classic album—highly recommended.
Born in Japan, “city pop” has been rediscovered by overseas music fans with the spread of the internet, sparking a uniquely online-era boom.
Tracks like Mariya Takeuchi’s “Plastic Love” and Miki Matsubara’s “Mayonaka no Door — Stay With Me” have drawn attention, and more recently, The Weeknd released a song sampling Tomoko Aran’s “Midnight Pretenders.” It’s fascinating how city pop—refined music influenced by Western pop—is being embraced abroad in a kind of reverse import.
This article introduces a “classic city pop album” for those who want to start listening to the genre!
A city pop masterpiece! A classic album—one highly recommended pick (1–10)
You are in full color.Ohtaki Eiichi
When it comes to historically iconic albums in any article themed around “city pop,” the first that comes to mind is Eiichi Ohtaki’s A LONG VACATION, released in 1981.
The fact that it has been reissued as an anniversary edition at each milestone—its 20th, 30th, and the 40th in 2021—speaks to the album’s timeless value.
Issued on CD the following year, it became the first million-seller on the Oricon chart, cementing its place in music history as a masterpiece among masterpieces.
The catchphrase printed on the obi strip—“A breeze passes through your heart”—together with Hiroshi Nagai’s album cover art, not only perfectly expresses the album’s character but also seems to have defined a certain image of city pop itself.
Takashi Matsumoto, Ohtaki’s former Happy End bandmate, wrote the lyrics for most tracks, and across the blissful set of ten songs—beginning with the signature track “Kimi wa Tennenshoku” (“You Are Natural Color”)—Ohtaki’s genius as a songwriter and arranger shines in full.
The evergreen, shimmering pop magic known as the “Niagara Sound” evokes seaside summers, blue skies, and resort atmospheres, seemingly emblematic of the 1980s; yet, as noted, it was the songs’ truly timeless appeal that drove its massive success.
There’s no doubt this is the first album you should listen to if you want to understand the history of city pop.
Plastic LoveTakeuchi Mariya
As mentioned at the beginning of this article, after the 2010s—when the internet became ubiquitous and listening to music on platforms like YouTube became the norm—overseas music fans rediscovered “city pop.” The song that symbolically accelerated this boom is Mariya Takeuchi’s Plastic Love.
Uploaded unofficially to YouTube in July 2017, the track racked up explosive view counts, which not only introduced overseas listeners but also younger generations in Japan to the brilliance of 1980s city pop.
The album containing Plastic Love, Takeuchi’s VARIETY, was released in 1984.
It’s a landmark in Japanese music history and a pinnacle for female singer-songwriters: all songs were written and composed by Takeuchi, with full production by her husband, Tatsuro Yamashita.
Debuting in the late ’70s, Takeuchi enjoyed idol-like popularity thanks in part to her charming looks, but after providing songs behind the scenes for many artists, marrying Yamashita, and effectively pausing her own music activities, VARIETY marked a true new beginning for her as a singer-songwriter.
It is not only a masterpiece of city pop but also a profoundly important album in her career.
The album itself is rich in variety and includes many tracks in genres beyond city pop, brimming with Takeuchi’s affection for ’60s Western music.
With that in mind, please enjoy this work to the fullest.
RIDE ON TIMEYamashita Tatsuro
Tatsuro Yamashita, one of Japan’s leading singer-songwriters and music producers, is also an indispensable key figure when discussing the genre of city pop.
Like Eiichi Ohtaki, Yamashita is a bona fide “music fanatic” versed in a wide range of styles, and it goes without saying that he has distilled the elements of Western music that influenced him—through his exceptional songwriting ability and his keen sense as an arranger—into a steady stream of classics that have left their mark on Japanese music history.
Although his solo career began in the 1970s, it struggled commercially.
Then came 1980: a time when Japan was brimming with energy and pop culture vividly expressed young people’s longing for the West Coast.
As if called by the moment, Yamashita released the masterpiece “RIDE ON TIME.” Its colorful, urban, and sophisticated sound—quintessentially “city pop”—was also used in a commercial and became a hit.
In September of the same year, he released an album of the same title; with this, his fifth album, Yamashita achieved a full-fledged breakthrough as a child of his era.
Many of the lyrics were penned by Minako Yoshida, and the late Jun Aoyama—a renowned drummer who was just 22 at the time and would later become indispensable to Yamashita’s recordings and live shows—took part in a recording for the first time.
It is fair to say that this album holds significant importance in Yamashita’s musical career.
TOKYO TOWERKadamatsu Toshiki
Toshiki Kadomatsu debuted at the young age of 20 as a singer-songwriter and music producer who could be called a quintessential child of the 1980s, with a style sprinkled with City Pop keywords like summer seas and resorts, cars, and the bustle of the city at night.
Like many other artists, Kadomatsu has of course continued to work beyond the bounds of City Pop, writing and composing numerous songs for other artists—including “WA ni Natte Odorou,” which V6 covered and turned into a hit—and remains an indispensable figure in J-pop history, still very much active in the 2020s.
Even so, when it comes to City Pop, we can’t help but highlight his work; here, we introduce his masterpiece GOLD DIGGER ~with true love~, which became his first album to reach the top 10 on the charts.
Released in 1985, the album shows a more pronounced embrace of the New York sound that he began incorporating around his previous release After 5 Crash.
Its cutting-edge musicality—featuring funky slap bass and, for the time, forward-thinking DJ scratching—fits perfectly as a soundtrack for adult nights in the city or late-night drives on the Shuto Expressway.
The balance and finesse in fusing programmed sounds with the groove of live instruments is simply superb; it’s an unimpeachable modern soul classic and, of course, a definitive album that City Pop fans are sure to enjoy.
Midnight Door – Stay With MeMatsubara Miki
Alongside Mariya Takeuchi’s “Plastic Love,” Miki Matsubara’s “Mayonaka no Door ~ Stay With Me” stands as an iconic song of the city pop boom among overseas music fans.
Composed and arranged by Tetsuji Hayashi—who can be called one of the originators of city pop—the track was released on November 5, 1979 as Matsubara’s debut single.
It was a smash hit for its time, but over 40 years later, in 2020, it enjoyed a revival thanks to Indonesian singer Rainych’s cover and widespread use on TikTok, sparking a boom that saw it top Spotify’s global Viral chart for 18 consecutive days starting in December 2020.
That same year, the official lyric video was released, and its retro, 80s-style anime visuals—hugely popular overseas just like city pop itself—became a hot topic.
The momentum continued with the release of an official re-edit by Night Tempo, a Korean music producer who also helped ignite the city pop craze, and as of 2022 it shows no signs of slowing down.
Matsubara’s debut album “POCKET PARK,” featured in this article, was released in 1980, with “Mayonaka no Door ~ Stay With Me” as the opening track.
The album itself is a lavish production, featuring top-tier players such as guitarist Masaki Matsubara and bassist Tsugutoshi Goto, among many other renowned musicians.
Within its sophisticated, urban sound—quintessential city pop—Matsubara’s soaring vocals and melodies are outstanding.
Be sure to listen not just to the single, but to the entire album.
Midnight PretendersAran Tomoko
It hardly needs saying anymore that Japanese city pop is wildly popular overseas, but “Out of Time,” a track on The Weeknd’s massively successful fifth album Dawn FM, released in February 2022, is sure to further accelerate the genre’s momentum.
The romantic, mellow yet catchy intro of “Out of Time” features a striking main phrase sampled from Tomoko Aran’s 1983 song “Midnight Pretenders,” and Aran is recognized as a key artist in city pop history.
“Midnight Pretenders,” also known as an early composition project for Tetsurō Oda—who would later become famous for writing numerous Being-era hits in the ’90s—appears on Aran’s third album, Floating Space.
On this album, Aran wrote all the lyrics, while Masanori Nishimura—bassist and vocalist of FENCE OF DEFENSE, who also produced the record—handled most of the composing and arranging.
The result is a highly acclaimed city pop classic.
In fact, both the aforementioned “Midnight Pretenders” and “I’M IN LOVE” were reissued as 7-inch singles amid the 2020s city pop revival, a testament to their enduring popularity.
Overall, the album leans heavily into digital pop squarely rooted in ’80s new wave, making it a masterpiece that also showcases the forward-thinking nature of Japanese music of the era.
I can’t stop this sadnessAnri
Making her debut at the young age of 17 with the timeless J-pop classic “Olivia o Kikinagara,” Anri became a major star in the 1980s with a style that highlighted summery, seaside imagery.
Even today in the 2020s, she continues to thrive on the front lines, and the landmark albums she created in collaboration with artists like Toshiiki Kadomatsu and Takeshi Kobayashi remain hugely popular from a city pop perspective as well.
In fact, among overseas music fans, Anri is often praised as the “Queen of City Pop.”
Among her discography, let’s look at Timely!!, the 1983 masterpiece that became her first No.
1 on the Oricon charts.
Produced by Toshiki Kadomatsu—who at the time was not yet widely known—the album is also significant for cementing the image of Anri mentioned above.
It’s a powerhouse of J-pop with broad appeal, featuring the hit “CAT’S EYE,” familiar as the theme song of the anime of the same name, as well as another signature track, “Kanashimi ga Tomaranai” (“I Can’t Stop the Loneliness”).
At the same time, it’s a top-tier classic brimming with peak-of-summer gems that city pop fans can’t resist.
Be sure to note that Anri herself composed songs like “A HOPE FROM SAD STREET” and “LOST LOVE IN THE RAIN,” showcasing her talents as a singer-songwriter.
You’re My BabySato Hiroshi
Just the sound of waves and the romantic piano in the intro of AWAKENING is enough to knock you out! This is Awakening, the solo album released in 1982 by Hiroshi Sato—one of the most iconic keyboardists in J-pop history, a prolific studio musician who played on countless classic records, and a composer behind many commercial jingles and TV theme songs.
Although Sato was releasing music as a singer-songwriter at the time, his reputation as a keyboardist led to more and more work with other artists.
Determined to break out of that situation, he decided to move to the United States in 1979.
A few years later, he encountered the LinnDrum LM-1 drum machine, which blew his mind.
He created demo tapes using it, returned to Japan, and released this album—an extremely intriguing backstory.
Sato had long been a one-man overdubbing wizard, and here he fully harnesses the drum machine to program his ideal rhythm patterns while also handling vocals, resulting in a work that feels quintessentially City Pop in its polish.
The jazz-inflected keyboard voicings and summer-evoking songs are classic City Pop traits, but a first-time listener might not even realize the drums are programmed.
Another highlight is the sheer mastery of his programming—so impressive that Masato Nakamura, the bassist of Dreams Come True, once called him a “Jedi Master of programming.” By the way, the track Say Goodbye is sampled/quoted in Tonight (I Wish I Was Your Boy) by the UK rock band The 1975.
Night lights on my cheeksYoshida Minako
When it comes to the theme of “city pop masterpieces,” one name that is always mentioned is Minako Yoshida—a quintessential female singer-songwriter who has led Japan’s music scene for decades.
The anecdote that she met Haruomi Hosono and Takashi Matsumoto in high school and decided to pursue a path as a singer-songwriter is, in itself, a slice of Japanese music history.
In 1973, produced by Hosono, she released her album Tobira no Fuyu, marking her full-fledged debut.
From there, Yoshida continued to showcase her exceptional talents as both a songwriter and arranger—writing not only her own material but also providing songs to numerous artists and composing music for commercials.
As noted at the outset, many of Yoshida’s works are highly popular as city pop, and here I’d like to introduce LIGHT’N UP, released in 1982.
Often called “the final work of her funk era” within her discography, it distills influences from fusion and soul into a style that brims with the allure of city pop.
Yoshida wrote the lyrics and music for most tracks, and the airtight ensemble performances by top-tier fusion players yield a sound of unimpeachable polish.
With superb vocal prowess, she soulfully and freely delivers melodic lines that set her apart from standard kayōkyoku, making her brilliance as a singer nothing short of breathtaking.
Summer ConnectionOhnuki Taeko
Taeko Onuki, who co-founded the legendary band Sugar Babe—pioneers of city pop—together with Tatsuro Yamashita, has continued to reign as an outstanding singer-songwriter since the band’s breakup.
Many of her albums are highly regarded as classic early city pop, and SUNSHOWER, featured in this article, is one of them.
Released in 1977, SUNSHOWER is Onuki’s second album; with the exception of one track, all songs were written and composed by Onuki, with arrangements by Ryuichi Sakamoto.
It’s a widely acclaimed masterpiece that has also earned strong popularity overseas.
A telling episode underscoring its international appeal occurred on the 2014 TV variety show “Why Did You Come to Japan?”, where an overseas music fan came to Japan specifically to find this record—an incident that became a hot topic among city pop enthusiasts.
Although the album unfortunately did not achieve major commercial success at the time, it featured up-and-coming musicians and fully embraced contemporaneous fusion and crossover sounds.
It was later reappraised by the club generation in the 1990s through the Shibuya-kei movement.
Alongside Onuki’s talent as a singer-songwriter, Professor Sakamoto’s assured pre-YMO production skills, the comfortable groove created by Chris Parker—drummer of the fusion favorite Stuff—and the album’s forward-looking sound are all elements that will likely see its reputation continue to grow.