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!

Playlist

A City Pop masterpiece! A classic album—highly recommended.
	Title	Playlist	Review
1	You are in full color.Ohtaki Eiichi		Eiichi Ohtaki's masterpiece city pop album
2	TOKYO TOWERKadamatsu Toshiki		Introducing Toshiki Kadomatsu’s classic album GOLD DIGGER
3	Plastic LoveTakeuchi Mariya		Plastic Love was rediscovered overseas
4	RIDE ON TIMEYamashita Tatsuro		Tatsuro Yamashita made his full breakthrough in 1980 with “RIDE ON TIME,” as the poster child of city pop.
5	Midnight Door – Stay With MeMatsubara Miki		Miki Matsubara’s classic becomes viral and sparks a worldwide boom
6	Night lights on my cheeksYoshida Minako		Introduce Minako Yoshida’s 1982 album
7	To a snobbish nightKokubu Yurie		Introduction to Yurie Kokubu’s city pop masterpiece
8	Midnight PretendersAran Tomoko		The Weeknd samples Tomoko Aran’s song
9	I can’t stop this sadnessAnri		Introducing Anri’s 1983 classic album “Timely!!”
10	You’re My BabySato Hiroshi		Hiroshi Sato’s 1982 city pop masterpiece
11	Summer ConnectionOhnuki Taeko		Taeko Ohnuki’s city pop masterpiece SUNSHOWER
12	Message of RougeArai Yumi		A masterpiece from Yuming’s 1975 album “Cobalt Hour”
13	Down TownShugā Beibu		Sugar Babe's album is a masterpiece.
14	drizzleitō ginji		Evaluation and Career of Ginji Ito’s Debut Album
15	LADY PINK PANTHERSuzuki Shigeru		Shigeru Suzuki’s pioneering city pop classic
16	City DolphinHamada Kingo		Kingo Hamada’s classic album is trending overseas on TikTok
17	Midnight JokeTakako Mamiya		A buried talent was reappraised
18	Pink ShadowBureddo & Batā		Bread & Butter's Shonan sound
19	Ruby RingTerao Akira		Toshio Terauchi’s “Reflections” is a city pop masterpiece.
20	Eyes Are DiamondMatsuda Seiko		Introduction to Seiko Matsuda’s 1983 album “Canary”