Masayoshi Yamazaki, GLAY, Mr.
Children, THE YELLOW MONKEY, L’Arc-en-Ciel, Namie Amuro, SPEED…
From the many classic songs that lit up the J-POP charts in 1997, we’ve selected hit tracks recommended by our studio staff.
It’s a nostalgic J-POP playlist that still shines vividly today.
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Representative Japanese hit songs of 1997. Recommended masterpieces (1–10)
Like tonight’s moonElefanto Kashimashi
A signature song by Elephant Kashimashi that ranked 9th on the Oricon monthly chart for September 1997 and 81st on the year-end chart.
Its charm lies in the acoustic guitar, unadorned lyrics, and sincere vocals.
It served as the theme song for the drama “Because the Moon Shines at Night,” and has also been featured in commercials and covered by many artists.
Kujira No. 12JUDY AND MARY
A pop-rock tune with a powerful, bouncing bassline and guitar riffs, reminiscent of high-energy soccer.
JUDY AND MARY crafted this as a cheer song for Japan, filled with their passion for sports.
YUKI’s clear, crystalline vocals and TAKUYA’s memorable ending leave a lasting impression.
Released in February 1997 as the lead single from the album THE POWER SOURCE, the track was also featured in a commercial for Honda’s Live Dio scooter and reached No.
5 on the Oricon chart.
Its refreshing melody and exhilarating drive make it the perfect song when you’re taking a new step forward or want to cheer someone on.
CallingB’z
Ranked weekly No.
1, monthly No.
2 in July, and monthly No.
10 in August, it stayed in the Top 10 for two months and placed No.
16 for the year.
This is B’z’s 22nd single, which became their 14th million-selling release.
Serving as the theme song for the TV Asahi drama Glass Mask, the track was actually created by fusing two different songs, resulting in two distinct choruses.
HOWEVERGLAY
GLAY’s first million-selling single, which reached No.
1 for a week (two weeks in a row, three weeks in a row, and five weeks in total) and ranked No.
1 for September and No.
9 for the year.
Although it initially had no tie-in, it was later used for the TBS drama “Ryodatsuai: Abunai Onna.” Following this single, they achieved five consecutive million-selling releases, but apparently this song itself was initially very poorly received by the band members.
White LoveSPEED
SPEED’s 5th single, which reached No.
1 for the week, No.
1 for November, and No.
10 for the year.
It was a massive hit with cumulative sales reaching 2 million copies.
It was used in Shiseido’s “Tessera Angel Drop” commercial, and for two consecutive years they led the Red Team at Kohaku with this song.