Akira Kobayashi Popular Songs Ranking [2026]

acting like a wifeKobayashi Akira22rank/position

acting like a wife

Akira Kobayashi is known for his powerful singing, and perhaps because of that, he has a great many “men’s songs.” Even so, he does have some “women’s songs,” and among them, the one I especially recommend is Nyōbō Kidori.

It’s a kayōkyoku (Japanese pop) number, and maybe because it’s a women’s song, you won’t hear Kobayashi’s trademark powerful high tones.

There is a sustained high note near the end of the chorus, but he thins out his voice there, so as long as you pay attention to pitch, you should be able to sing it convincingly.

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JunkoKobayashi Akira23rank/position

Junko

Junko, a famous song by Akira Kobayashi released in 1975.

This piece features a melody close to light, tropical-tinged pop—a style favored by artists like Elvis Presley—and it carries a very gentle, calm atmosphere throughout.

Naturally, the tempo is very slow, and while the vocal line is notable for its sustained notes, the pitch movement itself is quite simple.

If you can hold solid long tones in the mid-to-high range and above, you should be able to sing it smoothly without encountering any real difficulties.

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Only a rainbow on my armKobayashi Akira24rank/position

Only a rainbow on my arm

While Akira Kobayashi is known for works full of melancholy or powerful, upbeat numbers, he also has songs rich in mood.

Among them, the one I especially recommend is Ude ni Niji Dake (Only a Rainbow on My Arm).

Although it’s not a love-themed song, its melodic structure is extremely sultry, and at the end of the chorus you get his signature high, sustained note.

Because it’s an Akira Kobayashi piece, the vocal range is inevitably on the wider side, but there aren’t fine pitch inflections like kobushi, so it’s still a quite singable song.

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Red tractorKobayashi Akira25rank/position

Red tractor

Anyway, it’s a really cool song.

As the title suggests, it was used in a tractor commercial, and you can feel a sense of masculine romance in it.

It might jump into the chorus so quickly because it was a commercial song, but in fact it’s a song with a storyline: a young man who went to the city was betrayed by someone, and now he carries a dream of working hard in the countryside with a red tractor.

Elegy of the North WindKobayashi Akira, Kitakaze Aika26rank/position

Akira Kobayashi North Wind Elegy Tachyon

Akira Kobayashi is indispensable when talking about Showa-era kayōkyoku.

His trademark powerful “Akira-bushi” singing voice suited songs set against melancholy northern landscapes.

This ‘Elegy of the North Wind’ is included on the 1982 album Wandering: Chapter 12.

Forget the woman.Kobayashi Akira (kabā)27rank/position

Forget the woman.

Akira Kobayashi, who also has a long history as a singer, made his debut with this song.

He himself has said it sold around 800,000 copies at the time, but that is probably not accurate.

Kobayashi’s start as a singer came in 1957, when he sang the folk song “Kiso-bushi” during a break in a film shoot; those around him were astonished by how good he was, and by the following year he had made his singing debut.

A wandering bird with a guitarKobayashi Akira28rank/position

This is the theme song from Nikkatsu’s “Wataridori (Wanderer) Series.” It featured a story brimming with romance in both action and love, centered on the drifter Asahi.

He likens his solitary way of life to the setting sun.

The arrangement, reminiscent of a Western with a clip-clop horseback rhythm, is particularly striking.