53 Japanese female singer songwriters

Kiyomi Angela Aki known professionally as Angela Aki , is a pop singer, songwriter and pianist born in Itano, Tokushima, Japan to an Italian American mother and a Japanese father.

artegg-yumi is a Japanese singer-songwriter, film director and producer. A member of the Director's guild of Japan.

Maki Asakawa was a Japanese jazz and blues singer, lyricist and composer.

Ayaka Iida , known simply as Ayaka, is a female Japanese singer, songwriter and record producer formerly signed to Warner Music Japan. Born in Osaka, she moved to Tokyo to pursue a singing career. She married actor Hiro Mizushima on February 22, 2009.

Kero Kero Bonito (KKB) are a British indie pop band from London. The band consists of vocalist Sarah Midori Perry and producers and multi-instrumentalists Gus Lobban and Jamie Bulled. Their name's meaning is intentionally ambiguous, with one derivation from the Japanese onomatopoeic words for frog croaks and a type of fish. Other meanings include the Brazilian quero-quero bird while "bonito" means "beautiful" in both Portuguese and Spanish, thus "Beautiful Quero-quero" – or even "I want, I want beautiful" in a rough translation.

Lisa Furukawa is a Japanese American pianist, singer, arranger, and songwriter based in Seattle, Washington. She has self-published 4 albums on the Yume label: Signal (2009), Reaching the Dragon (2006), Pearl Diver (2005), and This Moment is the Show (2001).

Ayumi Hamasaki is a Japanese singer, songwriter, record producer, actress, model, spokesperson and entrepreneur. Through her entire career, she has written all her lyrical content, and has sometimes composed her music.

Ayaka Hirahara is a Japanese pop singer. She was affiliated with the Dreamusic label until 2013 when she moved to Universal Music Japan.

Mari Iijima is a Japanese actress, voice actress and singer. She writes and produces most of her own music, and plays the piano and other instruments. After being signed to JVC Victor in 1982, Mari first became known for her voice-acting role as Lynn Minmay in the anime Macross. Her debut original album, Rosé, was released in 1983, which was produced by composer Ryuichi Sakamoto. She lives in Los Angeles, California.

Satoko Ishimine is a Japanese female singer-songwriter. She rose to fame in 1992 when she won the grand prix of the 16th annual Nagasaki Singing Festival at the age of 16, which resulted in her receiving a recording contract with Toshiba EMI.

Yuna Ito is an American-born former singer and actress who was active in Japan.

ITSUKA is a singer, songwriter whose musical range encompasses rock, blues, folk and country music.

Tokiko Kato is a Japanese singer, composer, lyricist, actress and activist.

Ai Kawashima is a Japanese pop singer-songwriter and pianist. Overcoming her tragic childhood, she released her debut single Asueno tobira as the duo I Wish in 2003. She is well known for her numerous street performances. She is also known for her devotion to help children under circumstances similar to hers in Japan and all over the world.

Akiko Yoshida is a Japanese singer and songwriter performing under the stage name Kokia. Her most well known songs are "Arigatō..." and "The Power of Smile" (which topped at No. 8 in the singles chart). She is also recognized for her numerous contributions to anime/game soundtracks, the most notable being "Ai no Melody/Chōwa Oto " for the film Origin: Spirits of the Past, "Follow the Nightingale" for the game Tales of Innocence, and "Tatta Hitotsu no Omoi" for the anime Gunslinger Girl: Il Teatrino.

Minami Kuribayashi is a Japanese singer, songwriter, lyricist and voice actress from Shizuoka Prefecture. From 2016 to 2019, she performed under the stage name Minami.

Olivia Lufkin, professionally known as Olivia, is a Japanese-American bilingual singer and songwriter. She was born in Japan to the daughter of a Japanese mother and an American father. Her two younger siblings are Jeffrey Lufkin, a musician she regularly collaborates with and Caroline Lufkin, an independent musician. Lufkin began her solo career after singing in the Japanese girl group, D&D. She gained mainstream success in 2006 after creating songs for the fictional band Trapnest under the alias of Olivia Inspi' Reira (Trapnest). The songs were used for the popular anime adaptation of Nana.

Blonde Redhead is an American alternative rock band composed of Kazu Makino and twin brothers Simone and Amedeo Pace that formed in New York City in 1993. The band's earliest albums were noted for their noise rock influences, though their sound evolved by the early 2000s with the releases of Misery is a Butterfly (2004) and 23 (2007), which both incorporated elements of dream pop, shoegaze and other genres. They have released nine regular studio albums and have toured internationally.

Chai are a four-member all-female rock band from Nagoya, Aichi, Japan. Formed in 2012, the band released their debut studio album Pink in 2017.

Emi Maria is a Japanese Papua New Guinean R&B singer-songwriter who debuted in 2007 with the EP Between the Music.

Chiaki Mayumura is a Japanese idol singer and songwriter currently associated with Toy's Factory. She has released 12 albums, with her three latest ones Gisshiri Haguki, Mejameja Monja and Gekidan Ogyarizumu charting on Oricon's Top 100. She calls herself a “track maker idol with playing guitar”. She is also the president of Kaishaja Naimon Co., Ltd. Fans call her Chi-chan.

Meg is a Japanese recording artist, record producer, model and fashion designer from Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. She is signed with Starchild Records, a division of King Records.

Emi Meyer is a Japanese-born, American-raised jazz pianist and singer-songwriter who is based in Seattle and Tokyo and active in both the Japanese and American markets.

Takako Minekawa is a Japanese musician, singer, songwriter and writer.

Misia , commonly stylized as MISIA, is a Japanese singer, songwriter, and record producer. Born in Nagasaki, Misia moved to Fukuoka at the age of 14 to pursue a recording career. There, she continued her secondary education and briefly attended Seinan Gakuin University before withdrawing to focus on her musical career. She was signed to BMG Japan in 1997, after auditioning for record producer Haruo Yoda.

Shizuka Miura was a Japanese ball-jointed doll maker, singer, songwriter, and guitarist. She became recognized in Japan for her doll work. Worldwide, Shizuka is best known for having been the founder and front woman of the rock band Shizuka.

Miwa is a Japanese singer-songwriter and actress. She debuted in 2010 with the single "Don't Cry Anymore", which was used as the theme song for the drama Nakanai to Kimeta hi.

Kaori Mochida is the lead singer of Japanese pop group Every Little Thing.

Haruko Momoi is a Japanese singer, songwriter and voice actress. She also produces an all-female pop group called Afilia Saga. She was born in Tokyo, Japan and is affectionately referred to as Halko by her fans, a nickname she gave herself which is inspired by HAL 9000, the computer in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Chisato Moritaka is a Japanese pop singer who also is notable as a songwriter and a multi-instrumentalist. She is affiliated with Up-Front Create, a subsidiary of the Up-Front Group.

Mariya Nishiuchi is a Japanese model, actress, and singer-songwriter who is affiliated with Rising Production. She is the younger sister of model, actress, and BeForU member Hiromi Nishiuchi.

Kazuha Oda is a classically trained singer/singer-songwriter born in Japan. She started out as a solo singer and has worked with wide variety of performers including Grammy winner Bob James. She worked on numerous projects including: 7 albums, 5 singles, and contributed to over 10 compilation albums ranging from Classic to Heavy Metal music until now. Much of her work has appeared on the iTunes top 100 around the world.

Ritsuko Okazaki was a Japanese singer-songwriter born on Hashima Island, Nagasaki Prefecture. She first made her professional debut with the single, Kanashii Jiyū / Koi ga, Kiete Yuku. She is also known as the Shelby Flint of Japan.

Hanako Oku is a pop singer famous in her native Japan for her piano ballads. She rose to fame after performing the end-title track for the Madhouse film The Girl Who Leapt Through Time in 2006. She was signed to a major record label the preceding year.

Masami Okui is a Japanese singer and songwriter from Itami, Hyōgo. She began her professional musical career at age 21 as a concert backup singer. From almost the very beginning of her career, Masami has sung themes for anime television and movies. She is especially well known for her songs from Revolutionary Girl Utena, Tales of Eternia The Animation, Slayers, Sorcerer Hunters, Di Gi Charat, Magic User's Club, Jungle de Ikou!, Akihabara Dennou Gumi, Ray the Animation, He Is My Master and Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters. She has performed material for more than 50 singles and 20 albums to date . Okui hosts @Tunes, an anime music news program, on the Japanese anime television network Animax.

Rina Sawayama is a Japanese-British singer-songwriter and model. While studying politics, psychology and sociology at Magdalene College, University of Cambridge, Sawayama was a member of the hip-hop group Lazy Lion with musician Theo Ellis. Sawayama made her solo debut in 2013 and released her debut extended play, Rina, in 2017. Her debut studio album, Sawayama, was released in April 2020 to critical acclaim.

Sayuri (さユり) is a Japanese musician, singer and songwriter.

Yumiko Shiina , known by her stage name Ringo Sheena , is a Japanese singer, songwriter and musician. She is also the founder and lead vocalist of the band Tokyo Jihen.

Jun Shibata , nicknamed "Shibajun", is a Japanese pop female singer-songwriter. In 2016 she was diagnosed with partial hearing loss.

Yuna Shishido , known as a solo artist by the stage name Kavka Shishido is a Japanese-Mexican drummer and vocalist. Originally a member of the rock band The News, she debuted as a solo musician in 2012 and released her debut album Kavkanize in 2013. She prominently plays the drums in all of her promotions.

Shanti Snyder, better known as Shanti, is a Japanese lyricist, singer, songwriter, and music TV host of mixed descent, based in Japan and hailing from Kanagawa Prefecture. She performs with a few different formations at clubs in the Tokyo area and has also appeared with various other musical artists. Shanti's voice is well known through her collaborations with Yoko Kanno, notably in Escaflowne the Movie, where she was the vocalist on the theme song "Sora".

Ami Suzuki is a Japanese recording artist, DJ, and actress from Zama, Kanagawa, Japan. Having been discovered at the talent TV show Asayan, she was one of the most popular female teen idol in the late 1990s. However, in 2000, Suzuki faced legal problems with her management company resulting in a controversial blacklisting from the entertainment industry. Suzuki attempted to resurrect her career under her own steam with two indie singles before signing to Avex Trax in 2005. She released "Delightful", a dance song that reached No. 3 on the Japanese Oricon charts with a style similar to electronic club music, significantly different from her pop idol days. Since her appearance in the 2006 film Rainbow Song, Suzuki has gradually made a name for herself in the acting field, starring in various movies, television series, and musicals.

Sachi Tainaka is a Japanese singer who is best known for her vocals in the opening songs of the anime version of Fate/stay night. She has a 3½-octave vocal range.

Hiroko Tsuji is a Japanese singer-songwriter and musician.

Kaori Hasegawa , simply known by the stage name UA, is a Japanese singer-songwriter. She made her debut under Speedstar Records in 1995, with the single "Horizon".

Kana Uemura , known professionally as Ka-Na, is a Japanese singer-songwriter, who debuted in 2004. She is best known for her song "Toilet no Kamisama", an acoustic ballad about her grandmother, which became a hit in 2010.

Misako Uno is a Japanese Tarento, artist, actress, essayist and talent agent best known as a female lead vocalist and dancer of the male and female performing arts group AAA. She is also the Middle manager of Avex Group, advertising manager of SHUFU TO SEIKATSU SHA (主婦と生活社) and public fasting Consultant of Japan Enzyme Hydrogen Medical Beauty Society (日本酵素・水素医療美容学会). Her feature film debut as an actress was in the 2006 Hollywood horror film, The Grudge 2, as Miyuki.

Utada Hikaru , who is also known as Hikaru Utada and the mononym Utada, is a Japanese-American singer-songwriter and producer. Born in the United States to Japanese parents, record producer Utada Teruzane and enka singer Keiko Fuji, Utada began to write music and lyrics at an early age and often traveled to Tokyo as a result of her father's job. Eventually, a recording contract with Toshiba-EMI was signed and, under the stage name Cubic U, Utada released her English-language debut album Precious in early 1998, but it was a commercial failure. In the following year, heavily influenced by R&B and dance-pop, her Japanese-language debut First Love was released and became an instant success. Backed by the massive success of singles "Automatic", "Time Will Tell", and "Movin' On Without You", the album sold two million copies in its first week in Japan, topped the Oricon charts for six non-consecutive weeks and went on to sell six million more throughout the rest of 1999. First Love eventually became the country's best-selling album of all time.

Reina Washio is a Japanese singer, performer and model. She is a member of J-Pop group E-girls and former member of Flower.

Junko Yagami , is a Japanese singer and songwriter from Aichi Prefecture. She has released 25 albums, including 6 live concert albums, and is a notable figure in Japanese music of the 1970s and 1980s.

Chihiro Yonekura is a Japanese singer and songwriter from Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan.

Nao Yoshioka is a soul singer and songwriter from Osaka, Japan, now based in New York City.

Yui, stylized as YUI or yui, is a Japanese singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and actress. Born and raised in Fukuoka prefecture, she played live at various locations in her hometown before being noticed by Sony Music Japan when she was 17 years old, and released her debut single months later. Her singles, however, were only met with moderate success until the breakout "Good-bye Days", which charted for 44 weeks on Oricon and marked her as one of the Japanese music industry's rising stars.