60 Japanese male singer songwriters

Yuto Adachi , known mononymously as Yuto, is a Japanese rapper, singer, songwriter and composer based in South Korea. He is a member of the South Korean boy group Pentagon, formed by Cube Entertainment.

Agata Morio is a Japanese folk rock singer-songwriter and actor. He also directed three films.

Yoasobi is a Japanese music duo, composing of Vocaloid producer and songwriter Ayase, and singer-songwriter Lilas Ikuta under the stage name Ikura. Formed and debuted in 2019 under Sony Music Entertainment Japan, the duo has released songs based on short stories posted on Monogatary.com, a website operated by their label, later also from various media like novels, book tie-ups, and letters.

Daigo Naitō , formerly known as Daigo Stardust, is a Japanese singer-songwriter, actor, talent, and voice actor. He debuted in 2003 as Daigo Stardust under Victor Entertainment. In 2007, he formed the rock band Breakerz. With the solo debut of Akihide, Daigo continued his solo project in 2013, but dropped the pseudonym surname "Stardust".

Masaharu Fukuyama is a Japanese singer-songwriter and actor from Nagasaki. He debuted in 1990 with the single "Tsuioku no Ame no Naka".

Shunsuke Kato , known by his stage name Funky Kato , is a Japanese singer-songwriter. He is best known as the vocalist of the band Funky Monkey Babys, which disbanded in 2013.

Gakuto Oshiro , better known by his mononymous stage name Gackt, is a Japanese musician, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor.

Chris Hart is an American-born Japanese singer/songwriter/producer who gained popularity as a J-pop artist in Japan.

Hiroshi Morie , known exclusively by his stage name Heath, is a Japanese musician and singer-songwriter. He is the bass guitarist of the rock band X Japan. He joined the group in 1992 a few months after the ex-bassist Taiji Sawada left the band. Heath stayed with X Japan until the band's dissolution in 1997 and reunited with the band from 2007 onward.

Hideto Matsumoto , also known as hide, was a Japanese musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. He was the lead guitarist of the rock band X Japan from 1987 to 1997 and a solo artist from 1993 onward. He also formed the United States-based rock supergroup Zilch in 1996.

Masayuki Hiizumi , also known by the name H Zett M is a Japanese keyboardist and producer. He became a member of jazz instrumental band Pe'z in 1999, and was a member of Ringo Sheena's band Tokyo Jihen between 2004 and 2005. In 2007, Hiizumi debuted as a solo musician with the name H Zett M.

Gen Hoshino is a Japanese singer-songwriter, musician, actor, and writer.

Haruomi Hosono , sometimes credited as Harry Hosono, is a Japanese musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is considered to be one of the most influential musicians in Japanese pop music history, credited with shaping the sound of Japanese pop for decades as well as pop music outside of Japan. He also inspired genres such as city pop and Shibuya-kei, and as leader of Yellow Magic Orchestra, contributed to the development and pioneering of numerous electronic genres.

Tomoyasu Hotei , also known simply as Hotei is a Japanese musician, singer-songwriter, composer, record producer and actor. With a career spanning more than 35 years, Hotei claims record sales of over 40 million copies and has collaborated with acclaimed artists from around the world. Hotei first rose to prominence in the 1980s as the guitarist for Boøwy, one of Japan's most popular rock bands, before starting a solo career.

Hideto Takarai , known by his stage name Hyde, is a Japanese musician, singer-songwriter, record producer, and actor. Best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band L'Arc-en-Ciel since 1991, he is also the lead vocalist of Vamps and has a solo career.

Kiyoshiro Imawano , born Kiyoshi Kurihara , was a Japanese rock musician, lyricist, composer, musical producer, and actor from Tokyo, Japan. He was dubbed "Japan's King of Rock". He formed and led the influential rock band RC Succession. He wrote many anti-nuclear songs following the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. He was known for pioneering the adoption of linguistic characteristics of the Japanese language into his songs.

Koshi Inaba is a Japanese vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter. He is best known as the singer and lyricist of the rock duo B'z, the best-selling music act in their native Japan. He has also had a successful solo career, with five studio albums and five singles topping the Japanese music charts. He collaborated with Slash on single "Sahara" which was released in 2009. In 2017, he released a collaborative album, Chubby Groove, with Stevie Salas under the name "Inaba/Salas".

Kiyonobu Inoue , better known exclusively by his stage name Inoran, is a Japanese musician, singer and songwriter. He is best known as the rhythm guitarist and co-founder of the rock band Luna Sea since 1986. He started his solo career in 1997. Luna Sea disbanded in 2000, and he formed Fake? with Oblivion Dust vocalist Ken Lloyd a year later. In 2005 he left Fake? and founded Tourbillon with Luna Sea vocalist Ryuichi Kawamura and Hiroaki Hayama. He rejoined Luna Sea when they reunited in 2010, and in 2012 formed Muddy Apes with bassist Taka Hirose and guitarist Dean Tidey, both from Feeder, and 8otto's vocalist Maeson.

Jun Onose , better known by his stage name J, is a Japanese musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as bassist and co-founder of the rock band Luna Sea since 1986. After they disbanded in 2000 he focused on his solo career, for which he performs lead vocals and bass. He rejoined Luna Sea when they reunited in August 2010.

Hironobu Kageyama is a Japanese musician and singer prominent in the soundtracks for anime, video game and tokusatsu productions. He is sometimes called Kami (Kei) by his fans. Kageyama got his big break at age 16, as lead singer of the rock band Lazy. By the early '80s, the band split and Kageyama went solo. He found major success once he started to sing the theme songs of anime and tokusatsu shows. Becoming immensely popular soon after, Kageyama went on to be dubbed the "Prince of Anime/Tokusatsu Songs" and is a main fixture for shows to this day.

Kamijo is a Japanese singer-songwriter, musician, and music producer. He is best known as lead singer of the visual kei bands Lareine and Versailles. He has also been the head of two independent record labels; the first being Applause Records, and currently Sherow Artist Society since 2006, being renamed to Chateau Agency since 2016. His music covers many genres, Lareine having mainly a baroque pop style, and Versailles a clear symphonic and neoclassical metal sound. He has an extensive discography with the bands Lareine, New Sodmy and Versailles, consisting of 15 albums, and a large amount of EPs and singles. In 2013, Kamijo began a solo career with his debut single "Louis ~Enketsu no La Vie en Rose~".

Kazuhiko Katō , nicknamed "Tonovan" (トノヴァン), was a Japanese record producer, songwriter and singer. He sometimes used the spelling of "Kazuhiko Katoh".

Ryuichi Kawamura is a Japanese singer, songwriter, record producer, actor and author. He is best known as lead singer of the rock band Luna Sea since 1989. He started a solo career in 1997, three years before Luna Sea disbanded in 2000. In 2005, Kawamura formed Tourbillon with fellow Luna Sea member Inoran and Hiroaki Hayama. He rejoined Luna Sea when they reunited in August 2010.

Ki-Yo is a Japanese pop singer. Since his debut, Ki-Yo has worked as a singer, composer, lyricist and ambassador of Miyagi Prefecture. He's known as one of the few openly LGBT musicians in Japan.

Shō Kiryūin is a Japanese singer and songwriter. He is the lead singer of the Japanese "visual kei air band" Golden Bomber. He also writes, composes and co-arranges all the songs for the band. He plays multiple instruments including guitar, bass guitar and drums, and dabbles in piano and violin.

Saburō Kitajima is a well-known Japanese enka singer, lyricist and composer.

Toru Kitajima , better known as TK, is a Japanese musician and singer-songwriter. He rose to prominence as lead vocalist, guitarist and songwriter of the rock band Ling tosite Sigure, which formed in 2002. In 2011, he started to release solo material as TK from Ling tosite sigure .

Tetsuya Komuro is a Japanese musician, songwriter and record producer. He is recognized as the most successful producer in Japanese music history and introduced dance music to the Japanese mainstream. He was also a former owner of the disco Velfarre located in Roppongi, Tokyo.

Közi is a Japanese musician, singer-songwriter and DJ. He is best known as one of the guitarists for the 1990s visual kei rock band Malice Mizer. After they went on indefinite hiatus in 2001, he formed the industrial rock duo Eve of Destiny and also started a solo career. Közi is currently in the bands Dalle, XA-VAT, ZIZ and Vamquet, while occasionally performing solo shows.

Kyo is a Japanese musician, singer, lyricist and poet. He is best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the metal band Dir En Grey. He was formerly in a string of visual kei rock bands, with the most notable being La:Sadie's from 1995 to 1997. He then started Dir En Grey in February 1997, following La:Sadie's disbandment with three of its members, and formed the experimental rock band Sukekiyo in 2013. Kyo was inspired to become a musician when he saw a picture of Buck-Tick vocalist Atsushi Sakurai on the desk of a junior high school classmate. When he then discovered X Japan he was particularly fond of hide and had his parents buy him the guitarist's black signature model guitar. However, after realizing how difficult it was to play guitar and then bass, he then switched to vocals.

Takahiro "Tak" Matsumoto is a Japanese musician, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as the guitarist and main composer of the rock duo B'z, the best-selling music act in their native Japan. He also has a successful solo career where, in addition to winning several Japan Gold Disc Awards, he won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Album for Take Your Pick (2010), which he made in collaboration with Larry Carlton. Matsumoto is only the fifth guitarist in the world to have his own Gibson signature model guitar.

Daichi Miura is a Japanese singer, songwriter, dancer, and choreographer. He also directs his own concerts. He belongs to Rising Production and has a record contract with Avex. He is from Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. He has an official fan club called "Daichishiki"(大知識).

Takamasa Ishihara , better known by his stage name Miyavi, is a Japanese guitarist, singer-songwriter, record producer, and actor known for his finger-slapping style of playing a guitar.

Hisaya Morishige was a Japanese actor and comedian. Born in Hirakata, Osaka, he graduated from Kitano Middle School, and attended Waseda University. He began his career as a stage actor, then became an announcer for NHK, working in Manchukuo. He became famous in films first for comedy roles, appearing in series such as the "Company President" (Shacho) and "Station Front" (Ekimae) series, produced by Toho. He appeared in nearly 250 films, both contemporary and jidaigeki. He was also famous on stage playing Tevye in the Japanese version of Fiddler on the Roof. He also appeared in television series and specials, and was the first guest on the television talk show Tetsuko's Room in 1975. He was long-time head of the Japan Actors Union. Among many honors, Morishige received the Order of Culture from the Emperor of Japan in 1991.

Kōzō Murashita was a Japanese singer-songwriter who was born in Minamata, Kumamoto, Japan. He died of a brain hemorrhage after hitting his head at a rehearsal in 1999.

Tavito Nanao is a Japanese singer-songwriter who debuted in 1998. He has worked with a great number of musicians, including Takkyu Ishino, Salyu and Yakenohara. Nanao has reached a wider audience since 2007, after his album 911 Fantasia, a 3CD musical about the September 11 attacks, his collaboration single with Yakenohara, "Rollin' Rollin'," and the success of his 5th album, Billion Voices.

Eiichi Ohtaki was a Japanese musician, songwriter and record producer. He first became known as a member of the rock band Happy End, but was better known for his solo work which began in 1972. In 2003, Ohtaki was ranked by HMV Japan at number 9 on their list of the 100 most important Japanese pop acts. Patrick Macias referred to Ohtaki as Phil Spector, Brian Wilson, George Martin and Joe Meek "synthesized into a single human being," and called his work "an encyclopedia of everything that was great about pop music in the 20th century."

Mitsuhiro Oikawa is a Japanese musician, singer-songwriter, composer and actor who is represented by the talent agency, Mother Enterprise. He graduated from Seijo Gakuen Junior High School and High School and Seijo University Faculty of Law. He is business partners with Horipro. His wife was actress and Takarazuka Revue graduate Rei Dan.

Tamio Okuda is a Japanese singer, songwriter, and producer. He started his career in 1986 as a member of the band Unicorn. After Unicorn broke up, Okuda moved on to a solo career in 1994 with the single "Ai no Tame ni". He has written and composed many songs for various artists, particularly Puffy. He is signed to Sony Music Japan.

Masatoshi Ono , also known as Sho, is a Japanese rock/heavy metal singer-songwriter and vocal coach. Ono got his start in the 1980s as vocalist of the heavy metal band Fort Bragg. In 1992, he released his first solo single, "Pure ni Nare", on Sony Records. It was not until his third single, "You're the Only...", that he began to receive notable attention. The single helped Ono win the "Rookie of the Year" award at the 34th Japan Record Awards and an invitation to that year's Kōhaku Uta Gassen.

Yutaka Ozaki was a popular Japanese musician. He is ranked at No. 23 in a list of Japan's top 100 musicians by HMV.

Kazutoshi Sakurai is a Japanese musician. He composes and writes almost all of the songs for his band Mr. Children, in addition to writing lyrics and singing for his solo project group Bank Band. In 2006, Sakurai ranked No. 8 in HMV's "Top 30 Best Japanese Singers of All Time" and in 2007 was voted No. 4 as the "ideal father image" by Oricon. Also, in 2009, he was chosen as one of the Young Global Leaders in World Economic Forum. As an entrepreneur, he co-founded AP Bank, where he personally provided 1 million dollars of seed money to launch and fund the nonprofit lending group which finances environmentally friendly projects.

Shota Shimizu is a Japanese singer-songwriter and musician from Yao, Osaka, Japan, who debuted in 2008. On June 1, 2008, Shimizu performed at Central Park in New York City, USA, during the annual Japan Day Festival. Shota Shimizu went to a local Christian school in Osaka where he learned how to sing gospel music. He became captivated with soul music, which is how his music career started. He was inspired by Donny Hathaway, Marvin Gaye, and Ray Charles.

Kiyotaka Sugiyama is a Japanese singer-songwriter.

Yasuhiro Sugihara , better known by his stage name Sugizo, is a Japanese musician, singer-songwriter, composer and record producer. He is the lead guitarist and violinist of the rock band Luna Sea since 1989.

Yoshio Tabata was a Japanese ryūkōka and enka singer, songwriter, and electric guitarist. His debut song "Shima no Funauta" was released in 1939. Along with enka-shi Haruo Oka's 1939 debut, his debut had a big impact on Japanese popular music because Japanese popular ryūkōka music of that time was mainly sung by classical music singers such as Ichiro Fujiyama and Noriko Awaya. He was born in Matsusaka, Mie prefecture, Japan.

Yukihiro Takahashi is a Japanese musician, singer, record producer and actor, who is best known internationally as the drummer and lead vocalist of the Yellow Magic Orchestra, and as the former drummer of the Sadistic Mika Band. He is currently a member of the group METAFIVE.

Yukihide Takekawa (タケカワユキヒデ is a Japanese singer-songwriter from Urawa-ku, Saitama, Saitama Prefecture. He is best known for being the vocalist to the band Godiego as well as his solo career and his work as an author. Some of his compositions have been featured in video game, anime, films, and television drama soundtracks. These include the Galaxy Express 999 film, Saiyūki, Genesis Climber MOSPEADA, Soul Blazer, and Choushinsei Flashman.

Kōji Tamaki is a Japanese singer-songwriter and actor. He has been well known as frontman of the rock band Anzen Chitai that debuted in 1982 and enjoyed a successful career, particularly during the 1980s. In 1993, he began his career as a solo artist, and since then he has experienced much critical acclaim and commercial success. Widely regarded as one of the greatest Japanese vocalists, in 2014 he was ranked first by a panel of 200 experts for the best ever singing voice in Japan. Moreover, in June 2021 Koji was voted as the greatest active male Japanese singer, with 190 experts agreeing that he is a "living national treasure of music" and that he portrays an "unparalleled mass of expressiveness and emotion which only seems to get better with age".

Rolly Teranishi more commonly known as Rolly, is a Japanese musician and music producer.

Tetsuya is a Japanese musician, best known as the leader and bassist of the rock band L'Arc-en-Ciel. Formerly known by the stage name tetsu, he started using his birth name professionally on December 1, 2009. While in L'Arc-en-Ciel his name is stylized as tetsuya, whereas in his solo work it is stylized as TETSUYA.

Shugo Tokumaru is a Japanese singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, who debuted in May 2004 in America with his album Night Piece. He creates every aspect of his music, including the lyrics, music, arrangements, recording and mixing. He is known for the variety of instruments he uses in his music, using over 100 different traditional and non-traditional instruments in his recordings. Tokumaru is also a member of the Japanese rock band Gellers. Tokumaru's 2010 album Port Entropy was his most commercially successful album in Japan, breaking into the top 40.

Tenji Nozoki, best known by the stage name Kazuki Tomokawa, is a prolific Japanese musician, active in the Japanese music scene since the early 1970s. His music has been used in the films of cult directors Takashi Miike and Kōji Wakamatsu, and he also appears in person in Miike's Izo (2004).

Toshimitsu Deyama , known exclusively by his stage name Toshi, is a Japanese singer who is the lead vocalist and a co-founder of the rock band X Japan, who rose to prominence in the late 1980s and early 1990s and is credited as founders of the visual kei movement. Toshi began an extensive solo career in 1992 before leaving X Japan at the end of 1997. By his own admission, Toshi was "brainwashed" by a group called Home of Heart, whose leader would control his musical output for the next 12 years. In 2007, X Japan reunited and began a world tour. Toshi severed ties with Home of Heart in January 2010 and renewed his solo career. His distinctive, impassioned tenor vocals have been compared to those of Steve Perry. In January 2018, he began to use the stage name Toshi Ryugen .

Carlos Toshiki is a Japanese Brazilian singer-songwriter who was the lead vocalist of the popular Japanese city pop band 1986 Omega Tribe and its successor band Carlos Toshiki & Omega Tribe during the mid to late 80's. He was a popular vocalist during the band's era, with the singles "Kimi wa 1000%" and "Aquamarine no Mama de Ite" being hit singles on the Oricon charts.

Naoki Urasawa is a Japanese manga artist and musician. He has been drawing manga since he was four years old, and for most of his professional career has created two series simultaneously. The stories to many of these were co-written in collaboration with his former editor, Takashi Nagasaki. Urasawa has been called one of the artists that changed the history of manga and has won numerous awards, including the Shogakukan Manga Award three times, the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize twice, and the Kodansha Manga Award once. By 2016, his various works had over 126 million copies in circulation.

Wowaka, also known as Genjitsutouhi-P (現実逃避P), was a Japanese musician. Considered to be a pioneer in the Vocaloid industry, Wowaka was internationally acclaimed for his musical work over a career spanning a decade.

Ichiro Yamaguchi , is a Japanese musician. He is the vocalist, guitarist and songwriter for the Hokkaido rock band Sakanaction.

Tatsurō Yamashita , occasionally credited as Tatsu Yamashita or Tats Yamashita, is a Japanese singer-songwriter and record producer often referred to as the "King of City Pop" for pioneering that style of Japanese adult-oriented rock/soft rock music. His most well-known song is "Christmas Eve", the best-selling single song released in Japan in the 1980s, appearing on the Japanese singles chart for over 35 consecutive years. He is known for his collaborations with his wife and popular singer Mariya Takeuchi on many songs including "Plastic Love" as well as with American songwriter Alan O'Day with whom he wrote hit songs "Your Eyes", "Magic Ways" "Love Can Go the Distance" and "Fragile." Active since the 1970s, Yamashita is considered an important contributor to Japanese music, ranked by HMV Japan as 6th in the Top 100 Japanese Artists.

Kazuya Yoshii is a Japanese musician and singer-songwriter. He is best known as lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the rock band The Yellow Monkey. When they went on hiatus in 2001, before officially disbanding three years later, Yoshii started a solo career in 2003 under the name Yoshii Lovinson. He switched back to his old name in 2006 and The Yellow Monkey reformed in 2016.