Over the course of our journey, a lot of people have asked me about Japanese Christian music.
I wish I had a time to write a dedicated article about Japanese Christian music scene (if such thing exists, or it’s very small even if existed), but I don’t have enough time for that.
So instead, I made a Spotify playlist here, featuring some Christian artists/bands I know of.
One thing I have to mention.
This is NOT ALL.
There are so many artists/bands I couldn’t find on Spotify (or other music streaming services in that matter), especially those artists from older generations (for whom I have huge respect).
Also keep in mind that smaller indie bands tend not to release their albums on Spotify and other streaming outlets.
So I have to say Spotify is not the whole world. It’s probably not even half of the world.
One more thing is, I didn’t include some “church worship team” type of artists and albums. It’s hard to draw a clear line but I didn’t want to make it “too churchy” (if it makes sense).. ..
But here it is.
I hope you explore the world of Japanese Christian music and find your new favorite artists.
Oh by the way don’t forget to follow my band Imari Tones on Spotify, too!!
The artists I included in the playlist (Update May 11, 2021)
Migiwa
Night de Light
Yona Ishikawa
Soul of Faith
Hiroki Miki
Asiah
Ko & Saori
Misa Kamiyama
Genuine Grace
Samuelle
Daisuke Yokoyama
Imari Tones
Shin a.k.a Mamiya
Tatsuya Shioya, Miwa Shioya
Yao Amoabeng
Tim-Nu
Xie
Saluki=
Atsuki Ryo with Jesus Mode
GeeBars
Ko Ito
EYS
Saki
Four Leaf Sound
Kat McDowell
Yoshi Blessed
Takayoshi Fukuhara
Lauren Horii
Monochrome Chameleon
DedachiKenta
KISHIKO
Jimmy Chapel
Signpost
Seiji Igusa
Gospel Seed
Heavenese
Tweli G
Yohanna Sanicola
Takafumi Nagasawa
Chu Kosaka (Michtam Worship)
Ruah Worship
Some artists/bands I wanted to include but could not find on Spotify
B.D.badge (also known as Eikogo)
Beck Yumiko
Makoto Iwabuchi
Sayuri Kume
Yutaka Hagiwara
Shizu Takeshita
Yoko Naito
Gensijin
Lord Runners
CLOD
Indicator
Peter’s Chicken Party
Boxi Rocks
Afrotecs
Tokeisou
The Spicky Heads
Dave Skipper
There are many Christian/Gospel artists. It’s virtually impossible to include them all. Please note that this is only limited within my knowledge.
As of July2020, I really wondered if I would include Kenta Dedachi (DedachiKenta). He is young and has a possibility not limited to Christian music. His first album is not really a Christian album. But it’s true he has a Christian background. So I decided to include his song anyway.
My knowledge is limited and I’m pretty sure there are/were many more great Christian artists in Japan.
If you know one, please let me know.
God bless you all!!
Hi! Could I get the list of this songs in English? My 10 year old has decided she would prefer to listen to worship in Japanese but I want to move sure it is in fact christian. Thank you!
That is a difficult question. Maybe the fastest way is study Japanese and understand the songs for yourself. But many of the artists in this list are established Christian/Gospel artists in Japanese Christian community. Thank you very much!!
thanks a lot for this! I never knew there were so many great Japanese Christian music, I didn’t know how else to find them. I discovered another, JPCC Worship, although they also have Christian songs in multiple languages 😀
Thank you very much! I’m glad you liked the list. There are so many great musicians. I know I have to update the playlist once in a while. I’m aware of JPCC Worship, because I saw them in a conference a couple of years ago. I think they are a worship music group from Indonesia and they are doing some collaborations with a Japanese church. It’s difficult to draw a line but for this playlist I don’t include church worship groups, mainly because there are so many and I want to give spotlight to individual musicians.
Hey Imari Tones! Thanks so much for all you’ve done in helping to drive the Japanese Christian scene forward. My name is Nostalgia and I’m a Japanese music blogger from Canada. My website is named Chromatic Dreamers.
I initially wrote about Japanese Music Theory and Anime Songs for Beginner Musicians like myself. Since coming back to my faith more seriously last year, I’ve had a shift in my focus and I really wanted to help promote Japanese Christian Artists, including yourself!
I already have compiled a list (in English) with over 100 artists, including some church groups and smaller artists, gathering Youtube Channels, Spotify links, Websites and some Social Media links. I really want it to be as complete as possible (https://chromaticdreamers.com/japanese-christian-music-artists/)
I’ve also created an alternative list for those who were already Jpop or Anime music fans and are hoping to find Japanese Christian music with the same vibe so they won’t have to compromise on their faith (https://chromaticdreamers.com/japanese-christian-music-alternatives-for-jpop/).
It would be great if you can share it with anyone who is asking for more. And maybe one day, I can do an interview with you for my blog as well! ^_^
God bless!~
Hi Nostalgia, thank you for the great list. It’s awesome and also thank you for including us. I made this Spotify playlist mentioned on this page but I’ve been too busy to update. I’m really happy you made this near-perfect list of Japanese Christian music! Japanese Christian is a small community and we are all friends. It makes me happy to see the scene grow. Jesus music getting bigger and better in Japan! Let us keep on rocking for Jesus!💕 (Tak)