Songs that every Japanese know : Hit Japanese songs of all times ! from the 80s to 2020 !! #viral

Kyary Pamyu Pamyu "PonPonPon" 

Hello Hello !

I tried to collect Hit Japanese songs starting from the 80s .

The list risked to be long, so i tried to pick up the most famous titles which Japanese people having different tastes and ages know. 

Some hits were followed by the success start of some popular bands that are still active.

I have noticed that since 2010, music has been produced massively by popular and new bands. The market has become more competitve. Most of the songs have between 2-100M views on Youtube. So, it was a bit hard to select the songs that have the biggest notoriety based on views.

So, I could rely on research and my knowledge aquired through the years ( for example i know " World is mine" by Miku Hatsune since its release, and that was by chance through a local old TV program. Another example, 3 years ago i started using Youtube Japan and watching Japanese Vines so i could get into the pop culture very deeply ) also thanks to my Japanese friends who share  titles and information with me.

Eventhough, AKB48 and Arashi remain the most popular in Japan, I can say that nowadays Yonezu Kenshi, Radwimps and King Gnu are the most active and creative,  the most followed by fans and the ones having the biggest notoriety. 

FOLK SONGS

('Min'yō')

Lullaby of Takeda [Takeda No Komoriuta] Japanese Folk Song -  The Red Birds [Akai Tori]

Glow of a firefly/Hotaru no hikari(蛍の光)

Soran Bushi, folk song and dance

(Vanderbilt ANYF 2016 - Soran Bushi)

POP and ROCK SONGS

in chronological order

1989 Yoshiki (X Japan) - Kurenai

1978 Momoe Yamaguchi  秋桜 (Cosmos) it's her most popular song read more

1992 The Boom-Shima Uta In 1992, The Boom, a rock band from Yamanashi Prefecture, released an Okinawa-inspired song titled "Shima Uta" (島唄). It became a smash hit in Japanese market and the name shima-uta came to be associated with Okinawa pop in mainland Japan.  readmore1 | readmore2 THE BOOM 島唄　PV　20周年記念 ver

1995 Spitz- Robinson The band came into prominence with a single "Robinson", released in April 1995 and sold in excess of 1.6 million copies in their homeland. It was followed by their 6th studio album Hachimitsu, released in the same year and achieved a mainstream success, immediately topping the Japanese Oricon chart and selling approximately 1.7 million copies to date. read more

1996 L'arc en ciel - Driver's High L'Arc~en~Ciel (ラルク アン シエル)  is a popular Japanese rock band, formed in 1991. They are one of the most popular and affluent bands in Japan. The group has sold over 15 million albums, 30 million singles, and millions of other units, such as videos, and have been voted #58 in HMV Japan's "Top 100 Japanese Pop Artists" of all time.  【L`Arc~en~Ciel】Driver`s High

1997 L'arc en ciel -Niji Niji Live 2012 L`arc en ciel

1998 Kiroro- Mirai e The group has been formed since 1995 and has had great success in Japan with titles such as "Mirai e", "Nagai Aida" and "Fuyu no Uta". read more

1999 Arashi -Arashi Selling over 557,000 in its first week and over 970,000 copies by the end of its chart run, the single is the group's best-selling single.The single was certified double platinum in Japan for a shipment of 800,000 copies. 嵐 - A･RA･SHI [Official Music Video] MV published in 2019

1999 (-2000) Ayumi hamasaki - A Song for XX "Ayu" is called " the Queen of J-Pop" A Song for ××

1999 Utada Hikaru-First Love  Her first album, First Love, is historically the best-selling album in Japan with more than 7.65 million copies sold. Hikaru received a Japanese gold record for "Song of the Year" for fourteen of his singles since 2000 and won the "Pop / Rock Album of the Year" gold record for his first four japanese studio albums.  宇多田ヒカル - First Love

1999 (-2001) Morning Musume-Love Machine It sold a total of 1,646,630 copies, making it a massive hit (a #1 single in Japan) and their highest selling single. In 2004, it was re-released as part of the Early Single Box and again in 2005 as a 12 cm CD. The single also marked the debut of the "Third Generation" member Maki Goto and the departure of Aya Ishiguro.

2001  Rimi Natsukawa - Nada sou sou "Nada Sōsō" (涙そうそう, Great Tears Are Spilling) is a song written by Japanese band "BEGIN" and singer Ryoko Moriyama. It was first released by Moriyama in 1998, but achieved popularity through the cover version by Rimi Natsukawa in 2001. read more

2001 BUMP OF CHICKEN『天体観測』 (Tentai Kansoku) Bump of Chiken is a popular group in Japan; every release since their third single, "Tentai Kansoku," has charted in the top ten on the Oricon Weekly Charts. read more

2002 Rimi Natsukawa - Shima uta

2002 Begin - Shimanchu nu Takara (島人ぬ宝, Okinawan for "Treasure of the Islanders")  It has become a song iconic of Okinawa Prefecture due to its use of eisa-inspired chanting. read more

2004 Sukima Switch- Kanade スキマスイッチ / 奏(かなで) : SUKIMASWITCH / KANADE

2005  Orange Range - Asterisk It was used as the first opening to the anime Bleach. It reached the top of the Oricon Weekly Single Charts for sales for the weeks of March 7 and March 14, 2005, and was the number 1 song on the Oricon in March 2005.

2006  Koda Kumi- koi no tsubomi The single was released in CD and CD+DVD and charted at #2 on Oricon, selling over 140,000 copies in its first week and staying on the charts for twenty-one weeks. It became the highest selling song debut for a female artist, until Ayumi Hamasaki surpassed it with her single Blue Bird, which came out a month later on June 21 倖田來未 / 恋のつぼみ

2006 KAT-TUN- Real Face

2007  Hey! Say! JUMP- Ultra Music Power "Ultra Music Power", which was used as the theme at Japan's Volleyball World Cup Relay 2007. Oricon 2007 Yearly Chart Peak Position : 14 [Hey!Say!JUMP] Ultra Music Power 교차편집 (stage mix)

2007 L'arc en ciel - My Heart Draws a dream L'Arc~en~Ciel live 2014

2008 Exile - Lovers again from the album " Exile Love", best seller of the year. read more MV released in 2020

2008 Superfly - 愛をこめて花束を Ai o Komete Hanataba o ("Put Love in a Bouquet")The song was Superfly's break-through single, breaking into the Oricon physical singles chart's top 20. As of 2011, it is Superfly's most successful single, being certified as a million ringtone download, triple platinum as a cellphone download, and single platinum for digital sales. read more MV published in 2011, ~119M views

2008 Vocaloid Miku Hatsune- World is Mine Hatsune Miku - World Is Mine ~ Project DIVA Live -

2008 Angela Aki- Tegami The song reached number three on the Oricon Weekly Charts, selling more than 200,000 copies. It was certified Million for downloads in 2016 by the RIAJ. The song is performed in the anime movie Colorful. The song was ranked at 25 on "Billboard Japan Hot 100 Songs" chart. read more | about angela aki

2009 Rimi Natsukawa アメージング・グレース Amazing grace

2009 Stereopony - Hitohira No Hanabira published in 2012 ~53M views

2010 Arashi - Yurase, Ima o  theme song for the 2010 Winter Olympics news coverage on NTV.

2010 AKB48- Heavy Rotation This is the most perverted MV i've ever seen in my whole life.  I've heard about the band and i know it's about cute girls etc , but it was the first time i check their MV and im totally shocked. very disgusting. but it's paradise for men. Since 2011, they are on the top list of best selling artist sales by year .source 【MV full】 ヘビーローテーション / AKB48 [公式] published in 2010, ~158M views

2010 J Soul Brothers - Best Friend's Girl Sandaime J Soul Brothers released their first single "Best Friend's Girl" in November 2010, which peaked at number three on the Oricon Singles Chart.  三代目 J SOUL BROTHERS from EXILE TRIBE / Best Friend's Girl

2011 きゃりーぱみゅぱみゅ - PONPONPON , Kyary Pamyu Pamyu - PONPONPON published in 2011, ~159M views The music video, a psychedelic tribute to kawaisa and Decora culture, was released to YouTube on July 16, 2011 and became a viral hit. read more

2012 米津玄師　MV『ゴーゴー幽霊船』 Yonezu Kenshi- Go Go Yūreisen ("Go-Go GHOST Ship") MV published in 2012, ~51M views the song is from the album "Diorama" which was one of the top independent releases in Japan in 2012, and was one of the winners of the 5th CD Shop Awards. "Vivi" also is popular. read more

2012 The Beginning - One Ok Rock MV publishe in 2012, ~153M views

2013  SEKAI NO OWARI「RPG」 published in 2013, ~169M views

2014   米津玄師 MV「アイネクライネ」 Yonezu Kenshi - Eine Kleine  ("A little") published in 2014, ~249M views The music video for "Eine Kleine" was a Space Shower Power Push! video, being on heavy rotation in April 2014.

2014  WORLD ORDER  "HAVE A NICE DAY" published in 2014, ~29M views Released on YouTube on March 20th, 2014, the song is a homage to Akihabara (the location the video takes place in) and its unique otaku culture.

2014 J-Soul Brothers- Ryusei Sandaime J Soul Brothers were propelled to commercial and critical success following the release of their 2014 single "R.Y.U.S.E.I.", which won the Japan Record Award, the highest honor at the 56th Japan Record Awards. 三代目 J SOUL BROTHERS from EXILE TRIBE / 「R.Y.U.S.E.I.」Music Video

By December 2019, Sandaime J Soul Brothers had sold a total of more than 11.15 million records including over 7.25 million singles sales in Japan alone since their debut in late 2010. The group was reported to have earned an estimated total gross of $63.1 million (¥6.85 billion) in 2015 with a total of $76 million (¥8.25 billion) and $53.6 million (¥5.82 billion) earned in the years of 2016 and 2018 respectively. read more

2015  ゲスの極み乙女。 - 私以外私じゃないの Gesu no kiwami otome. - Watashi igai watashi janai no published in 2015, ~85M views

2015 Honnoji no hen song and dance by Egu-Splosion 「本能寺の変」 踊る授業シリーズ 【踊ってみたんすけれども】 エグスプロージョン

2016 Radwimps- Sparkle スパークル [original ver.] -Your name. Music Video edition- 予告編 from new album「人間開花」初回盤DVD

2016 Hoshino Gen - Koi  (song and dance) published in 2016, ~216M views

2016 PIKOTARO - PPAP (Pen Pineapple Apple Pen) published in 2016, ~318M views

2016 Radwimps - Zen zen zense published in 2016, ~236M views 前前前世 (movie ver.) RADWIMPS MV

2018 米津玄師 MV「Lemon」 published in 2018, ~544M views

2018 Paprika 「パプリカ」 written and composed by Yonezu Kenshi, ~178M views ＜NHK＞2020応援ソング「パプリカ」ダンス ミュージックビデオ

2018 KDaichi Miura- Blizzard 三浦大知 (Daichi Miura) / Blizzard (映画『ドラゴンボール超 ブロリー』主題歌) published in 2018, ~35M views

2019 King Gnu - 白日  (hakujitsu ="white day") In January 2019, they major debut under Ariola Japan, and released the hit song Hakujitsu, which ranks No.4 in Year-end chart of Billboard Japan.  published in 2019, ~184M views.

2019 King Gnu- Kasa In October, they released Kasa and won their first No.1 in Billboard Japan Download Chart. King Gnu - 傘 OFFICIAL AUDIO

2019 Official髭男dism - Pretender published in 2019, ~173M views

2019 菅田将暉 『まちがいさがし』 Suda Masaki “machigai sagashi”

2019  RADWIMPS MV 愛にできることはまだあるかい published in 2019, ~51M views

2020

Hoshino Gen

“Uchide Odorou / Dancing on the Inside”

"
While in self-quarantine, he wrote a new song titled “Uchide Odorou / Dancing on the Inside” and uploaded the track to YouTube, inviting anyone who wishes to collaborate with him by creating their own arrangements or accompaniments.
To encourage collaboration on a global scale, Hoshino has crowd-sourced translations to his song and, as of the writing of this article, the lyrics have already been translated into over 10 different languages. He even posted the sheet music to his twitter account. So far, artists around Japan have responded by posting their own renditions.
" source

personally i think the video bellow is the best arrangement :

【フルオーケストラ！】星野源 / うちで踊ろう【総勢６０人！】