This Side of Japan's Best of 2024: The Friends List
We wrap up our best of 2024 coverage with selections picked by friends of the newsletter
Hi! Welcome to the Best of 2024 edition of This Side of Japan, a newsletter about Japanese music, new and old. You can check out previous issues of the newsletter here.
Every year, I invite friends and contributors to share a list of their favorite songs of the year, and I’m always impressed with the results. This Side of Japan put together five lists compiling almost 300 songs, and there still are amazing songs that passed through the cracks. As is the case every time I do this, I am discovering many for the first time.
For this big lists of lists, I try my best to call over folks who represent a wide range of tastes, from idol followers to avant-garde enthusiasts, indie-rock fanatatics to digicore heads, Oricon chart watchers to folk-music lovers. But this year, I had a surprising amount of overlaps in between folks’ choices, and so I wanted to put together a rough cumulative list.
Here is the top 20 of 2024 according to our friends of This Side of Japan:
RYUTist - “Kimi No Mune Ni, Gunshot”
lilbesh ramko - “nichijou:loopmania”
PAS TASTA ft. PinocchioP - “B.B.M.”
32ki ft. Hatsune Miku & Kasane Teto - “Mesmerizer”
ExWHYZ - “Sweet & Sour”
reina - “A Million More”
Dos Monos ft. Otomo Yoshihide - “Que Gi”
Phantom Siita - “Kimi To xxxx Shitai Dake”
Shiina Ringo & Nocchi - “Hatsu KO Gachi”
Yuki Chiba - “Team Tomodachi”
PAS TASTA - “BULLDOZER+”
SHIRONEKODO & Kensuke Ushio - “Sui Kin Chi Ka Moku Dotten Amen”
macaroom - “burning chrome”
WEDNESDAY CAMPENALLA - “TAMAMO-NO-MAE”
MyGO!!!!! - “Panorama”
PAS TASTA ft. JUMADIBA & LIL SOFT TENNIS - “byun G”
Galilei Galileo - “SPIN!”
Pasocom Music Club ft. Cwondo - “Hello”
ASP - “TOTSUGEKI!!!!!!!”
Yorushika - “Hareru”
Honorable mentions (These artists made it on more than one list, but not the same songs): Aiobahn, Downt, Endon, FOKALITE, FRUITS ZIPPER, Hakushi Hasegawa, Homecomings, Kayoko Yoshizawa, Kudaranai 1nichi, muque, Sasuke Haraguchi, Satoko Shibata, Seiko Oomori, TOGENASHI TOGEARI, YUKI
And here are the individual lists. Thanks so much to everyone who participated! You can check everyone’s choices all together here on this playlist.
K
Ado - “Value”
XG - “WOKE UP”
Cho Tokimeki Sendenbu - “Saijokyuu Ni Kawaii No!”
Hitsujibungaku - “Burning”
ano - “Aishiteru, Nantene.”
Shiina Ringo & Nocchi - “Hatsu KO Gachi”
WEDNESDAY CAMPANELLA - “TAMAMO-NO-MAE”
YUKI - “Oikaketaino”
muque - “jabber”
VALIS - “Eien Melancholy”
K translates Japanese lyrics into English on her website. You can also find her on X and BlueSky.
Kanra
Nana Okada - “12.24”
Homecomings - “Moon Shaped”
ExWHYZ - “Sweet & Sour”
Yuki Chiba - “Team Tomodachi”
AKB48 - “Koi Tsunjatta”
Kudaranai 1nichi - “Gunpla”
tipToe. - “My Long Prologue”
Acle - “sleep tight”
Downt - “Uyo”
Soccer. - “IV”
Kanra is stuck in Nebraska and thinks way too much about Cartoon Network, K-pop and indie music. He's a Naachan kamioshi who also sometimes writes about music through Beach City Life-in-Death on Substack.
Mustafa
the slow films - “pool” / Downt - “Underdrive” / Catt - “town of silver”
iVy - “Yuriko Wa Jukai”
tiny yawn - “Flower Raft”
cat meows - “midori”
KOHAKU - “Hajiketa”
kuni - “Huge Moon”
ponderosa may bloom - “Lovesick”
dansa med dig - “Eyes Bright”
ChoQMay - “sister”
The Floatings - “The Girl and the Heron”
Hey, I’m Mustafa! I write primarily about music on my Substack, where I share blog posts, articles, and interviews with musicians! You can also find me on X where, from time to time, I lament how underrated Daoko’s 2017 album Thank You Blue is.
al
reina - “A Million More”
Wez Atlas - “40℃”
Raisan - “PEAK TIME”
FRUITS ZIPPER - “BABY I LOVED”
TOGENASHI TOGEARI - “VOID”
GEKKAN IDOL ft. Miyu Yanagi - “CITY”
saba sister - “Shigechan”
noa - “Zenhokobishojo”
ATARASHII GAKKO! - “Omakase”
Mone Kamishiraishi - “Kasabuta”
al casually writes about Japanese media on the omunibasu newsletter, ranging from music, movies/TV dramas, anime and more. You can also find him gushing about his favorite idols & seiyuu on X.
Bacci
10) Hikaru Utada - “traveling (Re-Recording)”
Though slightly minimalistic in production, the new “traveling” recording featured in Utada’s greatest hits compilation SCIENCE FICTION serves as an interesting bridge between the avant-garde charm of the original and the more sleek, electronic sound the artist has leaned into for the past couple years. Hikki may be all grown up, but that doesn’t mean they don’t get to have fun playing dress-up as themselves every now and then.
9) Kayoko Yoshizawa - “Namida no Kuni”
8) Romantic Addict - “Japanese Girl”
7) FRUITS ZIPPER - “Starlight Valkyrie”
TikTok darlings (and frequent invaders of my Instagram reels), FRUITS ZIPPER’s brand of cuteness was initially a bit of a hard sell for me. This would change as I ventured into their discography and discovered they’re more than capable of delivering melodramatic moments such as this song—which builds a lot of its strength from the members’ theatrical performance. Despite cuteness being their obvious strong suit, it feels like this slightly more hard-hitting sound could take FRUITS ZIPPER in an interesting direction, and it’s a standout addition to their discography.
6) Amaiwana ft. Maki Nomiya “COVER GIRLS”
5) Shiina Ringo & Nocchi - “Hatsu KO Kachi”
Shiina Ringo dropping a surprise album was a fun treat to begin with. Shiina Ringo dropping a surprise album that included Nocchi amongst its many collaborators? That was probably enough to get everyone interested. “Hatsu KO Kachi” is a fun blend of rock and cabaret aesthetics whose main strengths come from the way Ringo and Nocchi go back and forth between main vocals and harmonies in a way that evokes the boxing match the song title alludes to. It’s especially gratifying to hear Nocchi's more mature vocals hold more than her ground throughout the song, a fun contrast from her usual output with Perfume.
If Shiina Ringo is not a girls’ girl, why did she get Nocchi to reveal she can sing like this?
4) Aiobahn ft. Yui Makino - “non-reflection”
3) Can GP Maika - “Hold Me Tight”
2) SANDAL TELEPHONE - “Shangri La”
My pick for “coolest girls in idol” reinvented the classic Denki Groove track through a coquettish vocal performance and a fun, layered arrangement that feels equal parts stylish, youthful and evocative of what may have been perceived as cool back when the song was originally released. If Utada’s re-recording of “traveling” offers a self-reflective perspective on the past, SANDAL TELEPHONE’s take on this song perfectly captures the fun that comes with more re-inventive covers and with newer acts paying tribute to sounds that were cool years before their own prime.
1) Dempagumi.inc - “Datte Watashitachi Wa”
If you know me, you know I love Dempagumi.inc. If you really know me, though, you know I’ve wanted the group to release a drum and bass song pretty much since the moment I became a fan in 2014—and, boy, is this song everything I ever dreamed of, even if it comes at a big price... As infectious as the beat on “Datte Watashitachi Wa” is, Dempagumi saying their goodbyes early next year is undoubtedly sad. However, this track building into a frantic and fresh reminder that the group’s dream was always meant to be shared with the fans creates a perfect full-circle moment for everyone involved.
Dempagumi.inc has always been defined by its members’ efforts to figure out, through their aesthetics and performance, how to convey and overcome the many emotions that made them feel like outcasts, which would ironically become the common trait that would establish their connection with many of their fans. For the last track in a series of EPs—exploring topics such as legacy and farewells to provide a final shared moment before the girls and their fans have to look ahead—to carry the dream that refuses to end as a dream with them feels like a perfect closer to one of the most foundational chapters in idol history.
Bacci is a sporadic hobby writer who occasionally comments on music, comics, games, or media and art in general. You can find them rambling, mostly on Bluesky, pretty much everywhere online as baccibloo. You can check their more at-lenght writing over at Medium.
Leap
muque - “Teardrop in the Sea”
reina - “A Million More”
Akuru Yoru No Hitsujji - “Kudaranai”
Asa yoji - “Tokyo”
sanetii - “Mikakunin Husky”
Kitri - “Sigh Sigh”
ExWHYZ - “Our Song”
ASU - “Blue Night Darling”
TOGENASHI TOGEARI - “Karappo To Catharsis”
Yorushika - “Hareru”
Leap writes about Japanese music and provides monthly recommendations on the blog Leap250 and on Substack. You can find them on X.
Dorian
RYUTist - “Kimi No Mune Ni, Gunshot”
Shino Kobayashi - “aoi yoru wa kabete”
Kayoko Yoshizawa - “Yutori”
ako - “racy”
WEDNESDAY CAMPANELLA - “Yuurei To Sakka”
Manami Kakudo - “Flying Mountain”
uami - “rennai-core”
Maika Loubte - “Shinsho Volcano”
MyGo!!!!! - “Panorama”
Negicco - “Anata To Negi with You!”
Dorian is a public servant and choral singer. He listens broadly across genres but folk music is his first love. Find him on Bluesky and his writing at The Singles Jukebox.
Fabricio
RYUTist - “Kimi No Mune Ni, Gunshot”
32ki ft. Hatsune Miku & Kasane Teto - “Mesmerizer”
Punipunidenki - “Lonely Shooter”
YUKI - “Now Here”
SHIRONEKODO & Kensuke Ushio - “Sui Kin Chi Ka Moku Dotten Amen”
Hoshimachi Suisei - “BIBBIDIBA”
bala - “Galaxy in Your Eyes”
Batten Shojotai - “My Kagura”
Pasocom Music Club ft. Mei Takahashi - “Drama”
OCHA NORMA - “Lovey-Dovey”
In his free time, Fabricio rambles on about Hello! Project and sometimes other Japanese media such as fighting games on X.
Patrick
lilbesh ramko - “nichijou:loopmania”
PAS TASTA ft. PinocchioP - “B.B.M.”
32ki ft. Hatsune Miku & Kasane Teto - “Mesmerizer”
ZAZEN BOYS - “Eien Shoujo”
Pasocom Music Club ft. Satoko Shibata - “Child Replay”
Kaoruko & Stones Taro - “Utakata”
Yuri - “Heart 111”
Wai Wai Wai - “peace piece pizza”
Yuki Chiba - “Team Tomodachi”
Yorushika - “Hareru”
Patrick writes about music and culture of Japan over at Make Believe Mailer as well as a number of outlets like the Japan Times. You can find him on X and BlueSky.
Leika
inuha - “Shuppatsu no Asa”
Ryosuke Nagaoka & aus - “Candles”
edhiii boi & MANON - “Otomodachi (Zuttomo Remix)”
Hakushi Hasegawa - “Boy’s Texture”
lilbesh ramko - “nichijou:loopmania”
Pasocom Music Club ft. Cwondo - “Hello”
f5ve - “Underground”
Galileo Galileo - “SPIN!”
Like a Record round! round! round! - “Hon g Shin g”
Shoko Igarashi - “EN”
Leika previously contributed “Nanda Kanda: A 5 Song Intro to Fujii Takashi” for the newsletter. She presently lives in California. In the future, who knows?
Maxwell Allison
Dos Monos ft. Otomo Yoshihide - “Que Gi”
BBBBBBB - “Forever”
CVN ft. Milky - “crack my heart”
PAS TASTA - “BULLDOZER+”
koeosaeme - “My future is not written in the leaves of prophecy”
Melt-Banana - “Puzzle”
Endon - “Escalation”
Perfume - “Sumikko Disco”
emamouse - “Ichigo au lait no uta”
WEDNESDAY CAMPANELLA - “The Big Four”
Maxwell Allison makes music under the name Mukqs and plays in various bands and collaborative projects in his home of Chicago. He co-runs the label Hausu Mountain, for which he serves as the in-house graphic designer among other roles, and runs the label Blorpus Editions.
Ryan
Endon - “Time Does Not Heal”
Corrupted - “Marude Nichibotsu No Youna Asahi Ni Mukatte”
Risa Takeda - “LIAR”
Hakushi Hasegawa - “KYOFUNOHOSHI”
Khamai Leon - “Yehatov”
PAS TASTA - “BULLDOZER+”
Kudaranai 1nichi - “TANGTANG”
Dos Monos ft. Otomo Yoshihide - “Que Gi”
kuragari - “natsukashiku natte”
Yuko Araki - “lithos”
Ryan is a lover of experimental music, manga, film, and many other weird things who prides themselves on being the most annoying Haino Keiji fan south of the Mason-Dixon Line. You can find them at vacantworld.substack.com.
Shy
Sasuke Haraguchi - “UTAUbot”
Madobe Rika - “Window moon”
Toshiya Tsunoda/Taku Unami - “stream plays drums”
PAS TASTA ft. PinocchioP - “B.B.M.”
Lil Hyvää - “Prologue”
fuigo - “Railway waltz”
Eiko Ishibashi - “Missing V.2”
macaroom - “lamb”
effe - “iris”
gaburyu - “Vraveater (hirihiri Remix)”
Shy’s writing can be found on Pitchfork, Bandcamp Daily, Tone Glow, her own Substack and many more. You can find her on X.
kei
aryy ft. kegon & lilbesh ramko - “emotion+”
lilbesh ramko- “Usotsuki”
Tomori Kusonoki - “MAYBLUES”
Sasuke Haraguchi - “Igaku”
MyGo!!!!! - “Panorama”
Giga & Teddyloid meets Rina Matsuda & Hikaru Morita (Sakurazaka46) - “Pikkaan!”
Aiobahn ft. Isekaijoucho - “new world”
KAF & Soushi Sakiyama - “Hug me”
PeanutsKun ft. Tsukino Mito - “Birthday Party”
higma ft. Hatsune Miku - “echo”
kei is a self proclaimed aniidol otaku and aspiring bedroom DJ and producer. You can find his posts about most forms of Japanese anime idol adjacent entertainment and netlabel inspired music on Bluesky.
CJ
ueil - “Katahou Dake Ga Moeteiru”
Yuka Nagase ft. New K - “Stay With Me”
Galileo Galilei - “Lollipop”
mekakushe - “Almond”
DONGROSSO - “BOUROU”
Shikakuzakana - “AND RED END”
PAS TASTA ft. JUMADIBA & LIL SOFT TENNIS - “byun G”
macaroom - “burning chrome”
TESTSET - “SING CITY”
GUMINENDOMINPOU - “Dam Bottom Amusement Park”
You can find CJ active on X, the r/Kamitsubaki subreddit, or the Kamitsubaki English community Discord always sharing music.
Ivan
Satoko Shibata - “Movie Light”
Air-Con Boom Boom Onesan - “Junk”
Yuta Orisaka - “Mugon”
macaroom - “burning chrome”
ELAIZA - “Tamashii”
Seiko Oomori - “Momoiro Danchi”
SHIRONEKODO & Kensuke Ushio - “Sui Kin Chi Ka Moku Dotten Amen”
Gliiiico ft. Chara - “Tragedy”
Phantom Siita - “Kimi To xxxx Shitaidake”
xiangyu ft. Tavito Nanao - “Piece of Cake”
Iván is in charge of sending out City Game Pop every week, a newsletter in Spanish primarily focused on Japanese music. You can also find him on Twitter discussing not only that but also topics like the Japanese video game industry. He has contributed to various publications, including Akihabara Blues and Caninomag.
Cal
10) Yoru No Honki Dance - “Vivid Beat”
It’s been over a decade of this band constantly having songs with “dance” in the lyrics reminding you that, yes, they do know how to make music that you can dance to.
9) garnear - “Henshoku Manual”
Definitely a song for anyone nostalgic for Touhou doujin albums or the Shadow the Hedgehog soundtrack.
8) FOKALITE - “Amagami Tiger”
Cheeky and fun, you can’t fill the void that MIGMA SHELTER left, but the group formed by most of their final line-up aren’t trying to. There’s nothing to compare here, so go in with a fresh pair of ears and enjoy some pop music!
7) PAS TASTA ft. JUMADIBA & LIL SOFT TENNIS - “byun G”
Honestly, this song just kind of makes me mad because I wish all music sounded like this.
6) URBANGARDE - “Dr. Nou”
Always relevant yet irreverent, a techno-rock opera about an AI chatbot going insane and poisoning everyone is exactly what you’d expect Temma Matsunaga to be writing in 2024.
5) Tonalia - “Jigoku Marathon He Ikou!”
Tonalia’s concept as a group surrounds a storybook kingdom where anything can happen, which i’d say they’ve definitely achieved. None of their discography sounds alike, so trying to say where this fits in with everything else is near impossible. But, if one thing stood out this year from them, it was definitely the song with nonsense lyrics about a marathon in hell with slap bass.
4) meme tokyo - “CUTE TURN”
In the year where Dempagumi.inc announced that they’re calling it quits, their successor group show that they more than deserve to have the torch passed down to them with this one. Dempa are an earnest reflection of 2010’s Akiba-kei, but all those crazy kids grew up, and we have a new generation of nerds that’re just a little ahead of the game than everyone else. So cute turn on, tune in and give the zoomers a chance. You’ll be glad you did.
3) ASP - “TOTSUGEKI!!!!!”
‘90s electronic music made waves in pop music thanks to the likes of Pinkpantheress, Charli XCX and Newjeans, which is where ASP come in. They feel like another side of the same coin, giving us things like ‘90s techno and even some dirty digital hardcore in place of the cleaner, safer ambient dub and general DnB soundscapes that’ve become the norm. “TOTSUGEKI!!!!!” crawled right out of a Juliana’s Tokyo compilation album, which to be fair, wouldn’t go out of place for a lot of idols (anything produced by Hyadain), but ASP just have the right mixture of timing, charisma and that good ol’ WACK edge that makes this feel just as nostalgic-cum-fresh as something like “Super Shy.”
2) ExWHYZ - “Sweet & Sour”
WACK’s successor group that rose from the ashes of a fallen EMPiRE have continuously had the company’s most consistent output. Sure, it isn’t what you’d expect from WACK, but ExWHYZ have never missed a single shot they’ve taken in the pop world. In fact, their recent remix album and EP feel like a celebration of pop music: a mixture of what’s hot and a sneak peak of what’s about to be hot. Originally this was a choice between “Drama” or their cover of Shinichi Osawa’s “Our Song”, but after a friend saying he likes this song leading to me listening to it on repeat to understand why, it got stuck in my head and hasn’t left since. “Sweet & Sour” is a mixture of lyrics so heartfelt, they almost feel like a gut-punch and production that has a real kick to it. In short, if any song ever deserved to be called “Sweet & Sour,” it is unquestionably this one.
1) Seiko Oomori - “Zettai Unmei Gokko”
Oomori’s recent album THIS IS JAPANESE GIRL marked her separation from longtime label Avex, but on a personal level, her separation from her husband. “Zettai Unmei Gokko” (Absolute Destiny Make-Believe) is the type of song that you’d expect from her, with blunt lyrics that feel just as heartfelt as they can be snarky, and of course, screaming. Lots and lots of screaming. What places this song above all others this year for me is how much of a crown jewel it is, sitting right atop her current discography. Having “We held onto each other until the very end” and “Thank God we’re at peace now” hysterically spat in your face during the closing chorus really makes you feel that this is somebody in mourning. More than a song, this is a raw, authentic look at somebody’s private life, as raw as a fresh, bloody wound. The album is called THIS IS JAPANESE GIRL, but more than anything, this album, this song, THIS IS OOMORI SEIKO.
Cal is a writer for Homicidols, currently on semi-hiatus to focus on their degree study. Likes anything slightly offbeat and sparkly pop music. You can find them on X.
poteto
GANG PARADE - “GOOD LUCK MY FUTURE”
Phantom Siita - “Kimi To xxxx Shitaidake”
Yoeko - “Music”
FOKALITE - “Rabbit Forever”
AFTERS - “FES RUSH”
ASP - “TOTSUGEKI!!!!!”
WeZ - “ERROR”
YA’BURNEE - “The Last Sweet Bullet”
EULOPA DELIC - “NaNa?”
BABYTANTS - “Hello Right”
Poteto has been an enjoyer of music for as many years as there are grains of sand at the bottom of the sea. You can find them on X.
Michael
Japanese Ape - “epigonen”
Homecomings - “blue poetry”
SIRUP, SUMIN & A.G.O - “Roller Coaster”
AMEFURASSHI - “Flora”
WEDNESDAY CAMPANELLA - “TAMAMO-NO-MAE”
Galileo Galilei - “SPIN!”
PSYCHIC FEVER from EXILE TRIBE ft. JP THE WAVY - “Just Like Dat”
Pasocom Music Club ft. Cwondo - “Hello”
dennoko-P - “For Elise”
RYUTist - “Kimi no Mune Ni, Gunshot”
Michael writes about Mandopop on his Substack, Mando Gap. His writing has also appeared on Pitchfork and NME. You can find him on X.
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