Make Believe Melodies For December 15, 2025
Do Not Catch A Squirrel
aus — Eau
The plucks of koto on Eau aren’t reminders of a sound from Japan’s past, but rather as a building block as ever vibrant today as they surely were centuries ago. Flau records head aus teams up with koto player Eden Okuno to create an electronic album centered around the stringed instrument, the latter playing it while the prior wraps it in synthesizer haze and creates a backdrop where it reveals new angles on the tool.
Okuno’s koto playing offers the foundation for every song on Eau, delicate and refined enough to leave plenty of space for aus to tinker with on the edges. On songs such as “Tsuzure” and “Uki” he adds an ambient glow to her notes, while a slightly busier cut like “Orientation” finds waves of vocals filling the room between her passages, lending a dreamier quality to these compositions. The physicality of this album — of sensing a clear textural divide between koto and everything else — brings to mind a slightly more traditional interpretation of kankyo ongaku, with highlight “Soko” weaving in samples of water and other nature sounds to create an epic bridging past with present. Get it here, or listen above.
Miu Sakamoto and Marihiko Hara — Resonant Tales
Miu Sakamoto and Marihiko Hara have collaborated in the past, and this year they worked together on “Luminance,” the ending theme to hit film Kokuho. Their follow-up EP Resonant Tales shifts their attention to Gaza, with three songs finding Sakamoto singing “prayers” to the people of Palestine as they continue to face aggression from Israel. The core is “If I must die,” which finds Sakamoto reciting the poem of the same name by Refaat Alareer, joined by a swelling melody provided by Hara. Listen above.
D.A.N. — Daydreaming
Functioning as one large piece rather than two shorter ones, this dispatch from the usually herky-jerky band D.A.N. finds them showing off a slower and more thoughtful side to its creation. “Daydreaming I” and “II” unfolds at the speed of reflection, with the beat strolling ahead and the guitar playing offering plenty of room for the vocals to sort of float overhead as the song’s structure changes. The second half features noisier elements and something approaching emotional release, but the group never lets it fully explode, focusing instead on the sonic journey that came before. Listen above.
Gezan — “Suji”
I appreciate the collective energy of Gezan’s recent work with Million Wish Collective, but I’m also happy to see the group indulge in a little bit more oddballery on “Suji,” the first taste of the band’s next album. Opening with a collage of sounds tied together by the iPhone “Marimba,” MahiTo The People quickly enters to deliver a fittingly rough vocal over a bouncy melody interrupted by guitar. Turns out that hop-scotching pace is all a way to build up towards rock catharsis at the end, hitting on a rawness that I think they do best. Listen above.
lilbesh ramko — “CryCryCry”
There’s something delightful about hearing the songs you associate with your youth smooshed underneath the artistry of someone else’s. On “CryCryCry,” lilbesh ramko baits the millenial set by initially sampling Justice’s “D.A.N.C.E.” before burying it beneath blown-out ass and synth burbles. He hops overhead, laying down his own anthem that’s mixed melancholy and joy, putting the spotlight on the moment right now. Listen above.
Reol — “Portrait Of Her”
Let’s give some shine to Shin Sakiura for a second. The guitarist and producer who at one point was best known as being a slightly jazzy fixture of the PARK label is now emerging as a hit writer, having already delivered one of 2025’s big global J-pop hits for AiNA THE END. Now he’s penned a number for low-key innovator Reol’s forthcoming full-length album, and on “Portrait Of Her” he helps to strike a slightly Showa idol energy (driven home by the video, but made clear by those synths) while working in twists fitting for the 21st century…and which emphasize the snaky nature of Reol’s voice, including her slip into slight rapping. It also feels very Sakanaction-in-the-2010s coded, which is actually a pretty smart one to turn to when trying to strike this balance. Good work Sakiura! Listen above.
Kawabe Moto — “Silent Night”
Summer Eye — “Eki Mae”
What the hell does a Summer Eye Christmas song sound like? At long last, we have an answer — it’s synth driven and a little melancholy, but still plays out like a bossa nova built for Enoshima, albeit during the off season. It’s the back half of a new holiday-ready split single between him and former mitsume vocalist Kawabe Moto, whose contribution is a little more obviously Christmas in that it features something approaching digital bell chimes and, later on, quotes from the original “Silent Night” that his is named after. Of course, it’s all packaged as a flexible (and jolly) dance tune built around synth grooves. One for the alternative playlist comes Dec. 25. Listen above.
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Oricon Trail For The Week Of Dec. 1, 2025 To Dec. 7, 2025
Back in the day, the Oricon Music Charts were the go-to path to music stardom in Japan. Acts of all sorts traversed these lands, trying to sell as many CDs as possible in order to land a good ranking on a chart choosing to only count physical sales, even as the Internet came to be and the number of versions offered for sale got ridiculous. Today, with the country finally in on digital, these roads are more barren and only looked at by the most fanatic of supporters needing something to celebrate. Yet every week, a new song sells enough plastic to take the top spot. So let’s take a trip down…the Oricon Trail.
Morning Musume ‘25 — “Teka HAPPY No HAPPY! / Watashi No Lamentazione” (75,501 Copies)
“Competitive” isn’t quite the right word for this week’s singles chart, but the top three spots are closer than usual. The current incarnation of Morning Musume takes the top spot with a pair of songs, the first (above) being my favorite variety of Hello! Project single, the rollicking dance-pop-tunred-hypnotic joint made even better with a video about putting on a news show. The other side offers a nice fake out, starting out as chilly balladry but quickly pivoting into a theatrical number. Another winning video too, especially with details like this.
The actual intrigue comes with the silver and bronze spots. Second place goes to SUPER★DRAGON with the skittery “Concealer” which beats out “Black Flame” from LDH outfit KID PHENOMENON. Yet the twist — and what I think the suits in Nakameguro can take as a positive — is that “Black Flame” easily has more views on YouTube and a more modest one on Spotify to use just one streaming service. It’s also actually well ahead of Morning Musume in this department too1, so if you flip this away from physical sales, KID PHENOMENON stands out as the most digital-leaning act of the bunch.
News And Views
My year-end feature for The Japan Times ran last week. My biggest takeaway from the year was that in a fragmented cultural landscape, J-pop has done well in mixing media via anime, TV shows and beyond to create larger hits both at home and abroad. This leads into a classic anxiety about “everything is anime music” but I really come out of 2025 feeling that isn’t as much a dead-end route as many gripe about. I mean…you don’t sell out arenas like Kenshi Yonezu and Ado have behind a few themes alone.
To that end…Kenshi Yonezu shared a short animation of a character from Chainsaw Man dancing to “IRIS OUT” and its doing NUMBERS online.
I also interviewed Jeff Mills for The Fader on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of his Live At The Liquid Room mix.
A 30-year-old man stabbed two people near HKT48’s theater in Fukuoka Sunday. Neither injuries were life threatening.
In the wake of her Shanghai tour dates being cancelled amidst political turmoil between Japan and China, Ayumi Hamasaki’s Asian tour came to an end after she called off a subsequent show in Macau.
This is all not just impacting J-pop either…K-pop groups with Japanese members are also cancelling events, such as LE SSERAFIM calling off a Shanghai meet-and-greet. Will say, unrelated, incredible photo choice for that story.
HANA announces its debut album, out in February.
STARTO’s Tokyo Dome show on New Year’s Eve will be streamed on Netflix globally.
Lot of rap beef this year, and we get one more war of words (at least) before 2026 comes around. MC Toyo Katana criticized Worldwide Skippa on Instagram over past political lyrics (about like, calling out discrimination and supporting Palestine). Skippa responded with his own song smacking back.
Katana has since offered his own rebuttal, which takes shots at the fact Skippa lives with his parents and how he should talk about issues other than Palestine, among others. Skippa then responded online, including how he lives with his family to take care of his cat. Every rap rivalry has its own wrinkles.
This Side Of Japan shared its top 100 idol songs of the year.
Huge edition of anan magazine devoted to Perfume coming this week.
BABYMETAL and Vans, together at last.
Laura day romance handling the “JR SKISKI” campaign song this year.
The KAWAII LAB family welcomes another group to its fold.
Osaka live venue Gorilla Hall bought a sofa that looks like a gorilla.
STUTS and friends appeared on NHK’s tiny desk concert series this week.
Important rap
Written by Patrick St. Michel (patrickstmichel@gmail.com)
Twitter — @mbmelodies
Check out the Best Of 2025 Spotify Playlist here!
Largely because the group’s music isn’t on streaming…when people on X complain about J-pop still being inaccessible outside of the country, always see if they are a Hello! Project fan, because most of that agency’s work isn’t available anywhere. NOTE POST PUBLISHING: I have been told my friend-of-the-blog @mja004 that the group’s music IS available on streaming abroad but only on Apple Music. Meanwhile in Japan…no dice at all.