Sushi Mixtape

The Japanese class gave me permission to do something I was already doing. Now I could call it homework—spending hours on Japanese music sites full of kanji I can’t read, animated GIFs of cats, and more exclamation points than should be legally permitted on a single web page. As if I needed an excuse. I’ve been obsessed with Japan since before I had a word for it.

The real origin is embarrassing in the way formative things always are: Sailor Moon hit me at exactly the wrong age for the imprinting to be reversible, and somewhere in that process I also fell for the sonic texture of J-Pop—the bright chords, the melodrama, the vocals that treat a love song like a natural disaster. I understood none of the words. I still don’t, not really. But understanding lyrics is overrated. You feel what the melody is doing before you know what it means, and that’s often the more honest version.

So here’s what I’m listening to right now, in order. Scandal’s BEAUteen, which sounds like the theme to a TV show I would have watched every morning before school. Ikimono Gakari’s Yell, one of those songs that hits you in the chest in a way you can’t fully justify. Ai Otsuka’s Smily. Abe Mao’s Anata no Koibito ni Naritai no desu—the title alone is worth learning the language for. Shiina Ringo’s Tsugou no Ii Karada, which belongs in a different category from everything else on this list; Shiina Ringo is a genuine eccentric genius and the rest of J-Pop knows it. Asian Kung Fu Generation’s Fujisawa Loser. Kaela Kimura’s Happiness!!!—yes, three exclamation points, and they’re all earned. Stereopony’s Smilife. Spitz’s Hotaru, a slow burn that takes a few listens to settle. Orange Range’s Onegai! Señorita. Maaya Sakamoto’s Mameshiba. Utada Hikaru’s Deep River. And the brilliant green’s Rainy Days Never Stay, which I’ve listened to more times than I should admit.

None of it requires you to understand the words to work on you. You fill in the feeling yourself, and it fits whatever you need it to fit. Listen in order.