43 Japanese record producers

Yasushi Akimoto is a Japanese record producer, lyricist, and television writer, best known for creating and producing some of Japan's top idol groups, Onyanko Club and the AKB48 franchise. Total sales of the singles he has written exceed 100 million copies, making him the best-selling lyricist in Japan.

Taimei Kawai, better known by his stage name Carpainter, is a Japanese electronic musician.

Masaharu Fukuyama is a Japanese singer-songwriter and actor from Nagasaki. He debuted in 1990 with the single "Tsuioku no Ame no Naka".

Takeaki Maruyama, better known by his stage name Goth-Trad, is a Japanese dubstep musician. He began composing dubstep in 2005 after being inspired by Wiley's "Morgue". He has produced five albums, the latest of which - Psionics - is due for release in September 2016. His last album New Epoch was released on Mala's Deep Medi label. Goth-Trad also runs an underground music night in Shibuya, Tokyo, called "Back To Chill". He has also experimented with other genres and styles in more recent years.

Ayumi Hamasaki is a Japanese singer, songwriter, record producer, actress, model, spokesperson and entrepreneur. Through her entire career, she has written all her lyrical content, and has sometimes composed her music.

Hideto Matsumoto , better known by his stage name hide was a Japanese musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. He was the lead guitarist of the rock band X Japan from 1987 onward, and a solo artist from 1993 onward. He also formed the United States-based rock supergroup Zilch in 1996.

DJ Honda, is a Japanese Hip Hop DJ / producer.

Haruomi Hosono , sometimes credited as Harry Hosono, is a Japanese musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is considered to be one of the most influential musicians in Japanese pop music history, credited with shaping the sound of Japanese pop for decades as well as pop music outside of Japan. He also inspired genres such as city pop and Shibuya-kei, and as leader of Yellow Magic Orchestra, contributed to the development and pioneering of numerous electronic genres.

Fumitoshi Ishino , better known by his stage name Takkyu Ishino , is a Japanese DJ, record producer, and singer from Shizuoka, Shizuoka Prefecture. He is a member of Denki Groove.

Yuki Kajiura is a Japanese musician, composer and record producer. She has provided the music for several popular anime series, such as the final Kimagure Orange Road movie, Noir, .hack//Sign, Aquarian Age, Madlax, My-HiME, My-Otome, Pandora Hearts, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Fate/Zero, Sword Art Online, Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba and the Kara no Kyoukai movies. She also assisted Toshihiko Sahashi with Mobile Suit Gundam SEED and Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny. Kajiura has also composed for video games, including the cutscene music for Xenosaga II and the entire Xenosaga III game soundtrack. She composed the music for NHK's April 2014 morning drama (asadora) Hanako to Anne.

Yoko Kanno is a Japanese composer, arranger and musician best known for her work on the soundtracks of anime films, television series, live-action films, video games, and advertisements. She was born in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. She has written scores for Cowboy Bebop, Darker than Black, Macross Plus, Turn A Gundam, The Vision of Escaflowne, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Wolf's Rain, Kids on the Slope, Genesis of Aquarion and Terror in Resonance, and has worked with the directors Hirokazu Kore-eda, Yoshiyuki Tomino, Shinichirō Watanabe and Shōji Kawamori. Kanno has also composed music for pop artists Maaya Sakamoto and Kyōko Koizumi. She is also a keyboardist, and is the frontwoman for the Seatbelts, who perform many of Kanno's compositions and soundtracks.

Toshi Kasai is a Japanense record producer, engineer, mixer and musician. He is most well known for his strong vocal production work with bands that are characterized as "heavy", such as his long standing relationship with The Melvins and his work with Tool. In addition to his recorded production work, Toshi was a member of the band Big Business and Nate Mendel's band Lieutenant. He is also a member of Altamont, The Dale Crover Band. In 2019, he opened for Melvins and Redd Kross under his own name, playing Moog Synthesizer to oscilloscope and projections.

Kazuhiko Katō , nicknamed "Tonovan" (トノヴァン), was a Japanese record producer, songwriter and singer. He sometimes used the spelling of "Kazuhiko Katoh".

Kazuhito Iwaike , known exclusively by his stage name K.A.Z, is a Japanese musician and songwriter. He is known for his work with Oblivion Dust, hide with Spread Beaver and Vamps.

Koichi Fujita was a Japanese guitarist, lyricist, composer, record producer, and businessman. He was known for being the producer of four of the six variants of Omega Tribe as well as producing for Kiyotaka Sugiyama, Carlos Toshiki, Toshiki Kadomatsu, Momoko Kikuchi, and Lazy.

Tetsuya Komuro is a Japanese musician, singer-songwriter, composer and record producer. He is recognized as the most successful producer in Japanese music history and introduced dance music to the Japanese mainstream. He was also a former owner of the disco Velfarre located in Roppongi, Tokyo. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in pop throughout the 1990s.

Tsutomu "Tom" Shimura, better known by his stage name Lyrics Born, is a Japanese-American rapper, singer, and producer. He is one half of the duo Latyrx with Lateef the Truthspeaker.

Kento Masuda is an award-winning Japanese composer and recording artist. He is a member of The Recording Academy, and his work has been described as "one of this world's artistic treasures." As an exclusive player for KAWAI pianos, Masuda is the sole player of the one million dollar Crystal Grand Piano.

Takahiro "Tak" Matsumoto is a Grammy Award-winning Japanese guitarist, producer, arranger, composer, singer and songwriter. In addition to being the guitarist and lead composer for the rock duo B'z, the best-selling music act in their native Japan, he has also had a successful solo career. He is only the fifth guitarist in the world to have his own Gibson signature model guitar. The instrumental album Take Your Pick (2010) made in collaboration with Larry Carlton won an award for the Best Pop Instrumental Album at the 53rd Grammy Awards.

Misia , commonly stylized as MISIA, is a Japanese singer, songwriter, and record producer. Born in Nagasaki, Misia moved to Fukuoka at the age of 14 to pursue a recording career. There, she continued her secondary education and briefly attended Seinan Gakuin University before withdrawing to focus on her musical career. She was signed to BMG Japan in 1997, after auditioning for record producer Haruo Yoda.

Daichi Miura is a Japanese singer, songwriter, dancer, and choreographer. He also directs his own concerts. He belongs to Rising Production and has a record contract with Avex. He is from Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. He has an official fan club called "Daichishiki"(大知識).

Yasutaka Nakata is a Japanese DJ, record producer, songwriter, composer and arranger. He formed the band Capsule in 1997 with vocalist Toshiko Koshijima and himself as composer and record producer when both were 17. They formally debuted in 2001 with the song "Sakura".

Nigo is a Japanese fashion designer, DJ, record producer and entrepreneur best known as the creator of the urban clothing line A Bathing Ape (Bape).He is the DJ of the Japanese hip hop group Teriyaki Boyz.

Jun Seba , better known by his stage name Nujabes , was a Japanese record producer, audio engineer, DJ, composer and arranger who produced atmospheric instrumental mixes sampling from hip hop and jazz and released three solo studio albums: Metaphorical Music (2003), Modal Soul (2005) and Spiritual State. Seba was the founder of the independent label Hydeout Productions and released two collection compilations: Hydeout Productions 1st Collection (2003) and 2nd Collection (2007). Additionally, Seba collaborated on the soundtrack for Shinichirō Watanabe's anime series Samurai Champloo in 2004.

Eiichi Ohtaki was a Japanese musician, songwriter and record producer. He first became known as a member of the rock band Happy End, but was better known for his solo work which began in 1972. In 2003, Ohtaki was ranked by HMV Japan at number 9 on their list of the 100 most important Japanese pop acts. Patrick Macias referred to Ohtaki as Phil Spector, Brian Wilson, George Martin and Joe Meek "synthesized into a single human being," and called his work "an encyclopedia of everything that was great about pop music in the 20th century."

Taisei Okazaki since 2009.

Ryuichi Sakamoto is a Japanese composer, singer, songwriter, record producer, activist, and actor who has pursued a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO). With his bandmates Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi, Sakamoto influenced and pioneered a number of electronic music genres.

Hitoshi Sakimoto is a Japanese video game music composer and arranger. He is best known for scoring Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy XII, though he has composed soundtracks for over 80 other games. He began playing music and video games in elementary school, and began composing video game music for money by the time he was 16. Sakimoto's professional career began a few years later in 1988 when he started composing music professionally as a freelancer, as well as programming sound drivers for games. Five years and 40 games later, he achieved his first mainstream success with the score to Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen. In 1997, he joined Square and composed for his first international success, the score to Final Fantasy Tactics.

Yumiko Shiina , known by her stage name Ringo Sheena , is a Japanese singer, songwriter and musician. She is also the founder and lead vocalist of the band Tokyo Jihen.

Yasuaki Shimizu is a Japanese composer, saxophonist and producer. He is known for his interpretations of the music of J.S. Bach, in particular the "Cello Suites 1-6" re-arranged for and performed on tenor saxophone.

starRo is the moniker of Grammy nominated R&B producer Shinya Mizoguchi. His debut album Monday was released world wide October 20, 2016 and subsequently rose to the top of the charts in Japan. In 2016 he became the first Grammy nominated producer from Japan rising him to fame in his country of origin. Uproxx later wrote, "starRo may well be one of the first, true SoundCloud producers to be nominated for a Grammy." The LA-based, Japanese-born producer also became the first to host a Beats1 Radio show focused on Tokyo culture. Since then, he produced for a number of Japanese and Korean R&B/Hip Hop stars including the Korean group Common Cold called "WASH!WASH!" which went to number 3 in Korea and received critical acclaim in Korea.

Yūne Sugihara , born Yasuhiro Sugihara , better known by his stage name Sugizo, is a Japanese musician, singer-songwriter, composer and record producer. He is the lead guitarist and violinist of the rock band Luna Sea since 1989.

Ayuo Takahashi is a Japanese-American composer, poet, lyricist, singer and performer of plucked string instruments including guitar, bouzouki, Irish harp, Chinese zheng, Japanese koto, and medieval European psaltery. He is adept at adapting the ancient music of Japan, China, Persia, Greece and medieval Europe to create a new and original music without abandoning their strict forms, while simultaneously making them relevant to contemporary music styles. He has composed for classical ensembles including string quartets, piano, various chamber ensembles and orchestra, as well as composed, produced and performed with rock, jazz and musicians of various traditional music from around the world. He has also composed many music theater pieces, some of which has been released on CD in the United States and Japan.

Taku Takahashi is a Japanese hip hop recording artist, DJ and record producer who debuted in 1997 as a record producer of the hip hop group M-Flo. The group rose to prominence in the early 2000s, with hit singles such as "How You Like Me Now?" and "Come Again." Takahashi was also a member of Avex's 20th anniversary dance music project Ravex, and has produced songs for musicians such as Crystal Kay, Ami Suzuki and Rie Fu, and remixes for Hikaru Utada and Ayumi Hamasaki. He formed the record labels Tachytelic Records and TCY Recording.

Yukihiro Takahashi is a Japanese musician, singer, record producer and actor, who is best known internationally as the drummer and lead vocalist of the Yellow Magic Orchestra, and as the former drummer of the Sadistic Mika Band. He is currently a member of the group METAFIVE.

Time Travelling Toaster is an alter ego or persona of a currently unknown experimental multi-genre music producer, electronic musician, and visual artist whose stage name is possibly based on the episode Treehouse of Horror V from The Simpsons. The producer's self-acclaimed concept is that of an amorphous, anonymous, space-bound being that utilizes time travel to collect and mix different eras of music which attributes to the hip hop undertone, sampling and electronic themes presented. Toaster's mythology within its universe is further explored on the producer's social media outlets. Very little is known of the origins of Time Travelling Toaster such as, gender, ethnicity, age, as all are undocumented besides the composer claiming origins to Japan.

Yann Tomita is a Japanese musician, composer, record producer, writer, and steelpan player based in Tokyo. In Japan during the 1980s and 1990s, he pioneered various music genres, including hip hop, dub, acid jazz, exotica, and electronic music. He is the first professional Japanese steelpan player, first Japanese hip hop producer, and the president of the Audio Science Laboratory (オーディオ・サイエンス・ラボラトリー) record label, which he founded.

Mitsuo Terada, known by his stage name Tsunku, is a Japanese record producer, songwriter, and vocalist. He is known for being very prolific. Total sales of the singles he has written exceed 37.9 million copies, making him the fifth best-selling lyricist in Japan.

Verbal is a Japanese hip hop recording artist, music video director and record producer who debuted in 1998 as a member of the hip hop group M-Flo. He is a third generation Zainichi Korean and a notable representative of Zainichi Korean music in Japan.

Sadaharu Yagi is a Japanese-born record producer, mixing engineer, and recording engineer who has won one Grammy and two Latin Grammy Awards. He has worked with artists like Shania Twain, John Mayall, and Marc Anthony. Currently he is based in Los Angeles, California.

Tatsurō Yamashita , occasionally credited as Tatsu Yamashita or Tats Yamashita, is a Japanese singer-songwriter and record producer who helped pioneer the style of Japanese adult-oriented rock/soft rock dubbed "city pop". Yamashita produced the majority of his city pop music during the 1970s–1980s, and is sometimes considered the "king" of the genre. He has also collaborated with his wife Mariya Takeuchi, another city pop singer.

Kazuya Yoshii is a Japanese musician and singer-songwriter. He is best known as lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the rock band The Yellow Monkey. When they went on hiatus in 2001, before officially disbanding three years later, Yoshii started a solo career in 2003 under the name Yoshii Lovinson. He switched back to his old name in 2006 and The Yellow Monkey reformed in 2016.

Yoshiki Hayashi known by the mononym Yoshiki, is a Japanese musician, songwriter, composer and record producer. He is best known as the leader and a co-founder of the visual kei rock band X Japan, for which he is the drummer, pianist and main songwriter. Yoshiki's solo career includes two classical studio albums—Eternal Melody (1993), produced by George Martin, and Eternal Melody II (2005)—and the classical compilation Yoshiki Classical (2013). Described by Billboard as a "musical innovator" and named "one of the most influential composers in Japanese history" by Consequence of Sound, Yoshiki has also collaborated and performed with artists such as Bono, will.i.am, Jennifer Hudson, St. Vincent, Stan Lee, Roger Taylor, Gene Simmons and KISS, Nicole Scherzinger, and Sarah Brightman.