Japanese pop artists continue to pump out music videos with the same degree of earnestness that the US did in the late 80s.

So here we go: a thread highlighting some of my favorite modern Japanese music videos over the last year spent trawling dive bars and karaoke joints.

Speaking of earnestness and 80s nostalgia, first up is 忘れられないの (wasurerarenai no / "I can't forget") by サカナクション (sakanaction)

Next, the hyper-literal "oddloop" by frederic, whose clever low-budget editing tricks grow in sophistication over the course of all their (admittedly saccharine) videos

(Note: a running theme here is that while my English-speaking self is a 60 year old curmudgeon who'd never listen to American pop music, my Japanese brain is a teenager at best and very susceptible to pop hooks that promise any amount of vocab and grammar practice, apparently.)

Next up, "Sweet Tweet" by 髭男dism (Hige dandism / beard guy-ism), which captures the visual aesthetic of Japanese high school buildings which are—thanks to the coordination of their construction amid the postwar boom—virtually identical across the country

The relentless series of 4th wall gags about music video tropes in "Music Video" propelled comedian 岡崎体育 (Okazaki Taiiku / Okazaki Physical Education) from a niche online fame to niche mainstream fame

The DJ Tofubeats seems to turn around pretty great tracks in less time than it takes for Youtube to finish processing my videos, but "What you got" is still easily my second favorite of his

(Tofubeats' best music video is, of course, "Positive", which is probably even better if you don't find human feet repulsive )

Now that we're double dipping, Sakanaction's "バッハの旋律を夜に聴いたせいです" (It was because of listening to Bach's melodies at night) is my go-to Japanese language karaoke song. I'll do the dance if someone builds me 6 @searls-look-alike mannequins

Speaking of dancing, World Order's "Have a Nice Day" is their biggest hit, and a good intro into their unique but mostly one-note style

The comedy troupe Monkey Majik, started by bored international JET teachers has had multiple hits in recent years, but my favorite video of theirs is probably "Delicious". If you're here for 80s + earnestness, you're in luck

(Speaking of Monkey Majik, they and Okazaki Taiiku did a great collaboration video full of English/Japanese homonym wordplay called "留学生" (ryuugakusei / boarding student) )

King Gnu (no relation to FSF or RMS) had "白日" (hakujitsu / broad daylight) catch fire late last year. Not a visually interesting video, but the (again, earnest!) whisper-screaming-in-place was often parodied by Japanese TV entertainers, so I'll count it

This 10 minute slow burn is really just an ad for apparel brand Ropé Picnic, but the song & visual storytelling really took off. Good native digital marketing by a Japanese company! Also super エモい (emoi / emo) and hey-siri-what's-a-synonym-for-earnest

An early '10s hit by longstanding trio Perfume was ナチュラルに恋して (nachuraru ni koishite / fall naturally in love) and as a connoisseur of unorthodox treadmill usage, I can appreciate it

Arashi put out Turning Up shortly after announcing last year they'd retire in 2020 (good call!). Like everything they do, their production value and attention to detail is somehow too high. Didn't even pause taping of their 4 weekly TV shows to make it.

Kirinji's "killer tune kills me" which features Korean artist YonYon is great for some late-night wind down feels. Earnest but lofi. Unacceptably, this one is paywalled behind YouTube Premium, so you'll have to settle for a Vimeo link: https://vimeo.com/347771537 

Speaking of late-night feels, showmore's circus is a good view into Tokyo hipster nightlife if you're into that kind of thing. Almost as earnest as it is lonely in its affect

Oh, which reminds me, if you like lonely then this breakup ballad "名もなきハッピーエンド" (happy ending with no name) by indigo la End might be for you. It features a couple lip-syncing lyrics back at one another as if to reenact a fight

Radwimps—famous in the west for the soundtracks of Your Name and Weathering with You—somehow hit 250 million views with their video for "前前前世" (zenzen zensei / past lives long ago)

Just because I really dig Sakanaction's style and I've decided that this thread is now long enough for me to triple-dip a single artist, so here's "新宝島" (shintakarajima / new treasure island). Really love their design and self-serious physical humor

Last but not least is "100 years train", which has some of the best directing and visual effects of any of these despite *literally being a commercial* for the 100th anniversary for a regional rail line in Kanagawa that I'd never heard of