Today we’ll be doing something a little different. We all know that City Pop is as intrinsic to Japanese pop culture now as anime is. And for good reason, because it’s an amazing genre of music that is so evocative of the period it stems from. There is something so nostalgic about all the Miki Matsubara songs and the Mariya Takeuchi singles that you can’t help but be swept away. But for a while, City Pop music simply fell off, becoming a relic of its time.

Miki Matsubara, a prominent City Pop musician, has around 30 songs spanning 9 studio albums. But it is her song, Mayonaka no Door ~Stay With Me, that I keep seeing everywhere as the soundtrack to every nostalgic AMV (Anime Music Video) that has taken over Instagram lately. But did you know that she was a prominent singer for anime soundtracks to boot? The advent of anime and manga alongside the popularity of short form content apps such as TikTok, have made City Pop come back with a vengeance, and Mayonaka no Door ~Stay With Me is just one of them.

Out of all the Miki Matsubara songs I’ve heard, I can see why this one took off. There is something so soulful about the song, and the way it matches up with these anime from the 80s and the 90s. And really, that’s the thing, isn’t it? It feels like a time that was filled with so much promise and life, while still being sorrowful about things to come. Perhaps that is the rose-tinted glasses talking but I can feel it. As someone who grew up on anime from that era, the influence is so easy to see. Music and anime have always been a packaged deal, like you can’t have an anime without a killer soundtrack. 

But as a music enthusiast, I’m very passionate about Citypop and Miki Matsubara in general. Like, I got into Mo-Town and Funk thanks to my dad. So, combining that sort of music with my own passion for anime? Yeah, no wonder I was into all of Miki Matsubara’s music. So today, I wanted to take a dive into City Pop for other anime fans that have discovered Miki’s amazing discography. I am not a music critic by any means, so this is going to be pure vibes. However, I do hope you find the same magic in her music!

The music itself, however, is clearly influenced by the West, hence it has recognizable elements. Think MoTown Soul mixed with Urban Jazz and Funky Bass, all sung in an RnB adjacent timber in Japanese. It truly is unique because whenever you listen to City Pop with how it transports you into a low lit Tokyo, still bustling in that economic bubble that was yet to burst. People had time and money to kill, and walkmans and Dive bars were becoming much more common with the normal folk. Hell, the recent Globalization that was taking place, also made its mark on the genre with flairs of the tropics like Latin guitar or Carribean music.  

But you might think that such a dated sound would’ve been left back here it came from. Instead, we have seen City Pop make a real emergence through the power of the internet. When Plastic Love By Mariya Takuechi resurfaced on YouTube in the later half of the 2010s, it quickly amassed views in the millions. Mariya’s heartfelt crooning with the almost jaded lyrics took everyone by surprise, giving birth to a viral sensation that never saw quite the same fame back when the song was actually released. And that led people into diving and finding more and more, discovering what City Pop was all about.

From there, City Pop became a genre for the nostalgics, often accompanied by fan made videos of retro anime that encompassed the signatures of the time with smoky urban settings, cassette players, twinkling disco lights and lonely car rides on the highway. So, it was only a matter of time we’d see yet another hidden gem emerge from the music archives, which happened to be none other than Miki Matsubara with Mayonaka No Door. 

It combines English lyrics with Japanese, about a woman begging her partner not to leave her. And it sounds poppy enough, but is laced with genuine yearning underneath. Like Miki can’t bear seeing her lover be taken away from her, but at the same time knows that there is nothing she could do to change their mind. It’s reserved yet bright, deceptively so. But what I also like is how Miki Matsubara’s songs have a variety of emotions. For example, Wash is this very upbeat song, with bubblegum pop notes and a playful rhythm that sound like it’d work for advertisements.

However, one of my favorites is Jazzy Night, because while it has those lovely trumpets we associate with Jazz, it’s also a fun paced song akin to Show Tunes of an age gone by. You can just imagine an English version of this being crooned by the Dream Girls, or playing in an old Bond Villain party. It’s bright, with building piano cascades that sound timeless. But the one hidden gem from her discography I absolutely recommend? It’s -Cupid-. Just like other songs in her discography, it’s upbeat but there is something so soft about the cadence her voice takes, with bongo drums and trumpets playfully taking center stage where she isn’t vocalizing. It’s like she’s teasing you, like an old friend or jilted lover. Like she’s genuinely scolding Cupid and like, I’ve had that song on repeat. 

1. Mayonaka No Door

2. Wash

3. Jazzy Night

4. Back To Paradise

5. THE WINNER

6. Ai Wa Energy 

7. Aitsu No Brown Shoes 

8. Bay City Romance 

9. -CUPID-

10. Love For Sale

11. In The Room

12. Pas De Deux

13. His Woman

14. See Saw Love

15. Knock, Knock My Heart

16. Caribbean Night

17. Mind Game 

18. Over The Top

19. Chandelier Mirage

20. Wangan High Way

21. Rainy Day Woman

22. Safari Eyes

23. It’s So Creamy

24. Sannin De Odoranai

25. Dream In The Screen

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Though her music was lost to time after her untimely demise, Miki Matsubara has become an iconic artist in later years. This is all thanks to her contributions in a genre that technically didn’t even exist back when she was making music for the masses.

It’s amazing how something like Pop Culture can revive an artist’s creations, even when significant time has gone by. Will you be trying out some of her music now?