Kenshi Yonezu: “I create music with a distinctly Japanese quirk to it. That’s something I take great pride in”

Kenshi Yonezu has continued to redefine the contemporary Japanese music scene in 2025, merging his unique style with major media tie-ins to achieve unprecedented success. Over the past year, he has revisited his musical origins while crafting some of the year’s most streamed J-pop tracks, consolidating his status as a genre innovator.

Following the release of his 2024 album Lost Corner, Yonezu sought to reconnect with the unfiltered creativity of his youth, spending 2025 experimenting with sounds inspired by the solitary music-making he experienced as a child. This introspective approach did not diminish his commercial appeal but instead fueled a series of hits that combine nostalgic enthusiasm with cutting-edge production.

Early in the year, Yonezu put forward an electronic-influenced double single featuring Plazma and Bow And Arrow, which showcased synthesiser-heavy textures and energetic club rhythms. However, it was the September release of Iris Out, the opening theme for the anime film Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc, that truly dominated the charts. The track’s complex layering of vocal samples and electronic dance breakdowns resonated widely, earning it a record for most streams on Spotify Japan’s release day and maintaining the number one spot on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 for nine consecutive weeks.

Iris Out exemplifies Yonezu’s signature approach of integrating unorthodox sonic elements associated with Vocaloid music into mainstream J-pop, challenging conventional song structures with daring shifts and abrupt stops. This creative risk-taking has allowed him to shape the mainstream while preserving an experimental edge.

Yonezu’s career began in the early 2010s under the moniker Hachi within Japan’s Vocaloid community, where he produced intense rock tracks featuring synthesized vocals. Transitioning to his real name in 2014, his breakthrough continued with hits like Lemon in 2018, whose music video remains Japan’s most viewed on YouTube, and 2022’s Kickback, notable for becoming the first Japanese song to receive RIAA gold certification in the United States.

His method for crafting anime and film songs involves deeply connecting with the source material, identifying a core emotional or thematic 'needle' that guides the songwriting. This technique was crucial for Iris Out, and also influenced Jane Doe, the closing theme for the same Chainsaw Man film. For Jane Doe, Yonezu envisioned a dark duet with a female lead, ultimately collaborating with Hikaru Utada—an artist emblematic of the previous Heisei Era of J-pop.

The partnership with Utada arose from Yonezu’s aspiration to achieve a melancholic yet fresh vocal interplay reminiscent of the Björk and Thom Yorke duet I’ve Seen It All. Yonezu valued Utada’s blend of emotional depth and ethereal presence, which he considered vital for the song’s success, marking a symbolic collaboration bridging two eras of Japanese pop music.

This collaboration underlines Yonezu’s role as a pivotal figure connecting generations and styles within J-pop. His influence extends beyond his own output, having paved the way for newer acts with Vocaloid roots, such as Ado and YOASOBI, to reach broad audiences and international markets.

Further demonstrating his global ambitions, Yonezu completed his inaugural world tour in 2025, performing to sold-out crowds across Asia, Europe, and North America. His repertoire spans from hard-edged rock tracks aligned with violent anime franchises to softer ballads like Spinning Globe, featured in Hayao Miyazaki’s anticipated final film, The Boy And The Heron.

Yonezu’s diverse 2025 releases, including the new single 1991 for the live-action adaptation of Makoto Shinkai’s 5 Centimeters per Second, illustrate an evolution within J-pop towards a more eclectic and sonically rich landscape. He contends that Japanese music inherently incorporates a higher density of sounds than that of other countries, creating a layered and dynamic auditory experience.

His pride in maintaining a distinct Japanese quirk in his music suggests a commitment to cultural specificity even as he reaches global audiences. While he remains indifferent to whether listeners perceive his music as peculiar or relatable, he values any engagement that stokes curiosity about his work.

Yonezu’s trajectory indicates he will continue to blend innovation with tradition, reinforcing his unique voice within J-pop and its international appeal. His 2025 activities affirm his dual ability to shape the genre’s soundscape while participating in cultural moments through film and anime collaborations.