MR.CHILDREN (ミスターチルドレン)

Style: Rock/Pop

Active: 1988-Present

Members: Kazutoshi Sakurai, Kenichi Tahara, Keisuke Nakagawa, Hideya Suzuki

Discography-

Everything (1992)

Kind of Love (1992)

Versus (1993)

Atomic Heart (1994)

Shinkai (1996)

Bolero (1997)

Discovery (1999)

1/42 (1999)

Q (2000)

Mr. Children 1992-1995 (2001)

Mr. Children 1996-2000 (2001)

It's a Wonderful World (2002)

Shifuku no Oto (2004)

I Love U (2005)

Home (2007)

B-Side (2007)

Supermarket Fantasy (2008)

and 33 singles.

MR.CHILDREN is easily one of the most popular and influential bands in Japan. They became extremely successful in the mid 1990's and somehow continue to remain extremely popular to this day. Nearly all of their albums have hit #1 in the charts. Here's the incredibly talented MR.CHILDREN with their song "Youthful Days" released back in 2001.

VAMPS (ヴァンプス)

Style: Rock

Active: 2008-Present

Members: Hyde, KAZ, Ju-Ken, Arimatsu, Jin

Discography-

Vamps (2009)

Beast (2010)

and 6 singles.

VAMPS is a newer band formed by rock legends of Japan- Hyde (L'Arc-En-Ciel) and Kaz (Oblivion Dust). They fuse their experiences and styles together to create a new kind of J-Rock band. Here's their single "Evanescent".

SAMBOMASTER (サンボマスター)

Style: Rock

Active: 2000-Present

Members: Takashi Yamaguchi, Yasufumi Kiuchi, Yoichi Kondo

Discography-

Atarashiki Nihongo Rock no Michi to Hikari (2003)

Sambomaster wa Kimi ni Katarikakeru (2005)

Boku to Kimi no Subete o Rock 'n Roll to Yobe (2006)

Ongaku no Kodomo wa Mina Utau (2008)

Kimi no Tameni Tsuyoku Naritai (2010)

and 15 singles

SAMBOMASTER has gained a lot of popularity in Japan over the years,

mainly Takashi, known for his peculiar movements while performing.

They're songs have been featured in many TV Shows and Anime such as Bleach and Densha Otoko. Here's their song "Tsuki ni Saku Hana no You ni Naru no" (We're Like Flowers that Bloom with the Moon).

THE LOCAL ART (ローカル・アート)

Style: Rock/Indie

Active: 2002-Present

Members: Okada Satoshi, Oono Kazumitsu, Yokouchi Bushoo, Inagaki Manabu

Discography-

Kotodama (2004)

Neiro (2004)

Sakura (2006)

Mirai (2006)

Message (2006)

and 8 singles

A very interesting band with a drummer lead-singer.

Their song "Tomorrow" can be heard in the PS2/Arcade game "Drummania V2" by Bemani. Here's their track "Sakura".

HOME MADE KAZOKU (ホームメード 家族)

Style: Hip Hop/Pop
Active: 1996-Present
Members: Micro, Kuro, DJ U-Ichi
Discography-
Rock the World (2005)
Musication (2006)
Familia (2007)
Home (2008)
Circle (2010)
also 3 indie albums
1 compilation album
1 featuring album
and 20 singles

Here is some feel-good hip hop brought to you by HOME MADE KAZOKU, with the music video for "No Rain, No Rainbow" which was featured in "Naruto Shippūden 2: Bonds".

BACK-ON （バックオン)

Style: Rock/Nu Metal

Active: 2002-Present

Members: Teeda, Kenji03, Shu, Gori, Icchan

Discography-

Adachi Tribe (2004)

Hero (2005)

Baby Rock (2005)

New World (2006)

Yes!!! (2008)

Here's their very catchy song "Flyaway",

created as the opening for the PSP game "Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 2".

BACK-ON also created 3 theme songs for the anime "Eyeshield 21" and many others.

ARASHI (嵐)

Style: Pop

Active: 1999-Present

Members: Satoshi Ohno, Sho Sakurai, Masaki Aiba, Kazunari Ninomiya, Jun Matsumoto

Discography-

Arashi No.1 Ichigou: Arashi wa Arashi o Yobu! (2001)

Here We Go! (2002)

How's It Going? (2003)

Iza, Now! (2004)

One (2005)

Arashic (2006)

Time (2007)

Dream "A" Live (2008)

Boku no Miteiru Fūkei (2010)

and 3 compilation albums

The almighty boy-band ARASHI.

Here's their brand new single "To Be Free".

NAMIE AMURO (安室 奈美恵)

Style: Pop/Hip Hop

Active: 1992-Present

Solo Artist

Discography-

Dance Tracks Vol. 1 (1995)

Sweet 19 Blues (1996)

Concentration 20 (1997)

Genius 2000 (2000)

Break the Rules (2000)

Style (2003)

Queen of Hip-Pop (2005)

Play (2007)

Past-Future (2009)

and 4 compilation albums

The popular NAMIE AMURO.

Here's her latest single "Wild".

MOTHER NINJA (マザーニンジャ)

Style: Pop

Active: 2005-Present

Members: Aboo, Motsu, Geeny

Discography-

Spontaneous (2007)

Here's a track called "Sayonara Refrain".

The melody that they sampled is actually a tune that the Tokyo Metro uses as their jingle around the subway stations. Also, their song "Talkin' 'Bout Good Days" can be heard as the end theme for the anime "Wangan Midnight".

CHABA (チャバ)

Style: Alternative

Active: 1996-2008

Members: Ichiro Hirano, Daisuke Higa, Shizuka Kaizuma (Osaka)

Discography-

Chaba (2003)

The Best of Chaba Kinema Rock Yugi (2003)

Seishun Kinema (2004)

Atorie (2006)

A very surreal sound produced by this group in their song "Parade".

You may recognize it as Naruto's 12th ending theme.

ACID (アシッド)

Style: Heavy Rock

Active: 2003-2009

Members: Junpei, Daisuke, Masamitsu, Kim, Seiichiro, Yuta, Hideki

Discography-

Acid 1.5: Punk Drunker (2005)

Acid 1.7: Spiritual Circus (2005)

Acid 2.0: Spiritual Circus Complete (2006)

Pray for the Future (2007)

Sekai ga Owaru Made wa.../Fake (2008) Single

Here's a live performance of their song "0:00 AM",

which was also the opening theme for "Tokyo Majin Gakuen Kenpuchō Tō".