J-pop Girl Groups

Here's a list with a few of the many popular Japanese girl groups.

1. Morning Musume

Debut: 1997

Members: It Varies

Morning Musume has continuous line-up changes in which new, younger members are added each "generation" to replace the members that grow up. The group's name means "morning girls" or "morning daughters" and their theme is a young girl's virtue.

Songs:
1.  The Cold Wind and Lonely Love (冷たい風と片思い)
2. Selfish, Easygoing, Jokes of Love
(わがまま 気のまま 愛のジョーク)
3. No One Can Replace You (君の代わりは居やしない)

2. Perfume

Debut: 2000

Members: 3

Perfume primarily makes electro-pop music and is known for their artificial sound. Despite having vocal talent, they heavily use auto-tune and vocoders. Often, their electronic songs are paired with a colorful, geometric music video.

Songs:
1. Pick Me Up
2. FLASH
3. 1mm

3. Dream

Debut: 2000

Members: 4

Is part of the collective girl group E-Girls along with sister girl groups Happiness and Flower. The group has has several line-up changes since their debut and has four members as of 2013.

Songs:
1. Darling (ダーリン)
2. Only You
3. Konna Ni Mo (こんなにも)

4. AKB48

Debut: 2005

Members: It Varies

AKB48's concept is "idols you can meet" and the group has their own theater. "AKB" comes from Akihabara, the area in Tokyo which the group originated, and "48" is how many members the group was initially supposed to have.

Songs:
1. GREEN FLASH
2. Kimi Wa Melody (君はメロディー)
3. Kuchibiru Ni Be My Baby

5. Scandal

Debut: 2006

Members: 4

Not a group, but more of a band, Scandal was formed from four high-school girls who were noticed by a record company from their street performances. They have performed theme songs for many anime shows including: Shoujo S, Bleach and Pokemon.

Songs:
1. Departure
2. Take Me Out ( テイクミーアウト)
3. Love Me Do

6. Happiness

Debut: 2008

Members: 7

The members originated as Exile's (Jpop boy group) back-up dancers. They debuted with 

the single "Happy Talk" which was used as a CM theme for Mister Donuts.

Songs:
1. Juicy Love
2. Seek A Light
3. Ordinary Girls

7. Momoiro Clover Z

Debut: 2008
Members: 5
Momoiro Clover Z are like a group of power rangers because each member has a official color and their performances often include energetic action moves. They are well-known for creating the intro themes of anime including Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball Z.

Songs:
1. DECORATION
2. Neo Stargate
3. Get Down!

8. Flower

Debut: 2009

Members: 6

Flower is a dance and vocal unit of E-Girls. The members were chosen through a talent contest titled "Exile Presents Vocal Battle Audition 3".

Songs:
1. Sayonara, Alice (さよなら、アリス)
2. Akikaze No Answer
3. Yasashisa de Afureru You Ni ( やさしさで溢れるように)

9. FAKY

Debut: 2013

Members:4
Faky are an edgy, trendy girl group whose message for girls is, "Do what they want, the way they want." Their name is a combination of the words "fantastic" and "Tokyo". It is also a play on the word "fake" as their goal is to bring fresh realness to the Japanese music scene.

Songs:
1. You
2. Are You Ok?
3. Girl Digger

10. Juice=Juice

Debut: 2013

Members: 5

The name Juice=Juice exudes freshness and personality. Each member has assigned color and fruit: grape (purple), yellow (lemon), orange, melon (green), apple (red) and peach (pink).

Songs:
1. Romance is on Its Way (ロマンスの途中)
2. Blown By The Wind (風に吹かれて)
3. My Life is Not Just For Show

11. Color-Code

Debut: 2013

Members: 3
Color-Code was created by a Italian-Japanese fashion director. The group members were selected in Pop Icon Project Tokyo auditions to find a Japanese Lady Gaga.

Songs:
1. I LIKE DAT
2. Hands Up!
3. Break Our Love

12. Cherrsee

Debut: 2016

Members: 5
Formed by the famous K-pop producer Brave Brothers, Cherrsee received help from Kpop girl group AOA. The groups name is a play on the words "cherry seeds" and there are four Japanese members and a Thai member.

Songs:
1. Mystery
2. Shiroi Shirts (白いシャツ)
3. SURISURI MASURI (Dance Practice)

Sources:
Images: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12
Info: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12

Playlist 10. Interstellar

Theme: Outer Space

Songs with a [♥] are my preference/a personal favorite.

Travel through time and space with out of this world songs inspired by the universe. Songs without a video are here. Are you ready? :)

1. Girls' Generation - Galaxy Supernova
Japanese ♥

SNSD wear colored skinny jeans again like they did in 'Gee' but this time they are more glam. 'Galaxy Supernova' has a more grown-woman vibe, less aegyo and is simply a good pop song! This isn't Girls' Generation as you know them- their Japanese music is different from the Korean

Review: Song - 4/5 MV - 4/5

2. Brown Eyed Girls - Brave New World
Korean

'Brave New World' is a polished, 'space-age-disco' track. Retro to their roots, it sounds like Brown Eyed Girls sampled from Michael Jackson and mixed in some electro-pop. It's about having a new emotional experience in love. 

Review: Song - 4/5  MV - 2/5 

3. FEMM - UFO
Japanese 

'UFO' is definitely an adventure. FEMM don't say much in the song aside from warped 'I'm sick and tired of human boys.' The beat moves at the speed of light and at times the high-tech synths sound like lasers shooting from a spaceship.

Review: Song -  4.5/5 

4. Perfume - Cosmic Explorer
Japanese ♥

The sound of 'Cosmic Explorer' reflects a trip into outer space. Perfume's ethereal vocals glide within the synths and are down-played to emphasize the layer of sounds. I always see Perfume as a contradiction: child-like voices with advanced, mature instrumentals. It's a dynamic listening experience. 

Review: Song - 4.5/5 

5. KARA - Starlight
Korean

KARA suffered member changes and has disbanded, but they released cheery music until the end. 'Starlight' isn't as saccharine as their j-pop releases but is still a delicate and feminine song. The lyrics compare the one that they love to a shining light. It's fun, and everything Kara fans expect.

Review: Song -  2.5/5

6. F(x) - Signal
Korean

Another retro-influenced track lands on this list and like almost every other item, it's swirled with electro-pop. But 'Signal' is in no way typical. F(x) is spunky, sophisticated and (like the list's theme) spacey! 'I’ll be an astronaut, I'm searching on into space...' At first, the song is rather trippy, but soon speeds up to a jazzy chorus.

Review: Song - 3.5/5

7. Kyary Pamyu Pamyu - Invader Invader
Japanese ♥

Is Kyary a kid or an adult? Well, she's an adult, but the kid-ish music video reminds me of the children's show 'Yo Gabba Gabba'. The cute, kitschy style or kawaii-decora is part of Harajuku culture, which Kyary is associated. 'Stylish, let's take over the world!' 'Invader Invader' seems like a candy-pop track until the dubstep breaks in. Fascinating!

Review: Song - 4/5

8. Flower - Your Gravity
Japanese 

This song pushes you to realize 'your gravity', or capability to succeed.You're a flower that has unlimited potential and can write your own future in life. Unlike most empowerment songs, it's not aggressive and is really easy-going.

Review: Song - 3/5