Best Voice in Japan?
 

I think MISIA has the best voice!

It's a very powerful tool she has... and she can sing decent english with it too!

If someone says Utada Hikaru....................................

Aiko~~~ She can go pretty high and low, and she doesnt sing out-key.

Yes your right, aiko would be one of my top choices as well... :ycool

KEIKO of globe. Because I like high-pitched voices.

I can't say.
Anybody that can go from high, to low, low, to high, I admire :thumbsup

so many!! misia is one of the best/classics i think

kaya from schwarz stein...x__x
he's a bass....and can sing fairly high too
his voice is soooo amazing...
its just soo smooth and peaceful
he's sooo powerful when he sings
I could listen to him sing aallllll day....^___^

I'd also go with Misia.

Ayu!

I really like Tomiko Van and Mika Nakashima's voices.

There are three that really stick out when I think of who is best. Tomoko Kawase (the brilliant green, Tommy february6 & heavenly6), Isoya Yuki (former lead singer of JUDY AND MARY, now solo), and Ayu, of course ;p I've always enjoyed high-pitched vocals. These three have especially unique vocal traits.

MISIA. You only need to watch her lives to find out how flawless her voice is.

for me is ayu/gackt/teru-glay/L'arc-HYDE

:D does singers are the best:D

their voice to me are the best also ^_^ and concerts

I choose MISIA too even i like Ayu high-pitch voice. MISIA voice is so powerful and i agree/think she have the best voice in japan. :tsmile

I used to like Misia when she first came out...but not anymore =(

I think Yoshida in Dreams Come True has the best voice!!!! I had the opportunity to catch her concert in Vancouver...it's very good....

Ei ! u have a great voice too monana.. if i m correct u are the winner of the last AHS karaoke contest right ? u sing no way to say.

:eek Wow, u still remember me :D
thanks :)

I still have ur song, the remix by surreal dream and zef twilight mix. hehe :)

I've never heard of MISIA's voice but Onitsuka Chihiro has one heck of a voice, from the techinque/fullness point of view.

you got my vote to ^_^

i like you voice better than misia :thumbsup :ybiggrin (honestly)

I like ppl who can go high and low. I like Naotaro Moriyama.

ANZA is very good..If only she did more pop stuff again..but shes screwed her voice with all the screming..I think

THANKS :vbhappy

of course i love ayu, but i think hikki and keiko are really good too.

MISIA no doubt, besides that, you can't go wrong with Ayaka Hirakara, the vocal performance in "Juputer" is nearly flawless.

MISIA! :)

misia has a great voice! the lead vocal in B'z is great too.. cant rem his name, but the way he can go so high and loud n low the next moment w/o singing off key is amazing

Koshi Inaba? :P

Kohmi Hirose, hands down. I don't think she's that popular, but she's got on hell of a voice. The high notes she hits.. *whistles* @.@ she can hit high notes just like Mariah Carey!

AIKO has a great voice.

Chihiro Onitsuka has such powerful vocals :) It is very impressive.
Shiina ringo has awesome vocals...when she wants too...:( However most of the time she forcefully make weird annoying proposital noises with her voice which aren't very nice. But when she's singing more seriously (and less crazier) her voice sounds great.
Mika Nakashima's voice sounded so immature at her debut. It has been evolving way too surprsingly so it won't be long before her voice turn into something pretty awesome because it seems to be getting better and better.
I love KEIKO's voice too. Her voice is quite unique and it adds such a great contrast to the "a song is born" single version.
Misia can sing better live than in studios...it is amazing...I just wish her songs were a bit more interesting since I think it's such a waste of a great voice :shrug

I think Hitomi Yaida has a very nice voice too! :ysmile

Hmmm...

Hizumi of D'espairs Ray! I LOVE his voice! And he would be tied with Kyo of Dir en grey or Kaya of Schwarz Stein. Gackt has his moments, and HYDE's Laruku days were great too.

As for female.... Misia has a strong voice. Onitsuka Chihiro... Keiko of globe would have to be my pick. I adore her voice.

Southern all stars ;)

I agree. MISIA is a great vocalist. Other singers that I think are pretty good are Chihiro Onitsuka and Ayaka Hirahara.

ayuuuuuuuuu

I dunno who's the best but my fave male voice would be gackt, can range so low and yet so high like a woman's voice XD

And yes, misia's voice is amazing ^^

Onitsuka Chihiro, she one of the few reasons i got into slow song.

Ayu and Hikki XD

Anyone remember Halna?? From HAL :P

Misia, Miwa Yoshida, Hikawa Kiyoshi, Gackt, Shiina Ringo, isshi from kagrra,, toshi from X japan, among others :)

I guess I'd go with Keiko, Kaori, and Hikki. The 3 are somewhat different from each other: Hikki's voice is somewhat low, Keiko's is pretty high, and I think Kaori is somewhere in the middle, but I enjoy hearing their different styles of songs ;)

i wanna agree that MISIA's the best voice around.!

Females: Tomiko Van of Do As Infinity, Chihiro Onitsuka, ayaka, Nana Tanimura, Eri Nobuchika, Rie fu, OLIVIA
Males: Miyavi (after he stopped smoking), Takanori Nishikawa, Atsushi Sakurai, Hizumi of DespairsRays, Noda Yojiro of RADWIMPS

Females : ayaka , Anna Tsuchiya , OLIVIA , Mika Nakashima , alan , Koda Kumi , ayumi hamasaki , Namie Amuro , YUI

Males : Ken Hirai , Takanori Nishikawa , L'Arc en Ciel's HYDE , GReeeeN's HIDE , Kobukuro , BREAKERZ's DAIGO

MISIA, hands down.

Hitomi Shimatani

ayaka's voice is absolutely stunning.... especially at her First Message tour

I love KOKIA's voice
and Chihiro Onitsuka's (though I don't listen to her as much anymore)

KOTOKO's voice is always really really good live, so I'm gonna say her as well

and Arika Takarano from ALI PROJECT has a really strong live voice.

MISIA really has a GREAT voice, everyone should go to her concert, and experience one of the best voice from japan. beside that, namie amuro, kuu and ayu, they have powerful voice, but beside them it cant be deny that tomiko van, chihiro onitsuka, YUI, anna tsuchiya and ayaka have a REALLY powerful voice too. and not to mention ken hirai too :P

EDIT: no one mentioned STEPHANIE???

Ayumi Hamasaki :yes

basket I forgot Yuna Ito :dead2

Shimatani Hitomi & Nakashima Mika

period.

Utada Hikaru! (and Keiko Yamada)

I would have to say Misia, Yuna Ito, Ishii Tatsuya (Kome Kome Club) and Origa

Male: Shota Shimizu
Female: Miho Fukuhara or Misia

Male: Shota Shimizu
Female: Miho Fukuhara or Misia (but if your talking tone wise I'd have to say Miliyah Kato, Munehiro, SONOMI, or Emi Hinouchi)

emi hinouchi has the best voice!!!

like many, Females: Misia, Ayaka +Mai Fukui
males: Yuya Matsushita (I just found about today he is amazing)

I think Yuna Ito, Ayaka, and Hiro (member of SPEED) have the best vocal because they can reach very high note an steady vocal and also powerful

hmm
I can't say who's the best because everyone has a unique voice...
but I do like misia's and ayu's voice...

1. Yuna Ito
2. MISIA
3. Ayaka
4. Ayumi
5. Koda

Yuna has the BEST voice ever. Period.

Yuna Ito, Atsushi Sakurai

Hmmm... Aya Kamiki, B'z, Gackt, alan

Lyrico has a great voice, she has an amazing range, and can actually do whistle notes. But there are a lot of good artists with singing voices. Gackt, Onitsuka Chihiro, Itou Yuna, Hinouchi Emi, Ayu, etc., etc.

Can't really pick one.

Kana of course!!

LOL

ayaka for sure ~! her voice is like the best female voice ever lol! Utada hikaru and aiko are very good too :) ~!!!

Ayu chan???

Yuna ito and hikki and ayu and kuu ! and ayaka

Chihiro Onituska - epic win.

The greatest vocalist in Japan is Chitose Hajime. No one else comes close.

I agree that Misia is the best Western-influenced voice. Other greats are Ayaka Hirahara, Rimi Natsukawa, and Hitoto Yo (I'm surprised no one has mentioned her). For the men, there's Ken Hirai and Atari Kosuke.

I'm glad someone mentioned Kohmi Hirose. What about Miyuki Nakajima? And there are the countless enka artists out there. Kaori Mizumori is fantastic, as is Sayuri Ishikawa.

Yuki Koyanagi could have been a legend. Too bad her career was terribly mismanaged.

One of the best Kohmi Hirose songs, and a personal favorite: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBZ7Y...eature=related

To me, Koda Kumi. She's an awesome vocalist and I've never heard her sing actually off-key.

Hikki just sounds bad in TV performances. At least the ones I've watched.

@^: Chitose Hajime?? Her vibrato or w/e she does makes her sound like a goat. It's painfully annoying.

^And yet you offer Koda Kumi as the best vocalist in Japan? :P No offense. Yuki Koyanagi, who has the same musical style, is technically way way way better than her.

The reason I chose Chitose Hajime is because her voice is a voice that only Japanese culture can produce, and because she sounds like no other artist. When she first came out with Wadatsumi no Ki, I didn't like her voice too, but that was because my ears were used to Western voices and the Western scale. Having listened to more traditional Japanese music, Japanese folk music, enka, and Chinese opera and folk music, her voice doesn't sound as strange or, as you say, goat-like. Like fine wine, it's a voice only people of a certain musical inclination and exposure can appreciate. The heavy use of vibrato and falsetto is because she sings within a Japanese musical tradition.

I don't think she sounds like a goat. What you call a goat, I call a voice that only comes once a century.

^ Chitose Hajime does have an unbelievably excellent voice, but personally I think she's just topped by Natsukawa Rimi and Miyuki Nakajima, but as i said, that's "personally". All 3 of them are absolutely amazing singers.

As for Sayuri Ishikawa, her voice is fantastic, and also Yoko Nagayama. From the pop side of things, I really have to mention Nakamori Akina... such a fantastic singer.

With males singers... I can't deny Ken Hirai has a great voice, but i'm not personally a big fan of it. My favourite male singer and one that i believe to have one of the best voices in the industry is Toshi from X Japan. There's also Ryuichi Kawamura from Luna Sea. Finally I have to mention Saburo Kitajima. Though I'm not overly familiar with his work (which i'm ashamed of due to his status) his voice is so amazing!


-edit- er this was a reply to Uemarasan's previous post ^^;; And there's no way Koda Kumi is the best voice in Japan, not by a LOOOOOOONG shot

Can I just say you have excellent musical taste? :D I'm glad someone else is mentioning enka! I should have included some rock vocalists, and more old school vocalists, too. I prefer Japanese female voices in general, but Naotaro Moriyama is very good as well.

Haha! Actually I shouldn't have been so defensive, but suggesting that Koda Kumi is better than Chitose fricking Hajime? I just cannot let that go! :P

Heh thanks ^^;;. 2 or 3 years back I decided I wanted more exposure to where modern Japanese music came from so I ended up checking out a lot of 80's stuff and picked up a bit on enka aswell ^^. I can't imagine NOT having this stuff to listen to anymore, and in a lot of cases i prefer it to modern Jpop.

I can't say i'm familiar with Naotaro Moriyama so I'll have to check him out some time. I too favour female singers over male, I've always been the same heh ^^ I didn't bother mentioning Chihiro Onitsuka as i noticed her name further back, though I will say UA and, another from the 80's, Minako Honda. Both are excellent, and that makes it more of a shame that Minako is no longer alive.

And i do think Koda has a great voice, but i don't see her as anything more than a pop singer. Her voice just isn't enough to lift her to the level of some of Japans older singers.

How strange, I was just about to mention UA myself :) Then there's Hibari Misora, of course. I agree regarding Chitose Hajime. She doesn't have the range of say, even Koda, but the emotional intensity of her voice. Just powerful. Angela Aki might also turn into something wonderful.

Like you say, the problem with Koda is that although she is a good singer, I don't think her voice is as great as those of the people previously mentioned, pop or otherwise.

KOKIA...
Jero...

I think most of the best voices in Japan came from Enka. I don't think any JPop singer has the best quality. But KOKIA is the only exception. I chose Kokia over Natsukawa Rimi simply because KOKIA has wider genre and more international.

edit:
Alan's nada sou sou also good though. If you ask me who is the best voice in AVex, i'll definitely go to Alan.

ayaka!!!

awww...

nobody saw my comment... **cries**

T_T

EMYLI - Very Christina, one of the best voices in Japan, she just has **** songs.
Emi Hinouchi - This girl is phenomenal and that is all to say.
LISA - VERY versatile singing voice, she raps as well as her singing.
Kumi Koda - Sexy, strong and husky vocals.
Yuna Ito - Star vocals without a doubt, strong clean and crisp. Great higher ranges.

Without a doubt, I really believe Ayaka Hirahara is the best vocalist in Japan. Her voice is has such depth and such a great tone, and she can sing anything. Her lower and higher registers both give me the chills.

Sakurai Atsushi from BUCK-TICK =)

I seriously love every J-pop singers voice because they are all so different. Mika Nakashima being particularly rich and unique. BoA has power and great soul in her voice. But i also love Utada's, Yuna Ito's, Ayu's, and Keiko's (globe) voices. Keiko and Ayu have very similar voices sometimes, they do that same thing where they like haha I can't explain it, anyone kno what I am talking about. even love hitomi's. They all have their own kind of specific unique talented voices. Olivia has a great voice too.

alan and Utada Hikaru c: alan is very impressive and Utada Hikaru's vocals are nice

inb4youguysflamemeforsayingUtadaHikaru

YEAH >DDDDDDDDDDD

Just saw it!!!! No way in heaven, hell or earth! xD;;;;;

I think Yuna Ito's voice is powerful - it's a shame Sony throws random pop her way. Total waste of vocal potential, if you ask me.

Chihiro Onitsuka, hands down. Her voice may have declined in power following her hiatus, but it's only improved in expressing sheer emotion. It's such a shame that she's take another break..

ayaka, her voice sound so sweet and crystal clear to me.

misia for sure...but nakashima mika's voice isn't less amazing...both wonderful

^ LOL, Namie Amuro??? XDD Have you ever heard her live? God save the backing track, that´s all I´ve got to say. xDDD

The best voice in J-Pop imo is ayaka hands down. That woman has a vocodec in her troath xD it´s incredible

Agree with daigo tho. Although his extreme physical attractiveness may be playing on my judgement xDDDDD :luv2 Kokokara Dashite makes me see Heaven xD

Miwa Yoshida, Misia, Ayaka.

Ayumi Hamasaki
Miho Fukuhara
and Yuna Ito

1. Yoshida Miwa
2. Hamasaki Ayumi
3. Utada Hikaru (Only because of her lower voice, although I really love it, Ayu's just keeps me on my toes more. Haha.)
4. Matsuura Aya (She has REALLY matured vocally, and sounds amazing! I really hope she gets signed by Avex after her H!P graduation)
5. Ito Yuna
6. ayaka

Also: EXILE's lead singers (Don't know their names. Haha.), Jero, aiko

Utada Hikaru!!! No doubt about it :)

Oh totally, H!P is losing possibly it's greatest vocalist when Ayaya's gone :( I think she'll get picked up by Avex or another decent label though, she sure as hell deserves it.

I'd say Eri Nobuchika, Kokia or Hajime Chitose. Vocal wise they are the best imo.