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Question How to get an opportunity to produce (mainly anime) music in Japan?

Haruto Uzumaki

渦巻ハルト
24 Apr 2022
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Hey guys, ハルト (Haruto) here. I couldn't find anything anywhere online about my question, probably because it's so specific.
So I came here to ask: In Japan, what would it take to become an anime (j-pop) music producer (provided I've already acquired the necessary skills for j-pop production)? It seems like it's gonna take a lot of connections but I need to know how to get such connections, cause right now I'm lost and I know this is what I need to do with my life, nothing else will do. I must become a producer for Japanese singers.
But can someone guide me step by step on how one would become that, preferably without school involved (as I already have been producing for 4+ years)? And also, any producers in Japan or working with Japanese people, whether you make j-pop or something else in Japan, I'd like your input and your story as well. Beyond actually being able to make this type of music, I want everything there is to know about producing music in Japan.
Thanks in advance 🙏🏾
 
Usually anyone wanting to work in Japan gets asked a couple questions to give better answers. Like , what is your Japanese level in speaking & reading? Is the job you are looking for something a Japanese citizen "can't" do. Look at it from a company or manager's point of view...why hire you instead of someone already living in Japan with the same skills? Hang in there for more answers....I just bought up some things you might get asked. Sounds like you have the skills & knowledge for the job.
 
As you said it comes down to connections. There's no way around that. Assuming you're in the U.S., I'd try to get a job involved with any companies involved with bringing Japanese acts to the U.S. For example, Def Jam opened a label in Japan called Def Jam Japan twenty years ago. A family friend of mine was signed to that label.
In other words, my suggested route would be get involved with producing Japan acts for the international market and make connections that way.
 
Usually anyone wanting to work in Japan gets asked a couple questions to give better answers. Like , what is your Japanese level in speaking & reading? Is the job you are looking for something a Japanese citizen "can't" do. Look at it from a company or manager's point of view...why hire you instead of someone already living in Japan with the same skills? Hang in there for more answers....I just bought up some things you might get asked. Sounds like you have the skills & knowledge for the job.
Hey, sorry for the late reply and thank you for the answer. My current level in Japanese is very basic, and maybe worse than that. I can read most hiragana (slowly) but still occasionally get confused by the similar looking ones like た vs だ mostly cause there's not enough opportunity to use Japanese here. I'm still learning though of course and I estimate by the end of the year (which is when I'm heading to Japan) I should be nearly fluent (knowing maybe 2,000 words by then, full mastery of hiragana, katakana, and enough knowledge on kanji radicals to not need help when reading the average public signs) and my speech follows suit because in my opinion I can actually mask my American accent pretty well and I also sing in Japanese just fine (I know it's quite different than regular speech though). It's all gonna be a lot to take care of in 7 months but I think I have what it takes.
Why hire me over someone in Japan? Simply because I possess a skill that most bands/artists that make these anime OPs don't: I can compose and arrange the entire thing in a few hours, drums, piano and piano chords, strings, rhythm guitar(s), lead guitar, and much more, and I let the singer take care of their own part for emotion and self expression purposes. The way most bands would typically do it would be to each do their own part, but I can do all of the parts as the mastermind, have a very realistic sounding recording of what I have in mind, and then have them literally just do it (solo each part so they can hear their own, and also sheet music if necessary). This and because what I make sounds good, at least I believe so, as well as many other reasons I can't explain in a few short sentences. And the more music, the better. More people with different brains making more unique music is what's needed.
My point is I think they could actually use people that can do this, and also, I don't plan on getting the job before living in Japan, I plan on going for it after I'm there but I just need more information before hand, ya know? Also I think typical Japanese citizens might not have these talents but for the ones that do, I think they can get this type of job as well, I just feel like most Japanese people become salarymen and devote their life to working for the big corps and typically don't chase their dreams as much as we would in the US. I kinda wanna bring that type of energy over and help people believe in themselves and understand that there's many ways to make it in life. Maybe if I'm successful my story will inspire :) sorry for saying so much but I try to be as detailed as possible
 
As you said it comes down to connections. There's no way around that. Assuming you're in the U.S., I'd try to get a job involved with any companies involved with bringing Japanese acts to the U.S. For example, Def Jam opened a label in Japan called Def Jam Japan twenty years ago. A family friend of mine was signed to that label.
In other words, my suggested route would be get involved with producing Japan acts for the international market and make connections that way.
Thank you for your reply! And yes, it's so largely about connections (which I despise about the whole music field) but I'm mainly asking as well for good ways to build those connections, best places to find them, any place or thing someone has gone through to get them. Which brings me to your answer 😁 you've given me a great idea, I'm going to spend time looking for companies similar to Crunchyroll and Viz Media and even TV Tokyo if they have an American subsidiary company and maybe I can find people that work there and reach out to them and find out what it's gonna take to be a part of it
I can imagine it might be a while before I get that kind of job though so I might not get it in time for my departure, but at the very least this might help me meet people that can get me in front of the right people to get picked up :)
 
The way most bands would typically do it would be to each do their own part, but I can do all of the parts as the mastermind, have a very realistic sounding recording of what I have in mind, and then have them literally just do it (solo each part so they can hear their own, and also sheet music if
necessary).
I'd like to clarify by saying I don't necessarily mean I'm trying to specifically get hired by a band or anything, I'm open to anything or anyone that can get me further to my goal and has a decent pay
Also want to clarify that I don't know how all bands work and maybe some have different ways of making music than I'm aware of. I think this is the common way it's done though, right? At least for bands without someone that composes

(In simple words I'm saying I could act as a one man band for whoever wants to hire me)
 
I'd like to clarify by saying I don't necessarily mean I'm trying to specifically get hired by a band or anything, I'm open to anything or anyone that can get me further to my goal and has a decent pay
Also want to clarify that I don't know how all bands work and maybe some have different ways of making music than I'm aware of. I think this is the common way it's done though, right? At least for bands without someone that composes

(In simple words I'm saying I could act as a one man band for whoever wants to hire me)
It sounds like you have some talent. How about working on a social media presence, especially a Japanese one, that highlights your abilities. You could make connections that way. Stranger things have happened.
 
It sounds like you have some talent. How about working on a social media presence, especially a Japanese one, that highlights your abilities. You could make connections that way. Stranger things have happened.
Yes, I'd love to, if you can recommend any good music forums or sites for Japan, let me know! I'll be looking. I have a small following on YouTube (~190 subscribers) and Instagram (a couple hundred followers) under my producer name. I'll release my producer name here too once I move to Japan just so there's the least chance of my old name being traced to this one. Also, how would I go about getting more Japanese friends? It's honestly quite difficult to make platforms suggest the right type of people to you (social media always recommends friends of friends, mostly in the same region) and it would be nice to learn of more places like this one that specifically target Japanese people and everything/everyone related :) I only found this place by looking for a Japanese forum and it was the first thing to pop up, but I can imagine it's gonna be a more difficult search trying to find another platform worthwhile for Japanese music, unless maybe it's a community inside a global platform like Discord (which I use as well and have made many producer friends on, but still 0 Japanese although from many other places including Korea)

(P.S. I guess you could say I'm "talented", somewhat, but music is as far as it goes; for marketing and gaining presence I'm a total noob 😭)
 
There are Japanese social media sites or communities but virtually of them operate in Japanese as you might imagine.
That's fine with me, I'll use a translator where necessary and learn as I go along, I think that kind of situation would be good for me cause it would help force me to remember for easier communication
Another one of the reasons I'm going to live in Japan: to force myself to learn more of the language, force myself to use it, give myself absolutely no choice or to suffer and perish in a foreign world
 
I've looked through a few communities but so far it's all just been the two things I'm not looking for: mainly English natives that are Japanese fanatics, and the servers are pretty much entirely revolved around sharing music from artists and bands that have already established themselves, not really to make connections or share your own music (at least not nearly as much as they share music from famous people) which is so far not too much of a help unless I can manage to find some Japanese people in there or someone that has connections and people that I can build friendships with
 
I found one so far now; had to do some searching in Japanese instead of English, go figure
But the only one I found so far (after searching through like 5 different websites that have nothing to do with a community or forum but still show up at the top of my searches) was this:
Sonic Academy
A (yen) paid monthly subscription, by Sony... Given how Sony did some messed up stuff to my friend to try and tie him up in legal stuff when Columbia records bought his beat for Cochise, I have a negative outlook on paying Sony anything... And I don't wanna pay for communities at all 🧍🏾 guess I'll keep looking and update you guys when I find something, sorry for typing so much 😭
 
I found one so far now; had to do some searching in Japanese instead of English, go figure
But the only one I found so far (after searching through like 5 different websites that have nothing to do with a community or forum but still show up at the top of my searches) was this:
Sonic Academy
A (yen) paid monthly subscription, by Sony... Given how Sony did some messed up stuff to my friend to try and tie him up in legal stuff when Columbia records bought his beat for Cochise, I have a negative outlook on paying Sony anything... And I don't wanna pay for communities at all 🧍🏾 guess I'll keep looking and update you guys when I find something, sorry for typing so much 😭
I would probably try searching in Japanese on Twitter. I'll try to look when I get a chance.
 
I would first search the job ads for music production jobs in the film or video game industry here in the US (or Canada). Concentrate on the job first, and the location second. For example look to see if there are any openings in the video game business in California, Austin, Montreal, Vancouver where there are many video game studios (including some Japanese studios: Bandai, Square, Sega, etc.). But again, the job should come first, because that is what will get you the connections. Play the long game - put a year or two under your belt doing something that might not be super exciting, but do it well and build up your portfolio and build up your connections while at the same time spreading the word that you would love a chance to work with Japanese studios.
A lot of studios don't want to hire in-house musicians, because it is cheaper for them to outsource. So I wouldn't expect you to get hired as the in-house producer/composer for any of these places, but they might be looking for part-time or contract musicians. Since covid-19, most places are open to remote arrangements. If you already have a portfolio of your work it makes the process smoother. Same for video production houses. In fact, a lot of video production houses are the outsourcing destinations for video game companies.
And don't worry too much about Sony stealing your property (yet). The thing is to get your foot in the door, and Sony is a huge company that produces movies, music, and video games, and you can get a lot of extremely valuable experience there. No need to sign up for any website that costs money, just look online to see if they have need of any music production staff.
Another thing I would suggest is to learn the economics of the business. How much studios pay for music, the royalty structures, etc. Right now the yen is super weak, and the music production landscape is very competitive in Japan, so you would be competing with other people in a very depressed market right now. Be aware that Japan has a super high level of production quality and a lot of very talented, professional musicians.
Lastly, moving to Japan and then figuring out your career is the opposite way to do things (as you can probably tell by my lengthy reply). Sort your career out first, and once you are a professional musician with some credits (or a portfolio of known works), you can work anywhere in the world. Its also important to sort your career out first, because it is impossible to get a working visa in Japan without a university education or many years of professional experience under your belt. One way to get around this hurdle is to get hired by a company in the US that has a branch in Japan, and then get what is called an "intra-company transfer" visa. Basically it is a way for, say Warner Brothers, to send their US employees to Warner Brothers in Japan, that is somewhat simpler than an individual trying to do this on his/her own.
 
I would first search the job ads for music production jobs in the film or video game industry here in the US (or Canada). Concentrate on the job first, and the location second. For example look to see if there are any openings in the video game business in California, Austin, Montreal, Vancouver where there are many video game studios (including some Japanese studios: Bandai, Square, Sega, etc.). But again, the job should come first, because that is what will get you the connections. Play the long game - put a year or two under your belt doing something that might not be super exciting, but do it well and build up your portfolio and build up your connections while at the same time spreading the word that you would love a chance to work with Japanese studios.
A lot of studios don't want to hire in-house musicians, because it is cheaper for them to outsource. So I wouldn't expect you to get hired as the in-house producer/composer for any of these places, but they might be looking for part-time or contract musicians. Since covid-19, most places are open to remote arrangements. If you already have a portfolio of your work it makes the process smoother. Same for video production houses. In fact, a lot of video production houses are the outsourcing destinations for video game companies.
And don't worry too much about Sony stealing your property (yet). The thing is to get your foot in the door, and Sony is a huge company that produces movies, music, and video games, and you can get a lot of extremely valuable experience there. No need to sign up for any website that costs money, just look online to see if they have need of any music production staff.
Another thing I would suggest is to learn the economics of the business. How much studios pay for music, the royalty structures, etc. Right now the yen is super weak, and the music production landscape is very competitive in Japan, so you would be competing with other people in a very depressed market right now. Be aware that Japan has a super high level of production quality and a lot of very talented, professional musicians.
Lastly, moving to Japan and then figuring out your career is the opposite way to do things (as you can probably tell by my lengthy reply). Sort your career out first, and once you are a professional musician with some credits (or a portfolio of known works), you can work anywhere in the world. Its also important to sort your career out first, because it is impossible to get a working visa in Japan without a university education or many years of professional experience under your belt. One way to get around this hurdle is to get hired by a company in the US that has a branch in Japan, and then get what is called an "intra-company transfer" visa. Basically it is a way for, say Warner Brothers, to send their US employees to Warner Brothers in Japan, that is somewhat simpler than an individual trying to do this on his/her own.
Sorry for reading late, I think I got interrupted while reading before and forgot to finish reading 😅
Thanks for the advice, although this is a lot to take in I'm doing my best to process it all. So basically what I have to say to this is that I have a limited amount of money to move somewhere, and I am pretty sure if I don't use it to go to Japan I won't be able to get to Japan for a really long time... Or maybe not at all, which would be absolutely terrible... I don't wanna live in this country a minute longer either, but besides that, I'm 18 and I live with my parents right now, and I'm planning to leave a bit after I turn 19. So if I leave to somewhere, anywhere in the US, I'm most likely gonna end up stuck there paying bills, trying to get a job, being stuck to the job, not actually making a surplus of money, just living maybe a bit above paycheck to paycheck. I foresee that future for wherever I choose to live, at least for quite a while, and the US is the last place I want to spend those long years waiting that out till I can make enough money to go to Japan... I don't know if you understand my dilemma but it's gonna be worse off for me to spend the money to move somewhere still in the US, than to go where I want to be for the rest of my life... And I might have to reset if there's no way to fulfill this goal cause it's something I feel very strongly about, something I must do... Ya know? But, I'm adding what you said to my list of things to do for sure, I'll be looking for job ads, I don't know if 6 months of work could possibly be enough for a company to let me switch over in Japan but it's what I've got to work with... Also yes I've got a "portfolio" of sorts if a Google drive with most of my music that I can send any given track at any time counts 😅 along with a YouTube channel where I've posted some and made visuals from scratch for each of them too :) I guess I can't say I've got "professional" experience but I have been doing this for 4.5 years and counting, and I can do it on a professional level, so I guess I'll find out if that means anything to anyone 🥲
And you're absolutely right about there being so many talented musicians in Japan, honestly in Japan everyone's crafts are done with such perfection in a way I admire so much... It's like they're perfectionists but in a way that usually pays off (let's ignore the suicides though 😓)
Enough of my rambling though, I've been thinking about all this so much every single day and it's quite a lot to manage but I've gotta make it somehow, and I appreciate all of your guys' help, I know my situation is hard to help with and it's kinda annoying probably but I believe in myself that I'll do this, my life depends on it 🫡
 
I figured it out guys!! I know exactly what I'll do now :) thank you all so much for the help, I think I've finally got it all down, although it's gonna be a bit difficult, at least I know the road I'm taking is 100% doable and I will be able to do it. Here's what I'm going to do:
Register to a school in Japan to learn Japanese for 2 years, which will consume most of my money, but will be absolutely worth it.
During that time, I'll apply for a work visa so I can get jobs in Japan, and hopefully these two things will allow me to not only expand my Japanese and usage of the language, but I'll be able to stay for many years, even the required 5 for citizenship!
Once I'm sponsored by the school, the student visa will give me 2 years (not the maximum but this is what the course is offering, and frankly all I can pay for) and then before those two years are up, I think it will be much easier to take up normal jobs in Japan (I'll know enough Japanese to get by anyway so I think I'll be able to do the average job in Japan, not some teaching job) and finally, continue to renew the work visa and get sponsored by the employer(s) and work for a few years while I search for more connections!
Isn't this a great plan? :)) Thank you all again for helping me figure it out!
 
I figured it out guys!! I know exactly what I'll do now :) thank you all so much for the help, I think I've finally got it all down, although it's gonna be a bit difficult, at least I know the road I'm taking is 100% doable and I will be able to do it. Here's what I'm going to do:
Register to a school in Japan to learn Japanese for 2 years, which will consume most of my money, but will be absolutely worth it.
During that time, I'll apply for a work visa so I can get jobs in Japan, and hopefully these two things will allow me to not only expand my Japanese and usage of the language, but I'll be able to stay for many years, even the required 5 for citizenship!
Once I'm sponsored by the school, the student visa will give me 2 years (not the maximum but this is what the course is offering, and frankly all I can pay for) and then before those two years are up, I think it will be much easier to take up normal jobs in Japan (I'll know enough Japanese to get by anyway so I think I'll be able to do the average job in Japan, not some teaching job) and finally, continue to renew the work visa and get sponsored by the employer(s) and work for a few years while I search for more connections!
Isn't this a great plan? :)) Thank you all again for helping me figure it out!
I don't think you'll be able to avoid the basic educational requirement for getting a work visa. But you'll definitely have a better chance of finding a company to sponsor you if you're in Japan. Maybe you can find a job as a laborer or something that doesn't require the education.
 
I don't think you'll be able to avoid the basic educational requirement for getting a work visa. But you'll definitely have a better chance of finding a company to sponsor you if you're in Japan. Maybe you can find a job as a laborer or something that doesn't require the education.
Well yeah I wasn't planning to just start out working for big music companies and stuff but just simple jobs, probably part time ones that don't need anything more than a high school diploma or whatever cause that's what I have, and I'll be doing online work all the while to gain more presence and sales from my music in general (not just Japanese style music) and I'll be able to meet people in Japan that may someday present the right connections I need to work for certain companies without going to a college/university 😄 and also if I go to Japan as a student I'll already be sponsored (at least for the two years as agreed) so I won't have to worry about that too much for that time and I'm sure I can find some sort of job to keep me there ✔️
 
I don't think you'll be able to avoid the basic educational requirement for getting a work visa. But you'll definitely have a better chance of finding a company to sponsor you if you're in Japan. Maybe you can find a job as a laborer or something that doesn't require the education.
Also I just realized I posted this in the wrong thread 😃 whoops 😭 I meant for the post you replied to, to be in the other post I made 😅
 
I'm sure I can find some sort of job to keep me there

Most work visas require a four-degree college degree, no matter how long you have been in Japan or how well you speak Japanese, If you can get a degree, it is going to make things a lot easier.

Register to a school in Japan to learn Japanese for 2 years, which will consume most of my money, but will be absolutely worth it.

Most language schools in Japan teach Japanese in Japanese, not in English, so try to learn as much Japanese as you can before you go. The first step in learning Japanese is mastering hiragana and katakana.

How close are you to mastering the reading and writing of hiragana and katakana?
 
I think he can find a Japanese language school (i.e. a school that will teach him Japanese language) that will sponsor a visa.
So learning the language while trying to build up some connections here is not a bad idea. Coming here on a student visa and trying to find work is a bit problematic because student visas normally don't allow you to work. Or, you can work but only for very limited hours, and only with the permission of your school. So the student visa really is intended to limit people to studying. Japan doesn't want the student visa to become a stealth way of working and living in Japan permanently.
But getting here and learning the language and exploring the country is a worthwhile experience. However, it is super important that you understand that even in Japan there is a chance of

"end up stuck there paying bills, trying to get a job, being stuck to the job, not actually making a surplus of money, just living maybe a bit above paycheck to paycheck."

Japan's economy is not looking very healthy, and the demographic picture is also not healthy. The yen is getting very weak, and many people in Japan struggle to get ahead financially. It is no different than in the States. However, in the States you have a network of family and friends, and you speak the language and understand the tax system and social security system, etc., while in Japan you have none of that. Your chances of economic success are far greater in America than they are in Japan.
But that doesn't mean you should give up your dream. It just means to be realistic about it. There is nothing magical about Japan that will let you be successful just because you are a foreigner. Maybe a few decades ago it was possible to get some doors opened due to the scarcity of foreigners in Japan, but lately there are so many foreigners trying to make a buck in Japan it is very, very competitive. And besides that, the number of young Japanese people who speak excellent English is ever increasing, so there is no reason for companies in Japan to hire foreigners with an imperfect understanding of Japanese.
Come here to learn the language, and then go from there. And yes, the more Japanese language you know, the farther you will go. So start studying.
 
Most work visas require a four-degree college degree, no matter how long you have been in Japan or how well you speak Japanese, If you can get a degree, it is going to make things a lot easier.
Well from other sources I haven't really seen that as a requirement but more of an extra help, like it is here in the US, people get jobs all the time without a degree, maybe not as good or high paying, but still a job nonetheless 😅 I have one now without a degree

And as for hiragana and katakana I'm pretty good at reading hiragana though I'm slow at it, I can read almost all the characters (I know all of them but sometimes I confuse a handful of them so I won't count those till I've fully mastered) and I haven't gotten much katakana down yet, just a few characters but definitely gonna be working on both of these soon. I can't write them either yet because it feels like drawing and when I try to draw things in my head the memory falls apart and then it looks nothing like what was in my head 💀 so I'll definitely have to work on that too but I do have the genki books so I'll be using those to help
 
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