As J-Pop’s popularity continues to rise in the U.S., acts like Yoasobi have built a successful fanbase and reputation.
The Japanese duo — made up of producer Ayase and singer-songwriter Ikura — toured the U.S. in 2024, stopping along the way to play for large crowds at Coachella and Lollapalooza. Earlier this year, the group returned to L.A. for Matsuri’25, a night dedicated to bringing Japanese acts to the global stage. The duo performed alongside Ado and Atarashii Gakko! at the concert held in downtown L.A.
Yoasobi’s popularity likely comes from its unique and fresh concept — music based off of novels. Below, the duo speaks with The Hollywood Reporter about why their music appeals to the global audience, touring in the U.S. and how they want to be perceived.
Can you take me through your process of creating music?
AYASE We have a theme — turning novels into music, so obviously there’s an original story to every song. Each process starts out by reading the original story, and then I go through a period of thinking about how to turn that into song, into music. Then I think about how I should shape that… thinking about the melody, the orchestra and then comes the lyrics. Then Ikura goes into recording and the arrangements are created.
Is there something about this storytelling-based music that you find appeals to a global audience in particular?
AYASE Yeah, I do think so becuase there’s an originality in [turning novels into music]. We have a lot of tie-ins with TV animes. Of course, anime is a huge part of Japanese culture overseas that’s [being] recognized right now. That makes it different as well. Working together with the manga, anime [or] novels, there’s stories linked to the music. There’s a shape to it that I think is part of our strength.
Do you find constantly having to step into others shoes has helped you become more creatively personally?
AYASE Well, yes, but ultimately I’m telling my own experiences through these songs as well. There’s the perspective of the protagonist in the lyrics or in the song, and I sort of share my own experiences through the main characters, what that main character is trying to say as well. It’s not as I didn’t have anything to do with the creative process of the lyrics or the song. It’s not like that. However, the fact that the ideas or the thought process came from somebody completely different to myself — in that respect — I do become inspired. Those thoughts fuse with mine, and a chemical reaction comes from that. It’s a mix of my own creativity and somebody else’s creativity. What comes out is very, it’s inspiring.
I saw you perform in L.A. earlier this year, and the crowd was so engaged in a way that I’ve almost never seen before. What has it been like performing in the U.S. several times over the last year or so?
IKURA Last year and the year before that we did lots of shows and festivals in the U.S. For example, [we performed at] Coachella and Lollapalooza. We did our own shows as well. We recently performed at Matsuri’25 in L.A. [There were] three acts including us. All these J-Pop artists that are currently striving to send out messages or deliver a music to the world — we’re all bringing it with everything we have. It was an extremely fun night, and I had a wonderful experience. It was an experience that made me realize the potential that J-Pop has for the future. We’re part of a J-Pop [community] that is really striving to work hard, to create better music and to bring it to the world. I hope that that wasn’t just one night. I hope that we can continue to create great music for the world to enjoy.
How do you hope to be viewed as an artist?
IKURA It’s easy to comment on how we’d like to be perceived, but it’s a different matter when you think about how we think people actually see us.
AYASE Our motto, as the name implies — because “asobi” in Yoasobi means to play — we want to keep that sense of that playfulness. We both have our own respective solo careers, but Yoasobi is an extension of that in that. We want to create things that are fun for us, so the most important thing is to enjoy ourselves first and create something that we think is cool. Our theme — turning novels into music — that’s something that’s never been done before either. I think we’d like to continue to climb mountains to search for views that have never been seen before, in terms of shows. Challenge ourselves with new things. When we do our shows in the U.S., people do tell us that the music is something totally different or that the show was a totally different experience. I think we’d like to continue to create things that nobody has ever thought about, and to show people things that they’ve never seen before. I think that’s very important for us. What our predecessors in J-Pop has created, we want to take that and then continue to challenge ourselves to do things that nobody has done before.