5. Craig Armstrong
Craig Armstrong composes modern orchestra music, electronica, and film scores. The music he composes is very subtle and flows very well.
4. Ayumi Hamasaki
Ayumi Hamasaki is the first J-artist I listened to. She is one of the top japanese artists in Japan. She's also a fashion icon and has a large presence in the japanese entertainment industry. Her music is unique, entrancing, and stylish. She will always hold a special place in my heart.
3. High and Mighty Color
High and Mighty Color is a J-Rock Fusion group. When I listened to their first single, "Pride", it mind blowing. It's like mixing j-rock, j-pop, and rap all into one. They have a unique style. I was deeply saddended when Makii, female vocals, left the band. It's unfortunate the current group is disbanding.
2. Yoko Kanno
Yoko Kanno is a famous Japanese composers. She experiments and create her own soundtracks often influenced by many genres, including j-pop, jazz, classical, blues, rock, and electronic. Some of her best works can be heard in popular anime series, including Cowboy Bepop, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Wolf's Rain, The Vision of Escaflowne, RahXephon, and Macross Frontier. In fact, some of them are even aired on 918 and are rated highly.
1. Yuki Kajiura
See-Saw, FictionJunction, and Kalafina all have one thing in common. Yuki Kajiura composes, plays keyboard, and back-up vocals all three them.
Yuki Kajiura is my all-time favorite artist. All of her soundtracks are beautiful and mesmerizing. Mixing pop, classic, and new age, she takes music to a whole new level. She's also composed music for a lot of popular animes and video games, including .hack//SIGN, Gundam Seed and Seed Destiny, Madlax, Mai-Hime, Noir, Tsubasa Chronicle, and all three Xenosaga.