Summer is upon us! As an idol fan it’s a really great season, not only because of events like the Tokyo Idol Festival, but because many idol groups release really great summer songs. AKB48’s Sayonara Crawl just came out, and NMB48’s Bokura no Eureka is coming up! It’s times like these that I thought I’d make a list of my top 10 songs about summer by an idol act.

My honorable mention is Whiteberry’s “Natsu Matsuri.” Whiteberry isn’t an idol act, but this song has been covered many times (by idols, occasionally) and is a really excellent song about summer festivals. I love this song so much that I sing it at karaoke year round; it’s just excellent.
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10. Poolside Daisakusen -Idoling!!!

When I first started making this list, I did not intend for this song to make it. I remembered liking it, but that it wasn’t memorable. Still, I decided to rewatch the PV which I remembered was excellent. And while the PV holds up and is a really great PV, the song surprised me with how much I liked it. It’s a bit different from the other songs on this list and has kind of an old-fashioned sound to it. However it’s really high energy and fun in a totally different way from the rest of this list (that I attribute to the fast back and forth and ‘whoaaas’ in the chorus). It’s not necessarily the most classic idol summer song, but it’s fun and definitely worth a listen.

9. Pareo wa Emerald – SKE48

The 48 groups have a lot of summer songs. This is something I noted a while back, when I said that AKB48 does a good job of playing to the seasons that songs are released. Whereas Morning Musume only has one summer themed single song (Manatsu no Kousen), every 48 group releases a summer song almost every summer. It’s a good idea; even in the US, the concept of a summer song is still present, more than any other season.

This meant, however, I had to narrow things down to the best of the best. So while Gomen ne Summer and Aishiteraburu are excellent songs I adore, Pareo wa Emerald comes up on top. The reason it ranks fairly lowly on this list is because I’d say that the lyrics, more than any other on this list, focus more on a relationship than summer. Yeah, I know almost every song on this list has an element of romance or summer love to it, but Pareo has some of my favorite lyrics about relationships.

It has a bit of a different tone than some of AKB and NMB’s summer songs (that I’ll get to later, *hint*) but that’s not necessarily bad; in fact, it sets itself apart from other songs. Still, at its core it’s a high energy summer song that is a lot of fun to listen to.

8. Nagiichi – NMB48

While the decision between Nagiichi and Pareo was a tricky one, I ultimately went with Nagiichi. I have a soft spot for idol songs that do shortened titles, and Nagiichi’s one of the best; short for Nagisa de Ichiban Kawaii girl (the cutest girl on the beach). Which could apply for all of them really (but it applies to Watanabe Miyuki most of all, in my opinion!)

The start is reminiscent of Ponytail to Shushu, but it quickly changes to be its own, NMB48 flavored 48 song. It’s a little sexier, but has very similar sensibilities in its energy and level of fun. This was NMB’s 4th single, and in my opinion it’s at this point that NMB really stepped up and showed AKB48 and SKE48 that they had become a strong group as well.

NMB48 recently has started promotion for their new single, Bokura no Eureka. While it’s my favorite 48 single in a while, and I love the song, it’s not quite a standard summer song in the same way that Nagiichi is. However, it does show a bit of a more mature NMB48 and I whole-heartedly recommend you check it out.

7. Bikini wa Niawanai – Watarirouka Hashiritai 7

This is a song I’m betting most of you aren’t as familiar with, unless you’re a pretty big Watarirouka Hashiritai fan. This is a B-Side to Hetappi Wink, and right away gives a pretty summery image. The first guitar riff alone brings thoughts of the Beach Boys, and the whole song is very reminiscent of American surf music, a genre which I have to associate with the beach and summeritime.

The lyrics are a bit unconventional, but fitting; it’s about how bikinis don’t suit the girls, and even though they’re older than they appear they still don’t have the bodies for bikinis. I’d take this to be an almost anthem for any of us girls who have felt unconscious about their body; this is a fairly rare sentiment to get from an idol song!

The lyrics fit, and the song itself fits summertime in a way most idol songs don’t.

6. MAX Otome Gokoro – Super Girls

I’ve never been able to get much into Super Girls. I like some of the members and the songs, but for some reason the group has never grabbed me. However, Super Girls has done a summer single for the past few years, and their first summer single (and their second single ever) remains my favorite Super Girls song.

It’s just bubbly idol fun which is a lot of what I like about it (and ‘doki doki natsu dokyun’ might be the most idol-y lyric ever). While their later single Puri Puri Summer Kiss is fun, Max Otome Gokoro feels like it’s focusing more on general summer fun than Puri Puri (I was personally a bit put off by its PV). Plus, I like Max Otome Gokoro a lot better.

Not much else can be said other than that it’s fun and a great summer song!

5. Coco Natsu – Momoiro Clover

One of my strongest memories about becoming a MomoClo fan is waiting after Ikuze! Kaitou Shoujo for what came next. I watched pretty much everything MomoClo had ever done, and I was waiting. While Pinky Jones ended up the single, Coco Natsu was the first thing any MomoClo fan saw after Ikuze, so it had a lot of hype for a lot of Momoiro Clover fans.

And while I would say Ikuze is a lot stronger, Coco Natsu didn’t disappoint! Definitely one of the odder songs on this list, pretty much everything about this is perfect. I especially like the verses with the back and forth between solos and the whole group’s “bashibaa coco natsu baby” parts. The instrumentation is also spot on, with some good background guitar stuff and often a tropical sound. The girls are very memorable too, with the repetition of ‘kokokokoko’ at various parts as well as the bridge part where they’re all shouting various things. While I keep bringing in high energy songs on this list (and there are more to come), this is another fantastic example.

This song is perfect for MomoClo and is a perfect example of what I miss about Momoiro Clover (in relation to Momoiro Clover Z): it’s high energy, a bit strange, and just a whole lot of fun, perfect for a good summer song.

4. Ponytail to Shushu (honorable mentions: Everyday Kachuusha and Manatsu no Sounds Good – AKB48

When coming up with this list, one of my goals was variety. My hardest choice, being honest, was picking which AKB48 summer single I wanted to put on here. Because really, if you want a good summer song, Ponytail to Shushu, Everyday Kachuusha and Manatsu no Sounds Good are all good choices. However, I didn’t want a top 10 list with three AKB48 single songs and two 48 group single songs as well, so I chose the first big summer single for AKB48, Ponytail to Shushu.

Ponytail to Shushu is, to me, one of the most underrated idol songs. Not that it undersold, but that it doesn’t really get enough credit that it deserves. RIVER was the big song that really put AKB on the map. Heavy Rotation became the big AKB classic song. But before Heavy Rotation came, Ponytail to Shushu really, in my mind, cemented AKB48 as a huge idol force and that RIVER wasn’t going to be their most remembered song.

More than that, though, Ponytail to Shushu is really, to me, a perfect pop song. Even among AKB48 fans, Ponytail to Shushu really seems to be looked down on as frivolous and not as good as some of the other songs. And while Ponytail to Shushu might not have the depth of some of the other songs, for what it’s trying to do it’s nearly perfect. From the first piano notes, it does an amazing job of ramping you up into high energy that continues throughout the whole song, but never feels old. The back and forth throughout the chorus is really spectacular, and I love the instrumentation; the background instruments do a lot to keep up the tension within the song. The whole song is energetic and has a high tension to it, and really feels like a great summer song. It doesn’t need depth because it’s not trying to be more than it is: a REALLY fantastic, high energy pop song, which it does superbly.

3. Chu! Natsu Party – 3nin Matsuri

One of the aspects of golden era Hello!Project I really miss the most are the summer shuffles. While the Satoyama units kind of do that now, there was something really great about getting the strangest combination of Hello!Project members together for a summery single and a little competition. While 3nin Matsuri isn’t the strangest combination of members nor is it the strangest song, it is one of the most fun songs, and it’s the song that I would say most captures summer.

There’s a reason that, in the competition to sell the most singles, Chu! Natsu Party won. While all three members were all popular in their own right, the other groups had more members and girls like Abe Natsumi and Goto Maki. But Chu! Natsu Party is just bubbly energetic fun. There’s nothing complicated about the melody, nor the lyrics. The song’s about going to the beach in the summer, with the onomatopoetic word “chu” (kiss) repeated ad nauseum. But that’s kind of what a good summer song does; it’s fun and frivolous, but that’s the point.

While I have a strong fondness for 10nin Matsuri’s “Dancing! Natsu Matsuri” in that it’s more ridiculous, to me Chu! Natsu Matsuri is more accessible, more fun and really more of a summer song. In that way, I’d say it’s almost the definition of a perfect summer song.

2. Natsu no Tobira – Matsuda Seiko

A mini history lesson, for people who don’t know Seiko. Matsuda Seiko was one of, if not the biggest idol in Japan in the 80s. Whereas Yamaguchi Momoe dominated the 70s, Matsuda Seiko dominated the 80s and had a string of #1 hits. She’s considered the “eternal idol” and has been an extremely active singer. While I like a lot of classic idols, Matsuda Seiko’s definitely my favorite; she released a lot of good music, and has a real stage presence to her performances. Even watching videos on Youtube, it’s easy to see how Japan fell in love with her in the 80s and beyond.

Natsu no Tobira is one of her early hits, and, in my opinion, one of her greatest. The steady beat in the background, the strings, and Seiko’s voice all contribute to a truly legendary song. Seiko’s performance is really strongest with the line “suki da yo to itteru no/masaka uso deshou!” where her voice really shines. One of the repeated lines is the rising “Fresh! Fresh! Fresh!” and that’s really how this song makes you feel. It’s energetic and exciting, and everything works together to make this a true summer classic.

1. Yeah Meccha Holiday – Matsuura Aya

The first thing that comes to mind, at least for me, when it comes to idols and summer. Yeah! Meccha Holiday is something of a modern classic (though it was released 11 years ago), and has been covered quite a bit, notably on Sashihara Rino’s first single ‘Soredemo Suki da yo.’ The song is basically about being excited for summer, and does it very very well.

Even though it’s been covered before, Matsuura Aya really delivers it well. Even though she has a really excellent voice, she really pulled off these high energy songs with a lot of aplomb. There’s really nothing like the original.

This song both has the lyrics and the energy for a good summer song. It’s upbeat and happy, and exactly what I think of when I think of summer music.