Meaning of “Lost in Japan” by Shawn Mendes

“Lost in Japan” is a single by Canadian singer Shawn Mendes. This track, which was released in 2018, finds Mendes eager and willing to travel hundreds of miles to be with his love interest. Mendes misses this woman so much that he’s ready to travel across seas to be with her in Japan. Such is the power of the feelings he has for her!

“I’m a couple hundred miles from Japan
And I was thinking I could fly to your hotel tonight”

How the song was born

Speaking to Billboard magazine in 2018, Mendes revealed that the song was inspired by a dream he had one night. According to him, in this dream, he found himself lost in a country. He woke up from the dream the following day and began creating the song.

Here are the exact words Mendes said to Billboard regarding the birth of “Lost in Japan”:

Facts about “Lost in Japan”

• “Lost in Japan” was penned by four songwriters, including Shawn Mendes. The others are: Teddy Geiger, Nate Mercereau and Scott Harris. Songwriter Teddy Geiger also co-wrote Mendes’ hit single “In My Blood“. It is important to mention that Geiger also played the drums on this track.
• American record producer Louis Bell produced the track with three of the song’s co-writers (Mendes, Geiger and Mercereau).
• “Lost in Japan” formally came out on March 23, 2018. It was released as the second single from Mendes’ self-titled third studio album.
• The track was released roughly 24 hours after its predecessor “In My Blood”.
• The artwork of this single pays tribute to Japan. How does it do that? The flower at the bottom left hand corner of the cover is a cherry blossom. The cherry blossom is the national flower of the nation of Japan.
  

  The flower at the lower left hand corner of the picture is called the cherry blossom. It is what the Japanese people’s national flower.

• The song’s beat was inspired by the works of Justin Timberlake. According to Mendes, he listened to a lot of Timberlake during the creation of the track. He revealed this in his interview with Billboard.
• Mendes’ didn’t use the song’s title in the lyrics. However, “Japan” appears three times in the words of the song.
• On the UK Singles Chart, “Lost in Japan” climbed to number 30. It reached number 64 on the US Billboard Hot 100.

Who sings the background vocals on “Lost in Japan”?

The background vocals were sung by both Mendes and Geiger (who co-wrote the song).

Are there any remixes of this track?

Yes. Since the track was dropped in March 2018, there have been a number of remixes. However, the official remix was done by German DJ/music producer Zedd. That remix came out in September 2018. Below is the lyric video of Zedd’s remix of the track:

What musical genre is “Lost in Japan”?

The tune can be grouped in genres such as R&B, funk and pop.