Hitomi Shimatani is definitely one of the best when it comes to high quality traditional and experimental J-pop. Here is an overview of the albums she has released. The albums are listed in the order they were released.

 
PAPILLON (2001)
Shimatani’s debut album. It contained her hit breakthrough single papillon (a cover of the Janet Jackson song Doesn’t Really Matter) as well as the Latin inspired Ichiba ni Ikou. A majority of the songs on this album have a ethnic flavor to them but still have that tinge of J-pop in them. Osaka no Onna, her debut single, was not included on the album because it was an enka song. However, her debut ‘pop’ single Kaihouku was included but heavily remixed.

Shanty (2002)
Released a year after PAPILLON, this studio album is her most commerically successful and her only album to reach the #1 spot on Oricon. This is most likely due to the huge popularity of her single Amairo no Kami no Otome (a cover of a Village Singers song), which was released a month prior to this album. This album contains her most ‘mainstream’ works and Shimatani was at the height of her popularity at the time, which lead to the album’s large sales.

Poinsettia ~Amairo Winter Memories~ (2002)
A winter themed mini-album released about 6 months after Shanty. This mini-album contained only 1 single, Itsu no Hi ni ka…, plus a new ‘winter acapella’ version of Amairo no Kami no Otome. This has been the only mini-album she has released to date.

GATE ~scena III~ (2003)
Shimatani’s 3rd studio album and also her most Latin inspired. Almost every song on this album has a Latin flavor to it except for the dance track Perseus, the light-hearted pop song Genki wo Dashite (a cover of a Mariya Takeuchi song), and an enhanced version of Itsu no Hi ni ka… (which was previously on her mini-album).

Delicious! ~The Best of Hitomi Shimatani~ (2003)
Shimatani’s first best-of album and currently her highest selling album (even though it reached #2 on Oricon). The best-of album features the original versions of all the singles she previously released except for Osaka no Onna which was left out. The bonus track on the best-of is Kachoufuuei -Song For Everybody-, a song that has several references to her famous past works including papillon, Amairo no Kami no Otome, and Genki wo Dashite.

Tsuioku+LOVE LETTER (2004)
Shimatani’s 4th studio album. This is her most pop inspired album to date and it contains ANGELUS, her most well-known song amongst overseas J-pop fans because it was used in the popular anime Inuyasha. Other singles off the album include Viola, Jewel of Kiss, and a slightly remixed version of YUME Biyori, a song used in the popular Doraemon children’s cartoons.

crossover (2005)
A special concept album that showcased a brand new style in Shimatani’s music known as ‘crossover’, which combines epic orchestral arrangements and modern dance beats. This 10 track album featured 5 new songs while the rest were new ‘crossover’ versions of past songs, the most notable ones being Garnet Moon and Perseus.

Heart & Symphony (2005)
Shimatani’s 5th studio album and arguably her best album amongst overseas fans. The ‘crossover’ style is heard in almost every song and Shimatani dives into even more genres of world music. This is evident in the Arabian inspired Falco and in the gothic European organs of ~Mermaid~.

PRIMA ROSA (2007)
Shimtani’s latest album which was released this year. This album is a mish-mash of all the previous styles of music of her past works ranging from Latin pop, crossover, and traditional J-pop. The album also contains Dragonfly, a song that shows off a completely new sound from her: garage rock. Unfortunately, this is also her lowest selling album to date.