X Japan is considered one of the founders of visual kei, a movement among Japanese musicians comparable to Western glam, with the name itself believed to have been derived from their slogan "Psychedelic Violence Crime of Visual Shock".
In 2011, Yoshiki briefly described their early years and the movement's development, saying "when we started the band, the problem was we didn’t belong anywhere.
Because we were playing very heavy music, we were wearing tons of make-up and crazy outfits.
So we couldn’t belong anywhere", "[We did our own thing and] that eventually became visual kei."
He added "But visual kei is more like a spirit, it’s not a music style or, you know... I think it is a freedom about describing myself, a freedom to express myself, that’s what I believe visual kei is."
Upon former guitarist hide's death in 1998, less than a year after the band broke up, Billboard's Steve McClure declared it "the end of an era", explaining "X was the first generation of visual kei bands[...] For the next generation of bands, it's like: That's it.
The torch has been passed to us."

Many bands and artists, most related to visual kei, count them as an influence or look up to them, including Miyavi, Dir en grey, Syu and Fumiya of Galneryus, The Gazette, D, Sadie vocalist Mao, Tōru Kawauchi from 12012, Maya of LM.C, Flow, Yuuki from Unsraw, DJ Ozma, Kei of Dio – Distraught Overlord, aie from Deadman, Screw's Jin, and DaizyStripper.
The members of Versailles named X and Luna Sea as influences, with singer Kamijo saying "I think there isn't anyone in the Japanese music business who hasn't been influenced by them."
Likewise, Leda of Galneryus and Deluhi claims he was not even interested in music until a friend played him X Japan and Luna Sea, and also declared X Japan's music his "Bible".
Established musicians Dancho (Nogod), Miya (Mucc), Yuu (Merry), Akane (ex-The Scanty) and Daisuke (Jupiter) occasionally perform in a X Japan cover band called X Suginami.
American musician Marty Friedman called X Japan the biggest band in visual kei and "by far the most versatile musically," and cited them as the reason he got into Japanese rock music.

In We Are X, Gene Simmons claims that if the X Japan members were "born in America or England and sang in English, they might be the biggest band in the world."
Due to band's various misfortunes with the suicide of band members, Toshi's brainwashing and lack of overseas success, X Japan has been described in The Times as: "The world's unluckiest band", in an article published on Friday the 13th October, 2017.
When asked in an interview if the band was unlucky, Yoshiki answered: "Kinda?
I mean, you know, with so much crazy drama that has happened over the years.
But at the same time, we have amazing fans around the world so I can't say 'the world's unluckiest band', but what I can say is 'the world's luckiest band'.
Thanks to our fans."

The group was popular among rebellious youths, who were attracted to, as Asiaweek put it, "the tone of alienation and frustration for which X was revered."
Their music was described by Asiaweek as having "an angry sound that rejected the cookie-cutter principles of Japanese society."
In 1998, Radio and TV host Bryan Burton-Lewis explained "In Japan, the image that we have of the X audience is rural kids going through a rebellion phase.
They put their life into being X fans: they dress like it, they breathe it."
In the documentary Global Metal, Yoshiki stated that the music industry and media hated the band and would not even interview them, "but eventually we sold 20 million albums, so they had no choice".

X Japan has also been named one of the first Japanese acts to achieve mainstream success while on an independent record label.
In 1990, they won the "Grand Prix New Artist of the Year" award at the 4th annual Japan Gold Disc Awards.
HMV Japan ranked the band number 40 on a 2003 list of the 100 most important Japanese pop acts, and in 2010 they came in third in a poll by Oricon on which Japanese bands people want around for future generations.
In 2011, Consequence of Sou
X Japan is considered one of the founders of visual kei, a movement among Japanese musicians comparable to Western glam, with the name itself believed to have been derived from their slogan "Psychedelic Violence Crime of Visual Shock". In 2011, Yoshiki briefly described their early years and the movement's development, saying "when we started the band, the problem was we didn’t belong anywhere. Because we were playing very heavy music, we were wearing tons of make-up and crazy outfits. So we couldn’t belong anywhere", "[We did our own thing and] that eventually became visual kei." He added "But visual kei is more like a spirit, it’s not a music style or, you know... I think it is a freedom about describing myself, a freedom to express myself, that’s what I believe visual kei is." Upon former guitarist hide's death in 1998, less than a year after the band broke up, Billboard's Steve McClure declared it "the end of an era", explaining "X was the first generation of visual kei bands[...] For the next generation of bands, it's like: That's it. The torch has been passed to us."
Many bands and artists, most related to visual kei, count them as an influence or look up to them, including Miyavi, Dir en grey, Syu and Fumiya of Galneryus, The Gazette, D, Sadie vocalist Mao, Tōru Kawauchi from 12012, Maya of LM.C, Flow, Yuuki from Unsraw, DJ Ozma, Kei of Dio – Distraught Overlord, aie from Deadman, Screw's Jin, and DaizyStripper. The members of Versailles named X and Luna Sea as influences, with singer Kamijo saying "I think there isn't anyone in the Japanese music business who hasn't been influenced by them." Likewise, Leda of Galneryus and Deluhi claims he was not even interested in music until a friend played him X Japan and Luna Sea, and also declared X Japan's music his "Bible". Established musicians Dancho (Nogod), Miya (Mucc), Yuu (Merry), Akane (ex-The Scanty) and Daisuke (Jupiter) occasionally perform in a X Japan cover band called X Suginami. American musician Marty Friedman called X Japan the biggest band in visual kei and "by far the most versatile musically," and cited them as the reason he got into Japanese rock music.
In We Are X, Gene Simmons claims that if the X Japan members were "born in America or England and sang in English, they might be the biggest band in the world." Due to band's various misfortunes with the suicide of band members, Toshi's brainwashing and lack of overseas success, X Japan has been described in The Times as: "The world's unluckiest band", in an article published on Friday the 13th October, 2017. When asked in an interview if the band was unlucky, Yoshiki answered: "Kinda? I mean, you know, with so much crazy drama that has happened over the years. But at the same time, we have amazing fans around the world so I can't say 'the world's unluckiest band', but what I can say is 'the world's luckiest band'. Thanks to our fans."
The group was popular among rebellious youths, who were attracted to, as Asiaweek put it, "the tone of alienation and frustration for which X was revered." Their music was described by Asiaweek as having "an angry sound that rejected the cookie-cutter principles of Japanese society." In 1998, Radio and TV host Bryan Burton-Lewis explained "In Japan, the image that we have of the X audience is rural kids going through a rebellion phase. They put their life into being X fans: they dress like it, they breathe it." In the documentary Global Metal, Yoshiki stated that the music industry and media hated the band and would not even interview them, "but eventually we sold 20 million albums, so they had no choice".
X Japan has also been named one of the first Japanese acts to achieve mainstream success while on an independent record label. In 1990, they won the "Grand Prix New Artist of the Year" award at the 4th annual Japan Gold Disc Awards. HMV Japan ranked the band number 40 on a 2003 list of the 100 most important Japanese pop acts, and in 2010 they came in third in a poll by Oricon on which Japanese bands people want around for future generations. In 2011, Consequence of Sou
X Japan