He recorded the Vapors live to capture the energy of the band, before stripping it down to just the drums, and then overdubbed the song.

[4] The band suspected they would score a hit with "Turning Japanese", even delaying its release in order to make it their second single, hoping to avoid becoming "one-hit wonders".

[citation needed] A cover of the song was also featured on America singer-songwriter Liz Phair's 1995 EP Juvenilia.

[citation needed] The song was featured on the soundtrack of the 1997 movie Beverly Hills Ninja covered by the band The Hazies.

[9] Kirsten Dunst recorded a cover, with an accompanying video filmed and directed by McG and produced by Takashi Murakami in Tokyo in August 2009.

[10] On the Canadian sketch comedy series Second City Television, Rick Moranis performed a lounge-style version of the song as the character Tom Monroe.