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New (and old) music from Japan – Winter 2025 edition

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Notable releases I’ve finally got around to writing about We’re deep into Album of the Year review season – The Wire and The Quietus b...

Tokyo Gigs January 2026

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JAN 3 CAPTAIN VINYL, SOICHI TERADA (LIVE), MANAHA, &c. Vent, Omotesando ¥2,500 JAN 4 PET SHOP BOYS, UNDERWORLD, KNEECAP, ...

Tokyo Gigs February 2026

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FEB 1 MEI SEMONES Duo Music Exchange, Shibuya ¥7,800 FEB 1 DAVID BINNEY/LOUIS COLE/PERA KRSTAJIC Cotton Club, Marunouchi ¥8,500/...

Tokyo Gigs March 2026

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MAR 1 SATOKO INOUE PIANO RECITAL: WORKS BY JO KONDO Suntory Hall, Akasaka ¥4,000 MAR 4 ALEX VENTLING WAVEMAKERS, &c. Haremam...

Tokyo Gigs April 2026

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APR 1 PUMA BLUE Zepp Shinjuku ¥7,800 APR 2 ONEOHTRIX POINT NEVER Zepp Divercity, Odaiba ¥8,800 APR 4 DILLINGER FOUR Fever,...

Tokyo Gigs May 2026

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MAY 1-2 KRAFTWERK SGC Hall Ariake ¥19,000/¥20,000 MAY 4 DURAN, BORIS Fever, Shindaita ¥5,000 MAY 5 SPARKS, CORNELIUS SGC Hal...

Tokyo Gigs June 2026

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JUN 3 J.I.D Ebisu Garden Hall ¥9,000 JUN 4 TORTOISE Zepp Shinjuku ¥9,500 JUN 9 THE BETA BAND Liquidroom, Ebisu ¥8,800 ...

New (and old) music from Japan – Spring 2025 edition

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Notable new Japanese releases and reissues This might be a return to regular programming, but no promises. Things have been quiet on the...

Notable Japanese releases from 2024

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Good music from a (mostly) bad year I fell out of the habit of posting album reviews during 2024, partly because I simply wasn’t listeni...

From the archives: Ichiko Aoba, 2016 Japan Times interview

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“I get most of my energy for creating stories from dreams.” Ichiko Aoba, 2016. Photo by James Hadfield Ichiko Aoba takes her seat at an old...

From the archives: Fishmans, 2019 Japan Times interview

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“We were ‘just doing it,’ but ‘just doing it’ takes real single-mindedness” Kin-ichi Motegi of Fishmans, 2019. Photo by James Hadfield In t...