Tokyo Gigs March 2026

MAR 1 BORN CREATIVE: DAI FUJIKURA, JAN BANG, &c. Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre, Ikebukuro Various

MAR 1 SATOKO INOUE PIANO RECITAL: WORKS BY JO KONDO Suntory Hall, Akasaka ¥4,000

MAR 1 SHOJI HANO/KENTARO NAKAO/SHINPEI RUIKE/CAL LYALL Pit Inn, Shinjuku ¥3,500

MAR 1 JIN HARADA/RYUICHI YOSHIDA Bar Isshee, Sendagi ¥500 + tip

MAR 2 SHOKO NUMAO, KOTA YAMAUCHI, NATSUKO HARA Shichoshitsu, Jimbocho ¥3,000

MAR 3 KAFKA'S IBIKI IN THE POKETTO Cotton Club, Marunouchi ¥6,000-¥8,500

MAR 3 LUCA DELPHI/HIROKI CHIBA/KOTA YAMAUCHI/YATCHI Haremame, Daikanyama ¥4,800

MAR 4 ALEX VENTLING WAVEMAKERS, &c. Haremame, Daikanyama ¥4,000

MAR 4 SHALLOW LEVÉE, TOCAGO Aoyama Moonromantic ¥4,500

MAR 4 MASAHIKO OKURA/MITSUHISA SAKAGUCHI, KO ISHIKAWA, &c. Shichoshitsu, Jimbocho ¥3,000

MAR 4 ANGEL NUMBER, D+O, KAZUMICHI KOMATSU, RY0N4, &c. Forestlimit, Hatagaya ¥2,800

MAR 4-5 FERGUS MCREADIE TRIO Cotton Club, Marunouchi ¥7,700-¥10,500

MAR 5 KAZUO IMAI/TSUTOMU TODO Bar Isshee, Sendagi ¥500 + tip

MAR 5 SHINTARO YOSHINO/KENTO YAMAZAKI/YUYA KANI/NUJOT OMEN Bush Bash, Koiwa ¥1,500

MAR 6 JUNJI HIROSE/YASUHIRO YOSHIGAKI/MITSURU NASUNO/&c. Pit Inn, Shinjuku ¥3,300

MAR 6 MIKI NAOE/AYANE SATO/MISAKI MOTOFUJI/&c. Bar Isshee, Sendagi ¥500 + tip

MAR 6 ROB NOYES, BLAP, MAK!KO, CHARLIE ABBOTT Knock, Koenji ¥1,000

MAR 6 PARANOID LONDON (LIVE), DAVE HARVEY, SISI, &c. Womb, Shibuya ¥3,000

MAR 6 BED, TEI TEI, SNAKE CHICKEN SOUP, JPBS, &c. Club Asia, Shibuya ¥4,000

MAR 6-9 PINO PALLADINO/BLAKE MILLS/CHRIS DAVE/&c. Blue Note Tokyo, Minami-Aoyama ¥12,800

MAR 7 MANI NEUMEIER/KAZUHIDE YAMAJI/MITSURU TABATA UFO Club, Higashi-Koenji ¥3,500

MAR 7 GTO TRIO Pit Inn, Shinjuku ¥7,700

MAR 7 LUFT (GUSTAFSSON/KERAVEC)/OTOMO YOSHIHIDE Polaris, Minami-Aoyama ¥5,000

MAR 7 YOLZ IN THE SKY, LOLOET, ZUREGOPPA, &c. Kagurane, Kagurazaka ¥2,500

MAR 8 ARTURO LANZ, PAINJERK, RADIO ENSEMBLES AIIDA, &c. Soup, Ochiai ¥3,000

MAR 8 BLACK BOBOI, LAUSBUB, COMPUMA (DJ) Aoyama Moonromantic ¥4,500

MAR 9 MONETOCHKA Spotify O-East, Shibuya ¥14,500

MAR 9 OTOMO YOSHIHIDE SPECIAL BIG BAND Pit Inn, Shinjuku ¥6,600

MAR 10 FROST CHILDREN Space Odd, Daikanyama ¥7,000

MAR 11 ANTONIO LOUREIRO WWW, Shibuya ¥6,000/¥6,500

MAR 11 OTOMO YOSHIHIDE (SOLO) Polaris, Minami-Aoyama ¥3,800

MAR 12 KIM OKI LUV LUV, NRQ Aoyama Moonromantic ¥4,500

MAR 12 SHOJI HANO/CHU MAKINO Bar Isshee, Sendagi ¥500 + tip

MAR 12-16 ROBERT GLASPER PIANO TRIO Blue Note Tokyo, Minami-Aoyama ¥14,000

MAR 13 ODISSEE & GOOD COMPNY, DJ MURO Unit, Daikanyama ¥6,000

MAR 13 WAGANE NDIAYE ROSE/OMAR GAINDEFALL/FALLOU SECK/&c. Pit Inn, Shinjuku ¥4,400

MAR 13 DJ NOBU (ALL NIGHT), YAMARCHY, AKIE, &c. Womb, Shibuya ¥3,000

MAR 13 E.O.U, NEW KINGIN, COUNTRY TAMURA, &c. Forestlimit, Hatagaya ¥2,000 (night)

MAR 14 NAIR MIRABRAT, &c. Hako Gallery, Yoyogi-Uehara ¥4,000 (afternoon)

MAR 15 GLIXEN Nine Spices, Shinjuku ¥7,000

MAR 15 JOHN CARROLL KIRBY Billboard Live, Roppongi ¥8,400-¥12,000

MAR 15 TENKO/PIKA/TATSUYA YOSHIDA/KENTARO NAKAO/&c. Club Goodman, Akihabara ¥4,500

MAR 15 MEDARD ZEMAN, CHIHO OKA, L?K?O (DJ), &c. Forestlimit, Hatagaya ¥2,000

MAR 15 FRIDAY NIGHT PLANS, TAMANARAMEN Wall&Wall, Omotesando ¥4,800

MAR 15 BETCOVER!!, EIKO ISHIBASHI Liquidroom, Ebisu ¥5,500

MAR 16 GLIXEN, &c. Fever, Shindaita ¥7,000

MAR 16 ACID MOTHERS GURU GURU UFO Club, Higashi-Koenji ¥3,500

MAR 16 SILKE EBERHARD/NIKOLAUS NEUSER/TAKASHI SEO/&c. Shichoshitsu, Jimbocho ¥3,500

MAR 17 JAMES K, ULTRAFOG, DOVE WWW, Shibuya ¥4,000

MAR 17-18 SAM GREENFIELD Blue Note Tokyo, Minami-Aoyama ¥8,800

MAR 18 KAZUTOKI UMEZU/FUMIO ITABASHI/NOBUYOSHI INO Pit Inn, Shinjuku ¥4,400

MAR 18 TAKAHIRO ARAI/U-ZHAAN Haremame, Daikanyama ¥4,000

MAR 19 KAZUTOKI UMEZU/RYUICHI YOSHIDA/IPPEI KATO/&c. Pit Inn, Shinjuku ¥4,400

MAR 19 AUDREY DANZA, KAYTV (LIVE), BAPTISTE SCHALLER, &c. Wall&Wall, Omotesando ¥3,000 (night)

MAR 20 HYPER GAL, UQUWA Nanahari, Hatchobori ¥3,000

MAR 20 MICHIYO + (M)ORPH, YUMI IWAKI, WATASINO, &c. Polaris, Minami-Aoyama ¥3,000

MAR 20 MANABU SUZUKI/MASAYO KOKETSU/KIRSTEN CAREY Bar Isshee, Sendagi ¥500 + tip

MAR 20 DANGERTOWN (HANS TAMMEN/DAFNA NAPHTALI), KEN IKEDA, &c. Knock, Koenji ¥2,000

MAR 20 ROKAPENIS/INNER SCIENCE Kagurane, Kagurazaka ¥2,500

MAR 21 SUDA SEISHU, KISHUN, KATSUYA NONAKA Ryogoku Monten Hall ¥4,500

MAR 21 TAEKO KURITA/KEIGO IWAMI/AKIRA SOTOYAMA Pit Inn, Shinjuku ¥2,500 (afternoon)

MAR 21 KOJI SHISHIDO/SEIICHI YAMAMOTO/YUKI KANEKO UFO Club, Higashi-Koenji ¥3,500

MAR 21 TARAH KIKUCHI W/ STRANGE BEDFELLOWS, JON NO SON, &c. Pool, Sakuradai ¥2,500

MAR 21 KOMATCHA KLEZMER Pit Inn, Shinjuku ¥4,400

MAR 21 MANABU SUZUKI/T.MIKAWA Bar Isshee, Sendagi ¥500 + tip

MAR 21 S280F, VVXXII, SAWA, PRARN, &c. Forestlimit, Hatagaya ¥2,800 (night)

MAR 21-23 LISA LOEB Blue Note Tokyo, Minami-Aoyama ¥9,900

MAR 22 SETAGAYA TRIO Pit Inn, Shinjuku ¥2,500 (afternoon)

MAR 22 CHROME HILL DUO + DŌJŌ Polaris, Minami-Aoyama ¥4,000

MAR 22 DANNY JIN, FLESH ON STAGE, WORST PARTY EVER, &c. Koenji High ¥3,000

MAR 22 ANYO, LOOLOWNINGEN & THE FAR EAST IDIOTS Forestlimit, Hatagaya ¥3,000

MAR 22 OKBOY & DOGWOODS, FOODMAN, OYASUMI HOLOGRAM, FELINE (DJ), &c. Drift, Asagaya ¥4,000

MAR 22 MANABU SUZUKI/SHIZUO UCHIDA Bar Isshee, Sendagi ¥500 + tip

MAR 22 MORERU, MIZUIRONO_INU, BBBBBBB, KAN MIKAMI, &c. WWW X, Shibuya ¥4,000

MAR 23 TODD RUNDGREN NHK Hall, Shibuya ¥14,800-¥19,800

MAR 23 YANG YI-WEI/YASUMUNE MORISHIGE/CAL LYALL Nanahari, Hatchobori ¥2,500

MAR 23 FERNANDO KABUSACKI/YUJI KATSUI/MANABU SAKATA/&c. Polaris, Minami-Aoyama ¥4,000

MAR 24 FERNANDO KABUSACKI/YUJI KATSUI/TAVITO NANAO Polaris, Minami-Aoyama ¥4,000

MAR 25 TOE, DAICHI YAMAMOTO Spotify O-East, Shibuya ¥6,000

MAR 25 TEXAS 3000, DJ BOTSU AKA NGS WWW, Shibuya ¥3,000

MAR 25 ACIDCLANK, GLANS, BYORA, MICHIKA (DJ) Fever, Shindaita ¥3,000

MAR 25 NAIR MIRABRAT, KEIJI YAMABE (DJ) Haremame, Daikanyama ¥5,000

MAR 26 YI-WEI YANG/BRIAN CHU/YUMA TAKESHITA/&c. Bar Isshee, Sendagi ¥500 + tip

MAR 26 HIKO/DJ MEMAI, TETUZI AKIYAMA/KYOSUKE TERADA, &c. Forestlimit, Hatagaya ¥2,000

MAR 27 CRUYFF, THE HATCH, AMANE UYAMA, LE MAKEUP, &c. WWW, Shibuya ¥3,500

MAR 28 AKIRA SAKATA/NANA OMORI/MANABU SAKATA Pit Inn, Shinjuku ¥5,500

MAR 28 FERNANDO KABUSACKI Bar Isshee, Sendagi ¥500 + tip

MAR 28 RPR SOUNDSYSTEM (RHADOO/PETRE INSPIRESCU/RARESH), &c. Liquidroom, Ebisu ¥6,500

MAR 28 CAMPANELLA W/ SHOBBIECONZ, &c. Spotify O-East, Shibuya ¥4,800 (night)

MAR 29 KOTO TANAKA (BAND SET), EIKO ISHIBASHI Kata, Ebisu ¥3,800

MAR 29 FERNANDO KABUSACKI/YUJI KATSUI/&c. Polaris, Minami-Aoyama ¥4,000

MAR 30 MANI NEUMEIER/RISA TAKEDA Bar Isshee, Sendagi ¥500 + tip

MAR 31 TAEKO ONUKI & YAMAGEN Billboard Live, Roppongi ¥8,600-¥11,300

MAR 31 JUN TOGAWA Tokyo Kinema Club, Uguisudani ¥6,500

MAR 31 NATION OF LANGUAGE Space Odd, Daikanyama ¥8,800

All prices are for advance tickets, unless otherwise noted. Schedules are liable to change at short notice.

Tokyo Gigs April 2026

APR 1 PUMA BLUE Zepp Shinjuku ¥7,800

APR 2 ONEOHTRIX POINT NEVER Zepp Divercity, Odaiba ¥8,800

APR 2 MECHATOK, &c. WWW X, Shibuya ¥TBC

APR 2 DILLINGER FOUR, BABY LITTLE TABLETS, GAME & CHIPS, &c. Fever, Shindaita ¥7,500

APR 2 RIKI HIDAKA/TAKASHI MASUBUCHI Polaris, Minami-Aoyama ¥3,500

APR 2-4 ISAIAH COLLIER Cotton Club, Marunouchi ¥7,700-¥10,500

APR 3 SCUMPUTER, ORDER, PILEDRIVER, FORWARD, &c. Earthdom, Shin-Okubo ¥3,000

APR 3 KEIJI HAINO, YASUMUNE MORISHIGE Nanahari, Hatchobori ¥3,500

APR 4 ESPLENDOR GEOMETRICO, K2, YUKO ARAKI/JACKSON KAKI UFO Club, Higashi-Koenji ¥4,500

APR 4 YASUAKI SHIMIZU/CARL STONE Jofukuji, Sagamihara ¥3,000

APR 4 HIYAMUTA KEI BAND, PRAHA DEPART Spread, Shimokitazawa ¥3,500

APR 4 DAPHNI, HUNEE, MASALO (LIVE), &c. Womb, Shibuya ¥4,000

APR 5 THE JOHN OTWAY BAND Koenji High ¥6,800

APR 5-6 THE MOUNTAIN GOATS Blue Note Tokyo, Minami-Aoyama ¥8,800

APR 6 FOLK BITCH TRIO WWW, Shibuya ¥7,000

APR 7 THE WANNADIES, LOVELY SUMMER CHAN Club Quattro, Shibuya ¥9,500

APR 9 STELLA DONNELLY Duo Music Exchange, Shibuya ¥6,800

APR 10 MAYHEM Spotify O-East, Shibuya ¥9,800

APR 10 DADDY G, DON LETTS Liquidroom, Ebisu ¥6,500 (night)

APR 13 HONG KONG FUCK YOU, ABIGAIL, MERZBOW, &c. Earthdom, Shin-Okubo ¥5,000

APR 13 OTOBOKE BEAVER Spotify O-East, Shibuya ¥4,000

APR 15 HEART TO GOLD, HAIKI Spread, Shimokitazawa ¥5,000

APR 15 MÚM Club Quattro, Shibuya ¥8,500

APR 16 FOUR TET Toyosu Pit ¥8,800

APR 17-18 THOMAS STRØNEN'S TIME IS A BLIND GUIDE Akagi Shrine, Kagurazaka ¥6,000

APR 19 CHRISTOVEN TAN/MASAHIRO TOBITA/REONA Polaris, Minami-Aoyama ¥3,000 (afternoon)

APR 19 HEART TO GOLD, HAIKI Nine Spices, Shinjuku ¥5,000

APR 20 EDDIE VEDDER Tokyo Garden Theater, Ariake ¥16,000/¥19,000

APR 23 INCAPACITANTS/MASATAKA FUJIKAKE/JUNJI HIROSE, KIRIHITO, &c. Showboat, Koenji ¥3,000

APR 24 SHAME Club Quattro, Shibuya ¥7,500

APR 26 SENSELESS APOCALYPSE, ANATOMIA, NEPENTHES, COFFINS, &c. Bush Bash, Koiwa ¥2,500

APR 27 NAPALM DEATH, MERZBOW, GROWL THE CLOWN Club Quattro, Shibuya ¥9,800

APR 29 ARNY MARGARET, ÅLBORG Three, Shimokitazawa ¥5,500

APR 29 NAPALM DEATH, THIRSTY, 0.001DAY Earthdom, Shin-Okubo ¥8,500

All prices are for advance tickets, unless otherwise noted. Schedules are liable to change at short notice.

Tokyo Gigs May 2026

MAY 1 AIRWAY, HIJOKAIDAN, JON NO SON UFO Club, Higashi-Koenji ¥4,000

MAY 1-2 KRAFTWERK SGC Hall Ariake ¥19,000/¥20,000

MAY 3 KEIJI HAINO Showboat, Koenji ¥5,000

MAY 3 DISSECTING TABLE, K2/JOHN WIESE, T.MIKAWA, &c. Earthdom, Shin-Okubo ¥3,000

MAY 4 DURAN, BORIS Fever, Shindaita ¥5,000

MAY 5 SPARKS, CORNELIUS SGC Hall Ariake ¥11,000-¥16,000

MAY 6 SPARKS Duo Music Exchange, Shibuya ¥12,000

MAY 7 HOT MULLIGAN Nine Spices, Shinjuku ¥7,500

MAY 9 TAKURO OKADA (BAND SET), MAYA ONGAKU, BUDAMUNK, &c. Unit, Daikanyama ¥5,000

MAY 9 HOT MULLIGAN WWW X, Shibuya ¥7,500

MAY 10 SYMPHONIC METAMORPHOSES Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre, Ikebukuro ¥9,000-¥17,000

MAY 10 HOT MULLIGAN Fever, Shindaita ¥7,500

MAY 11 BATHS WWW, Shibuya ¥5,500

MAY 12 YUMA ABE, KOHEI KAMOTO, KUO WWW, Shibuya ¥5,500

MAY 18 DEFTONES Tokyo Garden Theater, Ariake ¥14,000-¥17,500

MAY 19-20 THUNDERCAT Toyosu Pit ¥9,000

MAY 20 ALFA MIST WWW X, Shibuya ¥10,500

MAY 20 HENNING SCHMIEDT WWW, Shibuya ¥6,500

MAY 23 HIATUS KAIYOTE, SNARKY PUPPY SGC Hall Ariake ¥9,800-¥14,000

MAY 24 WU-TANG CLAN: THE FINAL CHAMBER K Arena, Yokohama ¥15,000-¥28,000

MAY 26 EGBERTO GISMONTI/DANIEL MURRAY Sakura Hall, Shibuya ¥10,000

MAY 30 SPIKE SHOES, PALM, KAMOMEKAMOME, STORM OF VOID Fever, Shindaita ¥4,000

All prices are for advance tickets, unless otherwise noted. Schedules are liable to change at short notice.

Tokyo Gigs June 2026

JUN 3 J.I.D Ebisu Garden Hall ¥9,000

JUN 4 TORTOISE Zepp Shinjuku ¥9,500

JUN 5 TORTOISE Kanda Square Hall ¥9,500

JUN 9 THE BETA BAND Liquidroom, Ebisu ¥8,800

JUN 9 SHINTARO SAKAMOTO Hitomi Memorial Hall, Sangenjaya ¥6,000

JUN 12 HOT WATER MUSIC Fever, Shindaita ¥8,500

JUN 12 HOT WATER MUSIC Fever, Shindaita ¥8,500

JUN 18 INO HIDEFUMI PLAYS 'SATISFACTION' Liquidroom, Ebisu ¥5,500

All prices are for advance tickets, unless otherwise noted. Schedules are liable to change at short notice.

Tokyo Gigs July 2026

JUL 2 STEREOLAB EX Theater Roppongi ¥9,800/¥12,000

JUL 4 MAYA ONGAKU Liquidroom, Ebisu ¥5,000

All prices are for advance tickets, unless otherwise noted. Schedules are liable to change at short notice.

Tokyo Gigs September 2026

SEP 24 BELLE & SEBASTIAN: 'TIGERMILK' Kanadevia Hall, Suidobashi ¥9,800/¥12,000

SEP 25 BELLE & SEBASTIAN: 'IF YOU'RE FEELING SINISTER' Kanadevia Hall, Suidobashi ¥9,800/¥12,000

All prices are for advance tickets, unless otherwise noted. Schedules are liable to change at short notice.

Tokyo Gigs November 2026

NOV 4 THE MASTER MUSICIANS OF JOUJOUKA WWW X, Shibuya ¥22,000

NOV 23 WOLF ALICE Toyosu Pit ¥9,900

NOV 24-25 IRON MAIDEN K Arena, Yokohama ¥15,000-¥30,000

All prices are for advance tickets, unless otherwise noted. Schedules are liable to change at short notice.

New (and old) music from Japan – 2025 addendum

A few more notable releases from the year gone by

While I didn’t feel much appetite for putting together a 2025 albums of the year list (I already compile a few for different publications and end up feeling dissatisfied with all of them), there were a bunch of releases that kept nagging at me to at least acknowledge their existence in writing. The attention economy means that a lot of music seems to disappear from view almost as soon as it’s been released, a victim of our appetite for newness. So let me just take stock of a few more worthwhile albums (and one single) from 2025, some of which didn’t get nearly the attention they deserved.

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

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 both just dropped theirs – so what better time to publish an article I started working on back in, er, August? No idea why this took so long to come together, though the usual feeble excuses (work, travel, inertia) apply. Over the past week, I’ve found a bunch more releases I want to write about, so there may be more to come before the year is out.

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

Notable new Japanese releases and reissues

This might be a return to regular programming, but no promises. Things have been quiet on the work front recently, which has given me more time to sift through my Bandcamp pile and ferret out the good stuff. Here are some of the releases and reissues from the first three months of the year (plus one straggler from 2024) that have grabbed me. I should note that some of these snuck up on me gradually, rather than revealing all their charms on first listen. An album as subtle and intelligently crafted as Eiko Ishibashi’s Antigone wasn’t designed for the streaming era, which is all the more reason to cherish it.

Notable Japanese releases from 2024

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 listening to as much Japanese music as I had done in the previous few years. Still, it felt remiss not to acknowledge a few of the highlights of a year that, by most objective measures, was pretty wretched. I’m grateful to the handful of people who gave me a much-needed nudge to write this, and also to my friend Ian F. Martin for showing how it should be done with his defiantly unpunctual zine, Last Year’s Music. (I’d post a link, but I’m afraid you’ll have to seek out a physical copy.)