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If you are away from Japan, planning a holiday or even just reminiscing about previous trips, these music podcasts (and a Tokyo-based net radio station) will get you in the mood. This selection…
By Kim Kahan
We’re bringing back our monthly music roundups showcasing the best new songs and albums from Japan. Our review of albums in April includes the likes of Eiko Ishibashi, who wrote the accomplished…
We’re bringing back our monthly music roundups showcasing the best new songs and albums from Japan. We listened to many, selecting a range of styles from techno through to psychedelic rock. As…
Berlin techno is found in the dark cavernous halls of the legendary nightclub, Berghain, played by DJs such as Marcel Dettmann and Ben Klock. It has a punchy, heavy-hitting industrial sound, characterized…
With her bright eyes, pastel-colored headscarves and distinct singing voice, Ran Widya (known as simply Rainych online) is easily one of the most recognizable YouTube artists. A well-known figure when it comes…
By Samantha Low
Since the 1950s, Japanese singers and songwriters have inserted random English words into their tracks to give them a Westernized feel and appeal to the masses. The tables have recently turned, however,…
On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 a pandemic, leading many lifestyles to be overturned. Unlike several countries, Japan didn’t impose strict lockdowns on its citizens. However, it did declare several…
One of the brightest and most forthright musicians in Japan, Akiko Urasaki isn’t afraid to tell it like it is. And that’s exactly what the Okinawan rapper does on her new album…
By Matthew Hernon
Tokyo Weekender and More Than Music (MTM) collaborate in a monthly interview series with the diverse musical performers on the Tokyo music scene. For this interview, we caught up with Zuma (stylized as Zuma.) and…
By Lyn Tsuchiya
Tokyo Weekender and More Than Music collaborate in a monthly interview series with the diverse musical performers on the Tokyo music scene. For the first interview, we caught up with Robert Taira Wilson…
Japanese music fans, particularly those into post-rock, are sure to have heard of the band Mono (stylized as MONO). The Tokyo-based band led by guitarist and composer Takaakira “Taka” Goto formed in 1999. More…
By Cole Lubchenko
Head to a dance club after midnight in Tokyo or any big city in Japan and you may well be greeted by a bubblegum voice with bright pop visuals crooning over a…
On this day in 1989, Hibari Misora held her final concert. The castle town of Kokura in Kitakyushu was the location for the show, which was supposed to be the start of a…
Hip-hop has been popular in Japan since the early ’90s. Since then, homegrown Japanese artists have been creating their own genre of hip-hop incorporating syncopated American beats with Japanese lyrics. Although Black American…
By Jamila Brown
Who is best placed to advise on up-and-coming artists? Artists themselves of course. We asked five established music scene mainstays to select their top picks for the coming year. That includes experimental musician…
With all the misery and insecurity in the world caused primarily by the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s hard not to despair at times. And many have turned to art and especially music to…
By Aidan Ross
I’m an unapologetic record collector living in one of the best places on the planet for vinyl lovers: Tokyo. For the past several years, I’ve hunted for records throughout the Kanto region,…
By Taylor Mignon
Following the success of his critically acclaimed short music film Sound of Vladivostok, Marios Joannou Elia was asked to create something similar for a city that reigned as the capital of Japan…
