Formed by vocalist Kumi and guitarist Naoki Sato in 1997, Love Psychedelico remains a unique voice in the world of J-Pop. Drawing heavily on music from the 60s and 70s, Kumi’s nuanced mix of Japanese and English vocals help to set the band apart stylistically from other bestsellers. Citing The Beatles,… ...

Yet another J-pop act to emerge from a university music "circle," or club is Hermann H. & and the Pacemakers, whose alma mater is Tokyo’s prestigious Keio University. "Hermann H." is a reference to German writer Hermann Hesse, while "Pacemakers" harkens back to ’60s… ...

The Great 3 are one of those bands which deserve to be much more successful than they are. But despite a wealth of musical talent and a string of fine albums, the band has never really clicked with the Japanese public. One reason is that they haven’t come up with a smash hit single. Another is that they… ...

Fuji Fabric is a classic example of a band whose music is unclassifiable. Their music is all over the map stylistically, with touches of jazz, kayokyoku pop, soul, samba, folk and even disco. Vocalist/guitarist Masahiko Shimura sings soulfully and confidently and is one of Japan’s most promising young… ...

Bassist/DJ Masayuki Nakano and guitarist/singer Michiyuki Kawashima founded Boom Boom Satellites in 1990 while still attending university, taking their name from a Sigue Sigue Sputnik song. The duo’s influences are quite wide, from David Bowie through Kraftwerk, Miles Davis and beyond. Their sound, fleshed… ...

Which Japanese musical act is most popular internationally? Shonen Knife? Pizzicato Five? Puffy? Nope. Although it’s hard to get exact sales figures, odds are it’s veteran keyboardist Kitaro, who has successfully integrated Far Eastern musical themes and modern technology in a series of New Age chart-topping… ...

Plenty of Japanese soul singers cop the look, but few can deliver the smooth grooves as naturally and soulfully as Toshinobu Kubota. Born in Shizuoka, a prefecture better known for green tea and dramatic views of Mt. Fuji that soul singers, Kubota displayed singing talent early in life, winning contests… ...

Frank Chickens, in their own oddball way, managed to become one of the most successful Japanese artists ever on an international scale, but somehow seem to barely rate a footnote in most Japanese music histories. Perhaps they are swept under the carpet because people still don’t know quite to make of… ...

The vehicle of Ai Uchida and Hiroshi Kim, Avant Garde makes music that runs the stylistic gamut – from electronica to ballads to jazzy numbers. The duo was formed in 2000 by keyboardist and composer Kim after he purchased his first synthesizer while still a student at Sophia University. Vocalist and… ...

Along with Tomoyasu Hotei, Char is one of Japan’s few bona fide guitar heroes, and after a long and eventful career he has become firmly ensconced as one of the Japanese music scene’s elder statesmen. Char began taking piano lessons at age 7, but switched to guitar at age 8 after hearing the Ventures,… ...