It might still be too early to understand the effect of March 11's Great East Japan Earthquake on musicians living in the stricken Tohoku region, but as lives get back to normal artists will no doubt find ways to express themselves.
Singer-songwriter Koji Ishikawa's home and studio in central Sendai were not hit by the devastating tsunami, but he says he lost electricity for two days and the gas was not back on for a month after. Several days after the disasters, he drove to the coastal area of Sendai and saw piles of overturned cars and ships.
"I have never seen such a scene. It was hellish," 33-year-old Ishikawa says. "As a musician, I thought that I wouldn't be able to play music again in this location after seeing such destruction."