The year 2011 in Japan was undoubtedly defined by the triple disasters of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, and the subsequent nuclear crisis. The impact of those catastrophes was also felt across the entire entertainment world. The industry pretty much put itself on hold for the remainder of March and subsequent fundraising efforts were made by everyone from the biggest stars to owners of even the tiniest bars.
One person who had a big impact on Japanese music this year could, however, have just as easily started it off with a minor PR disaster. Had producer Yasutaka Nakata's electro duo named capsule released their latest studio album on schedule in February, it would have been saddled with the title "Killer Wave." In the end, though, he had time to rename it "World of Fantasy," which may have inadvertently tapped into the postquake zeitgeist of Tokyo youth.
While official pronouncements about self-restraint abounded and cherry blossom viewing parties were officially canceled, young people, shaken in more ways than one by the quake, threw themselves into the unrestrained party atmosphere of "World of Fantasy," and lost themselves at Nakata's monthly "Flash" club event in Shibuya.