A crowd much smaller than solo-guitarist Miyavi is accustomed to has gathered to hear an intimate set at the 2.5D studio in Shibuya's Parco Part 1 building. About a third of the 80 or so people have gathered around the stage so close that they can almost touch the artist. They don't try, of course, but it still causes Miyavi to mention how unusual the situation is.

The rest of the guests, which includes many music executives, hang back. An even larger crowd, topping 10,000 over the course of the evening, watches the whole thing live online. It's a big night for Kenjiro Harigai, the man behind "social TV station" 2.5D. The event is celebrating the launch of MTV 81, an all-English website that hopes to introduce Japanese music to fans overseas. The team at 2.5D are in charge of curation for the site, as well as its overall look.

"MTV covers the mainstream and deals with major record labels. We at 2.5D have a good idea of the core parts of current Japanese youth culture, the stuff that's more street level," Harigai tells The Japan Times a week later at a cafe in Parco. "By combining the two sides, we can present a balanced view of current Japanese pop culture."