While 2016 kicked off for most of the music world with David Bowie tricking hundreds of thousands of people into buying a jazz-prog concept album about death, the message from the heart of J-pop was loud and clear: "DO NOT WORRY, NOTHING WILL EVER CHANGE."
Everyone's favorite evil empire, Johnny & Associates, underlined this by staging a sort of hostage-video production where a confused and frightened looking SMAP promised not to split up, much to the relief of all of us on The Japan Times music page.
Thankfully reassured that broadcasts of "Bistro SMAP" will not be interrupted, the big news out of Japan that should be getting everyone excited right now is that avant-garde garage-punk duo Afrirampo is reforming for a March tour, with dates taking in its hometown of Osaka and shows in Nagoya, Tokyo and Fukuoka.