The most compelling, expressive and soulful instrument of all is the human voice. Outside the world of Western music, there are many vocalists who have the ability to capture a certain indefinable sense of yearning. Voices with a fiery beauty and explosive power; intimate, haunting, ageless, mysterious. Some of the best known are West Africa's Salif Keita and Youssou N'Dour, or from Pakistan the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, but there are several other lesser-known names from around the world.

So, who could possibly be Japan's representative in such illustrious company?

Step forward Takio Ito.