As your Music Nomad is wandering back to the U.K., this will be my last column. Thanks for taking the trouble to read it over the years; hopefully some of you have enjoyed seeing the concerts recommended.
For those, like me, with an interest in what's termed "world music," Japan is a fairly happy hunting ground. But what it lacks is a good festival dedicated to a wide variety of world music.
Local politics between self-appointed "experts" put paid to the groundwork done by the WOMAD organization, which cut its losses a few years back. The few world music promoters Japan does have do a truly fine job (respect due in particular to Plankton and Conversation) in developing the careers of artists here. However, the constraints of the market have limited the opportunities for some equally deserving musicians who have yet to visit Japan; record companies, too, are increasingly unlikely to take a risk on an artist without a track record.