"I don't really listen to punk or know too much about what constitutes Japanese punk," declares Mariko Goto. "That said, if we're going to categorize ourselves, I'd say we're a punk band. But the sort of punk we make is nostalgic and lonely. It's like a four-tatami room with just one door and one window; a very old, small, seedy apartment. And there's a bald, old guy sitting in there alone, screaming and screaming. That's punk to me."

It's safe to say that Goto, vocalist and guitarist with Tokyo four-piece Midori, is no shrinking violet. She's more the sort of woman you should greet wearing a construction helmet and groin box, with a pair of ear defenders ready for when her band gets on stage. If ferocious jazz-punk is your thing, look no further. If it's not, well, it will be after you've seen Midori.

If Goto's not beating seven shades out of an unwary audience member, she's scaling a speaker stack or crawling over heads in the crowd, the short skirt of her serafuku school uniform flapping about to display her knickers for all to see. Hajime Kato, meanwhile, is crashing blue violence out of his keyboard, Keigo Iwami (not present for the interview) is walloping his double bass and Yoshitaka Kozeni is beating a hard, controlled rhythm from his drum kit.