Despite its far westerly location (being closer to Seoul than it is to Tokyo), the Kyushu city of Fukuoka has for a long time been one of the musical powerhouses of Japan.
Fukuoka in the 1970s brought the nation “mentai-rock,” a brand of high energy, proto-punk rock ‘n’ roll exemplified by Sonhouse and Sheena & The Rokkets, while in the ’80s it gave us chart-straddling megastars such as Seiko Matsuda, Chage & Aska, and the recently scandal-hit Noriko Sakai. The late ’90s Generation X Fukuoka punk scene created Mo’some Tonebender and Number Girl, not to mention incubating the teenage musical ambitions of Shiina Ringo.
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