Michiyo Yagi pushes the boundaries of traditional music with her koto playing
I'm sitting in Koen-Dori Classics, a darkened club in the basement of a church on Koen-dori, in Tokyo's Shibuya district. The audience is small, seated in a few rows facing the performers at the front. Silence, then the performance begins. Textured sounds emanate from ...
Ayako Minase can put a song in your heart
Singer-songwriter Ayako Minase's 'mature pop,' with its fun retro-influences and contemporary sensibilities, comes from the heart.
Playing to the beat of the gods
TAIKO BOOM: Japanese Drumming in Place and Motion, by Shawn Bender. University of California Press, 2012, 259?pp., $29.95 (paperback) No one can fail to be impressed by a live performance of Japanese drumming, the primal elements of stretched animal skin and wood striking a chord ...
Recochoku brings Japan further into the stream
Recochoku, a digital content aggregator owned by major Japanese labels, debuted a smartphone-based streaming service called RecoChoku Best on Tuesday. It's due to become available on PCs this summer.
MBV inspires Japan to keep staring at its feet
In February 2013, there were three events that shook the world: the resignation of the pope, North Korea's successful test of a nuclear bomb, and the release of Irish/British rock band My Bloody Valentine's first new album in 22 years. Dispatched with less frequency ...
