Chōshinsei: Masaharu Fukuyama Puts His Past to the Test
Masaharu Fukuyama surrounds Chōshinsei with 30 years of re-recorded, remixed and remastered songs. “The Latest Is the Greatest” is now a claim for listeners to test.
Genre J-rock
Nagisa: Spitz’s summer begins on September 9, 1996
Released on September 9, 1996 after missing its planned summer date, “Nagisa” reached number one for Spitz and kept travelling through commercials, broadcasts, covers and one battered VHS.
100 Japanese singles that shaped the sound of 1996
From globe and Namie Amuro to Fishmans, LAMP EYE and enka, these 100 singles map the year Japan’s CD boom reached full force—and its musical future broke through.
PSYENCE: hide refused to choose a genre
Released on September 2, 1996, PSYENCE moved from big-band brass to industrial rock, garage punk and pop without allowing any genre to define hide.
SCANDAL Will End Its Activities in 2027
SCANDAL will end its activities on August 21, 2027, after one final tour of Japan. The band has announced neither a breakup nor a hiatus. We look back at twenty years together.
Night Hawks Interview: Burnout, Freedom and Rock
Shuichi Aoki and Chie Iwashita revisit Night Hawks’ difficult history, their unexpected return, the meaning of rock and the forty-year journey behind “Anmoku no Hibi.”
OTO MAYUMI: Japanese rock from Rome
In early 2024, OTO MAYUMI spoke to J-POP streaming about Good and Bad Shades, her love of 1990s J-rock and the producer who helped her find the right sound.