The Rough Guide to the Best Japanese Music You’ve Never Heard

Despite the slightly misleading title – many of the artists here are well known in world music circles outside Japan – this is an informative and fun collection of Japanese music covering a range of styles from minyō folk to the local take on surf guitar.

Cockroach Eater offer up their usual disorienting mix of electronics and acoustic instruments, while Etsuko Takezawa delivers a beautiful solo performance of ‘Ano Hi E No Michinori’ on koto. Emiko & Kirisute Gomen do a lively, hysterical version of the theme to ‘Shoten’, the well-known long-running improvisational comedy show. I particularly liked the duet between Churashima Navigator’s vocalist Kanako Horiuchi and Senegalese kora player Falaye Sakho on ‘Hana Umui/Yaboyae’, a gorgeous combination of sanshin, kora and vocals. Japanese music exports, particularly within Asia, lean almost entirely to vapid idol groups or pop-rock bands, so this collection is very welcome in showing all the great work being done just below the surface.