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August 15, 2024
 

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Mike Sunda

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Mike Sunda
Mike Sunda is a music writer focusing primarily on electronic music and the Tokyo club scene. He graduated from the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, England with a degree in Japanese and has been contributing to The Japan Times since 2010.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 4, 2011
Lesser lights shine amid Fuji Rock rains
When U.S. act Washed Out hit the Red Marquee stage on Friday night, that's when the Fuji Rock Festival 2011 really began to get going.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 7, 2011
TCY Radio aims to revive club scene
Aside from being one half of successful J-pop duo m-flo, Taku Takahashi is also one of the most established DJs in Japan's club scene. So when Takahashi talks dance music — people listen. Just as well, as that's exactly what he's doing with his latest project, the online station TCY Radio.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 19, 2011
MeccaGodZilla "Perfect 天"
Brooklyn-based hip-hop artist MeccaGodZilla is no stranger to Japanese audiences. Indeed it is his travels and love for the country that have inspired his latest release, "Perfect 天" (ten, heaven), for which he has also taken on the new moniker "Ryu Black." To be even more precise, the album pays homage...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / IN THE RECORD
May 19, 2011
Eccy
Coming off the release of his "Flavor of Vice" EP on Slye Records last month, Eccy gives The Japan Times a peek into his record bag.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 29, 2011
Logic System sets the mood for Moog
"I think people come to my shows to hear a 'nostalgic' sound, something that they might have otherwise forgotten," says Hideki Matsutake, who has been at the forefront of Japan's electronic music scene since its beginnings.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 15, 2011
Dance artists come together for Japan
Last Friday, at exactly 2:46 in the afternoon, the "Nihon Kizuna" bonus album, containing a further 34 electronic tracks from a range of producers worldwide to supplement the 50 tracks on the original album, was released for free online. As well as marking one calendar month since the March 11 earthquake...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 11, 2011
New dance-music label Diskotopia aims to bring Tokyo in step
Glance at the lineups of Tokyo's larger nightclubs on any given weekend and you'd be forgiven for feeling some deja vu. Mainstays such as Takkyu Ishino, Shinichi Osawa or Dexpistols are likely to be headlining, much as they have been doing for the past several years.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 21, 2011
Bo Ningen
Sporting chest-length, jet-black hair that obscures each of the four members' facial features, Bo Ningen look like what might have happened if Sadako from "The Ring" had crawled out of the well and found herself on stage fronting a psych-rock band. Add in song titles such as "Koroshitai Kimochi," which...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 7, 2011
Buzz overseas spells success at home
For Japanese music acts, success abroad has traditionally been the reserve of noise-rock bands such as Boredoms and Melt-Banana, for whom potential barriers like language or cultural disparities do little to hinder their pursuit of abstraction. More conventional Japanese indie bands have traditionally...
CULTURE / Music
Dec 17, 2010
Japanese beatboxer Afra causes a scene
The United States can point to Rahzel, Scratch (both formerly of The Roots) and reggae-fusion artist Matisyahu as examples of human beatboxers who have experienced mainstream success. Britain has Killa Kella and Shlomo, the latter of whom, as well as having contributed to Bjork's 2004 album "Medulla,"...
CULTURE / Music
Nov 26, 2010
AZZXSSS "Deepsketch"
Few people are more aware of the potential of high-quality dubstep collaborations than the guys behind Hydra Records. The Japanese label, still in its infancy, scored a massive coup in September when they secured Japanese distribution of the latest album by dubstep pioneer Skream (who also experienced...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 19, 2010
Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs
When it comes to recognizing the latest trends and artists causing a stir abroad, the Japanese club scene sometimes seems to suffer from perennial jet lag.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 12, 2010
Kojoe and Raye 6
In a city filled to the brim with music festivals of various shapes and sizes all year round, there's nevertheless something uniquely intriguing about Yume Fest, which takes place this Saturday in Tokyo's Harajuku district. The festival is keen to stress its grassroots origins, reflected in its refreshingly...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 29, 2010
Real Estate and Woods
Real Estate and Woods are two of the most exciting prospects to come out of the United States recently, and if tapes were sold on indie-cred alone they would no doubt be permanent fixtures on the top-sellers lists. Both bands have been awarded the "Best New Music" seal of approval by indie tastemakers...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 22, 2010
80Kidz "Weekend Warrior"
Ali and Jun, aka 80Kidz, might be Japan's very own blogosphere darlings, but time hasn't been kind on their peers in the West. Indie-dance favorites such as The Shoes and Autokratz, both of whom featured as guests on the band's debut full-length, "This Is My Shit," have fallen into irrelevance — victims...
Japan to revise consumption tax exemption for overseas tourists
Tourists walk through Nakamise shopping street near Sensoji Temple in Tokyo in April
Japan's tourism industry hit by cancellations after megaquake alert
A beach closed due to a megaquake alert in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, from Friday to Thursday.
Focus shifts to incoming typhoon as Tropical Storm Maria dissipates
Newly formed Tropical Storm Ampil, which is forecast to approach eastern Japan this weekend, is seen on the left side of this satellite image.
Kishida to step down in September in bid to show ‘LDP has changed’
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a news conference Wednesday at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo.
Publisher finds surprise audience after translating history textbooks
Yamakawa Shuppansha president Takeshi Nozawa holds the publisher's textbook on Japanese history — used in high schools across Japan — alongside the new English version in Tokyo on May 23.
Economic security is about strengthening and sustaining growth, former minister says
Former economic security minister Takayuki Kobayashi says changes in the international balance of power, along with deepening economic interdependence, have led some countries to attempt to use their economic power to impose their will on others.
Ice bandanas, convenience store breaks: Running under Japan’s summer sun
Blistering heat is becoming a fixture of summer in Japan, but a few tweaks to your routine can make your outdoor runs bearable — if not enjoyable — until cooler temperatures return.
Japan issued its first-ever megaquake alert. What does that mean?
Naoshi Hirata (center), chairman of a committee tasked with evaluating the risk of a Nankai Trough earthquake, speaks at a news conference in Tokyo on Friday.
France brings down the curtain on its Olympic party with Tom Cruise and Leon Marchand
Fireworks are set off during the closing ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics at Stade de France in Saint-Denis on Sunday.
Japan fuels U.S. LNG boom even as climate targets and impacts loom
Flaring at the Cameron LNG export terminal in Hackberry, Louisiana. Flaring, a common sight at LNG plants, is a controlled burning of gas for reasons ranging from depressurizing equipment to disposing of gas that can’t be used. The practice is a "waste of money" and negatively impacts climate change and human health, says the International Energy Agency.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Sociologist Gracia Liu-Farrer argues that even though immigration doesn't figure into Japan's autobiography, it is more of a self-perception than a reality.
In search of the ‘Japanese dream’
By Thu-Huong Ha

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