The live scene for world and roots music in Japan, especially for those living in Tokyo, has never been so healthy. This year, many top artists from Cuba, Eastern Europe, the Celtic countries, Northern Europe, Brazil and Africa have already visited or will be visiting Japan -- a situation almost unthinkable even one year ago.

It's not quite as happy a situation in the CD market here, however. With the exception of a few specialist shops, it is still left to the major international retail chains to import most of the lesser-known products.

The record companies are prone to jump on any bandwagon, flooding the market and eventually killing it. At the moment scores of record companies are trying to cash in on the Buena Vista Social Club, and although, thankfully, the quality of Cuban releases is generally high, it is at the expense of other types of music. In general, it's very difficult to break new music and artists, so for the most part we are left with the established names, both on CD and in concert.