It's been a busy few years since DJ Kentaro won the 2002 DMC World DJ Championship and became the first Japanese to bring back the prize — a golden pair of Technics record decks (the turntable of choice in clubs around the world) — to the land where they were made.

Soon snapped up by Coldcut's Ninja Tune label, Kentaro, when not lugging his record bag across the globe, has turned out a number of albums for the label, including his "On the Wheels of Solid Steel" DJ mix, released in 2005 and comprised exclusively of Ninja Tune material. His first original album of his own material, 2007's "Enter," saw him collaborating with, among others, hip-hop giants The Pharcyde and Japanese acts Little Tempo and Hifana. In addition, he also remixed various songs for pop giant Ayumi Hamasaki.

The Japan Times caught up with Kentaro on the eve of the release of his latest project, a DJ mix for the British-based reggae reissue label Pressure Sounds.