On Sept. 30, guitarist Masayoshi Takanaka, formerly of pioneering rock outfit Sadistic Mika Band, stepped onto the stage at Shibuya Kokaido (Shibuya Public Hall) for a special show. Four days later, the venue, which had seen the likes of Buck-Tick, Boowy and, of course, Sadistic Mika Band, was shuttered (it will re-open as something new in 2018).
Takanaka's stage was decorated with fake palm trees and a sunset was projected onto a screen behind him. Among the red and orange hues, the 62-year-old's blue Fender Stratocaster stood out, but it was a gold version, which he later played, that caught people's attention.
"It's actually Kazuhiko Kato's guitar, the Ikebe music shop gave it to me just recently," Takanaka tells The Japan Times backstage. Kato founded Sadistic Mika Band in 1972, but tragically killed himself in 2009.