Tokyo's bustling megalopolis is home to over 8 million people. Its vibrancy as a city is highlighted by a burgeoning art, music, and club scene and it is widely considered one of the world's hotspots of popular culture. Though some may put a damper on your wallet, there is no lack of high class night life with clubs like Unit, Womb and the Liquid Room.
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Tokyo Black Star is a collaboration project of Tokyo based producer Isao Kumano and cosmopolitan DJ Alex From Tokyo. Most of their releases have appeared on renowned Berlin based outfit Innervisions, showcasing a sound that's impossible to pigeon-hole,...
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Besides cutting up latin classics under his ironic Take Rodriguez guise, Takehito Nakazato was a versatile musician and producer, recording dubbed out ambient and impro music under the names Dub Sonic and Hado-Ho, collaborating with international artists such as Oren Ambarchi. Nakazato passed away in 2004.
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One of the most established producers in his homeland Japan, Shinichi Osawa's body of work comprises such a breadth of styles it might easily confound the casual observer. From the relaxed acid jazz of his Mondo Grosso alias to the 'Aphex Twin on nitrous oxide' nu rave style evident in his current remix work for the likes of...
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'Grooving in the low-end' seems to be the motto for Ryo Murakami's music, which combines the jacking style of old school house with a more European use of effects and production tools. Having started as a DJ influenced by styles from hip hop to rock,...
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An original member of famous Japanese pop renegades Denki Groove, Yoshinori Sunahara has pursued a successful solo career after leaving the group in the late 90s. Throwing enough musical styles into his productions to make your head spin, his highly...
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Part of Tokyo-based DJ and production crew The Suffragettes, So Inagawa records stripped down and reduced house tunes for labels such as fenou, Unfoundsound and new Japanese imprint Relaxine.
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Born in Tokyo, Japan, Akiko Kiyami's musical education began at a young age with a focus on classical. By the time she turned 14, however, her concentration had moved to the booming drum'n'bass scene that was coming out of London. Having made the...
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The man behind Aus is the Japanese musician Yasuhiko Fukuzono, whose compositions on the fringes of ambient, electronica and pop are rapidly gaining recognition via imprints such as Someone Good. Acquiring his inspirations from all over the places - images that his mind captured from films, words that he stumbled upon, pieces of...
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Kazuki Yamaguchi a.k.a. Kez YM is one of Tokyo's up and coming house music producers. A participant of 2007's Red Bull Music Academy, his 'Sweetly Confused' EP put him on the map in 2008, receiving support from the likes of Moodymann and Cassy. Andy Vaz signed Kez to his Yore label for last year's 'City Soul EP', which was equally...
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Itokim is the alter ego of Japan-based producer Takuro Ito, who has been developing his brand of techno and deep house influenced by the likes of Detroit techno, IDM or electronica. In early 2008, he released his first record, 'Baby Moon', on Fine Art Recordings, leading to releases on Nice & Nasty, and most recently Glasgow's...
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A rising star in the Japanese electronica scene, Ametsub fuses glitch-hop and melancholic pop influences in his fragile compositions, which have gained the young artist noteworthy supporters such as Ryuichi Sakamoto. His debut album 'Linear Cryptics' from...
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Stereociti is Tokyo-based musician and designer Ken Sumitani. Equally talented in the aural and visual arts, Sumitami records fragile and dubbed out deep house for labels like Mojuba or Deep Explorer, while contributing cover artworks to many of Tokyo's...
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Sapporo-born Ken Ishii is one of Japan's most popular techno DJs and producers, whose pioneering productions appeared on Plus 8 (under the name UTU) and R&S Records as early as 1993. His music was used in several influential computer games, such as Rez and Lumines, and since 2002 Ishii has been running his own label, 70Drums.
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Originally hailing from the south of Japan, Go Hiyama is a veteran techno DJ and producer with well over a dozen records to his name, released on imprints such as Perc Trax, Stroboscopic Artefacts, and Token.
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Homelabel
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Perhaps Japan's best known dubstep export, Goth-Trad is one of Tokyo's original DJs and producers of the style. He also runs the Back To Chill club nights, which he started in 2007. His productions of dark and hard hitting dubstep have become popular in...
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