f5ve: Sequence 01
During the last couple of years Japan's pop girlgroup scene went through a rather drastic change, with nearly all groups from the former generation disbanding and new ones taking their…
HANABIE. @ Dürer Kert, Budapest, 2025.11.23.
HANABIE. became one on the biggest international sensations to come out of Japan in the last couple of years: their completely unlikely blend of extreme metalcore and cheesy J-Pop went…
“From that moment, all our worries disappeared” – an interview with HANABIE.
This email interview with HANABIE. was conducted in November, 2025, around the time the band played its second show and first ever club show in Budapest, Hungary. The show took place…
The fin., Ålborg and She Her Her Hers, go!go!vanillas and more at The Great Escape festival (+additional UK shows)
The Great Escape festival in Brighton, UK is one of the best showcase festivals around Europe and them featuring some Japanese acts is nothing however this year their straight-from-Japan lineup…
J-Pop, anime and building a career in Europe – an interview with MION
Mion is a Japanese singer-songwriter who started her career in Japan, playing pop-rock songs, but during the last few years, she spends most of her time in UK and Europe…
Capsule: Metro Pulse / #2022reviews
Capsule was always about change, right from the start when the duo of producer Yasutaka Nakata and singer Toshiko Koshijima released their first album in 2001. That one was a…
FEMM: Tokyo Ex Machina / #2022reviews
Tokyo Ex Machina's release had the worst timing ever, which almost ruined an otherwise decent EP. Let me explain this: it was released sort of out-of-nowhere just a month after…
FAKY: F / #2022reviews
Most pop acts in Japan aim their music only at the local market, not caring much about worldwide trends and international however there are a few exceptions, including the currently…
Tokyo Jihen: Ongaku / #2021reviews
When you pick up a new release by Shena Ringo, be it one of her solo efforts, or like this one, a new album by her band, Tokyo Jihen, you…
FEMM: Tokyo Girls Anthem / #2021reviews
When FEMM debuted in 2014 they were the J-Pop sensation of the year. The mysterious duo, moving around like some sort of androids, doing superb, contemporary dance pop. They kept…