If you get a chance to go back, I would definitely recommend visiting an area in Tokyo called Ochanomizu. There's an entire street dedicated to guitar stores (and other instruments).
I play drums in the band at the beginning of the video. There are some videos of the band on my channel, if you are interested. Thanks for featuring us🙇
One of the things that stand out to me is the build quality of their guitars, I have a vola strat model and the thing is amazing. I was underestimating the hand built in japan until i got my hands on it. Shows the craftmanship and the care they have for guitar in Japan
I’m a guitarist on an artist visa in Japan. It’s crazy to see the music culture in Japan but the music scene is indeed completely different in so many ways. Despite being here for a number of years as a musician, it’s still a process for me to get used to the scene here. It feels like another planet compared to other countries that I’ve been to. A lot of people say the same thing
Hey man i want to ask questions. How can you get the artis visa, and how hard it was to get one? Im planing to go to Japan next year as musicians but didn't know wich visa should i take
@ I am told that it’s almost impossible to get actually because of some very strict requirements that I happen to meet by a set of unique circumstances (very little to do with talent) because I run a music business that generates good passive income and I have strong connections here. Apparently as of now, only a couple of hundred people have this visa. The artist visa is not just for musicians but actors, composers, dancers, etc.. I still haven’t met one single musician in Japan who has the same visa. Every single foreigner artist I met has the marriage visa haha. I do not recommend coming to Japan as a musician unless you are already making good money because independent musicians will have to pay a whole lot more. There are lots of hidden fees such as much more expensive health insurance. You have to pay all your bills in order to continuously renew your visa and eventually get permanent residency. I came here under very strange circumstances and I can make it work, but unfortunately I cannot recommend this to anyone who does not have a steady income already or huge savings. Like I said thus far, 100% of foreigner musicians that I’ve met have the marriage visa. You can also apply for a business manager visa, but that has strict requirements as well. If you really want to come as a musician, you can try to be an English teacher and play gigs on the side and then hopefully marry a Japanese person. I suggest talking to an immigration lawyer too for more information. Even my lawyer was so surprised when I got my visa on the first try. I met a French person in the film industry who has the visa; he is the only person I’ve met with the same visa, and even he told me it’s not possible to get on the first try and the only way to get it is to come to Japan under another visa, and build connections then switch. He was surprised when I told him that it was my very first visa, and I applied for it from abroad. Again, I will just say that it has nothing to do with me being an exceptional musician, and everything to do with me having an established music business that happens to translate well to the Japanese market. One of the criterias is that you have to prove that you can generate X amount of money per month strictly through activities in Japan. In other words, if you generate money through gigs in any other country, it won’t count. Then you have to pay all the bills, municipal tax, income tax, pension, health insurance (health insurance is significantly more expensive if you work as a freelancer). My health insurance and pension are about 500$ US a month. I will try to make a YT video about this topic one day since there ‘s no info on the internet. Lots of incorrect info on reddit and whatnot since practically no one has this visa as a musician lol; everyone is just speculating online. I know very famous musicians who couldn’t get it either. It’s really unfortunate but at the same time, the Japanese music scene is highly competitive, and there’s lots of homegrown talent that you will have to “compete” against.
Started digging into the Japanese guitar rabbit hole back in 2010 and never stopped. It's like a complete different planet when it comes to music, and I honestly feel like the stuff they are creating in the last 15 years is way more interesting than what is happening in the western rock/metal scene... Great metal bands, great solo guitarists, well established artists doing collabs with animes for opening themes, all-female-bands actually mastering their instruments and not just cashing on their looks, they are the real deal. I will list a few artists I discovered over the years and I highly recommend. Starting with the amazing solo guitarists behind Babymetal's instrumentals (Kami Band), it's worth checking their previous works: *-Takayoshi Ohmura* (Great solo albums, amazing picking technique and also played for the bands Liv Moon and Baby Metal) *-Leda Cygnus* (Galneryu's bassist who switched into lead guitar for bands like Deluhi, Undivide, Far East Dizain and Baby Metal) *-ISAO* (has done a lot of solo works, game soundtracks and Baby Metal) *-Mikio Fujioka* (For a lot of japanese guitarists he was a legendary/mentor figure, passed away in 2018 while in Baby Metal, often referred as "Sensei" by other artists like Takayoshi Ohmura, he did a lot of instructional materials for Young Guitar Magazine since the early 2000s. Known for his use of pinch harmonics and whammy bar, "Harmony X" is one of his popular songs). Takayoshi Ohmura composed a song as a tribute to Mikio Fujioka before he passed away, it's called "Hill of Wisteria". (Hill of Wisteria = Fujioka). To name a few bands: *Versailles* (You will probably never see something like that, Metal meets french aristocracy meets vampire tales. Amazing guitar duo Hizaki and Teru, beautiful harmonized solos, check the song "Ascendead Master") *Galneryus* (One of the best japanese Power Metal / Progressive Metal bands, Syu is known for his amazing guitar solos). *Deluhi* (it's the first band Leda joined as a guitarist after leaving his role as bassist in Galneryus, great riffs and solos) *Wagakki Band* (Metal/Rock meets traditional japanese music, one of my favorites lately, check their songs Senbonzakura and Homura if you want to get a feel of what they sound like) *Unlucky Morpheus* (Started as a Touhou cover band, turned into one of the best active japanese metal bands, Fuki is the female vocalist, she has one of the craziest vibratos I've seen in a metal band, no screams, just high quality opera singing style. To top it off they have 2 amazing guitarists and a violinist called Jill, they often do harmonized guitar+violin solos). The songs I would recommend from them to start out are "The Black Death Mansion Murders", "CADAVER", "Change of Generation" and アマリリス ("Amaririsu", it's their anime opening type of song). If you are into beautiful and melodic guitar solos, you will probably love everything I mentioned on that list. 😂 Also, there is a recent "boom" of all-female japanese bands and as usual, their instrumentals are amazing. So you might want to check them: *Nemophila, Hagane, Band-Maid, East Of Eden.* One last thing worth mentioning, *Marty Friedman* (Megadeth's legendary guitarist) moved to Japan after he left the band and he is kinda well known in the japanese music scene, he is a host on *"ROCK FUJIYAMA channel"* , it's a youtube channel where they interview popular japanese musicians (mainly guitarists, bassists and drummers).
@@e7thstar Yeah, that period from 2008 to 2012 I believe was like the golden era for Visual Kei in terms of online communities. I couldn't read a single word in Japanese but I remember creating an account on Nicovideo just to watch random japanese people doing guitar/piano covers of all the popular Visual kei bands at the time.
I went to Japan earlier this year but unfortunately missed out on going to the flagship stores. Thanks for showing them and some of the local things in the video!
I'm an American Expat in the Philippines and make occasional trips to Japan. About 3 months ago I picked up a Fender Japan Hybrid II Telecaster. Awesome guitar! Lots of talented guitarists in Japan and their dedication is awe inspiring!
I’m a Filipino (Angono, Rizal), I visit JP every year. Will be there in two weeks to buy music gear. Much cheaper there😊. Also eyeing a Hybrid 2 strat😉… here in the PH its 79k php, in JP its less than 50k php tax free😊
Happy New Year Mike. That bass player in the blues bar was the chillest, most relaxed human I think I've ever seen :) I loved seeing the contrast between the various flagship stores, that seemed to reflect the culture of each company. The musical culture seems very diverse and vibrant - I would have enjoyed hearing your take on Kawaii Metal, if there was a show on somewhere. Oh, and Fujita-san is the GOAT.
That's pretty cool Japan is a country of so many guitar players! Great to see some of the music scene there, and enjoyed the footage of live bands. Thanks for taking us along!
I played shows all over Okinawa in 2009-2011, and am moving back to mainland Japan in March. It's an amazingly supportive culture and society toward musicians.
This was enjoyable and reminded me of my times in Japan. Thanks for this. Ochanomizu is music store heaven. I bought a bass there many years ago. Great memories. Thanks for sharing your journey,
I went to Japan 3 times and brought a guitar home on 2 of those, its just unbelieavable the guitars they have at a more than reasonable prices. Everyone loves music there and the metal rock culture is more alive than in other countries
Been to Japan 4 times . im a guitar player as well , its always fun to jam out in clubs in Tokyo , Bauhaus Club in Roppongi and also Gigabar in Shibuya are my fave spots to jam out with musicians , and also Guitar Street Ochanomizu is awesome !
Great trip. Thoroughly enjoyed coming along in your backpack. Travel more! MIJ is my Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. One piano, two guitars, a flute, a multi-effects pedal, as well as my stereo and television, all flawless.
I lived in Northern Japan for 2 years back in the 90's and the Guitar scene was on fire. I got to play some amazing guitars over there that belonged to a friend of mine Masaharu Mori. That guy was legit.
Great video, it’s awesome to see how Japan has a great guitar culture, and they have very talented guitarists and bands, like Shingen Isu,Love Bites etc.
An all time classic of japanese alternative. Takanaka has some amazing guitar centric albums. Hes got one thats bossa nova themed, rhythms and melodies from brazil.
I was really impressed by that one guitar store that had lighting and space. I hate the US guitar shopping experience of feeling cramped into a poorly lit doghouse with so many products, yet so little difference as it overwhelms the senses with nothing meaningful.
Hell yeah dude, I could have watched a long video of this trip. That looked cool and fun. Guitarist (and really most musicians) are open and friendly, almost anywhere you go.🤘🏻good video
@@ahiyasannn wrote, "@motorbikeray what? 😅" I never heard of Tomo Fujimiya. I do know of Tomo Fujita, who is a great guitar instructor and great guitar player.
I was in Japan and I found out these guys named Qoopie. I think you actually might like them. Their first record was sold only at Tower Records in Tokyo.
Lived in Tokyo as a grade school kid between 1979-83 -- live in the US now - been playing guitar since 1988 - fluent in both Japanese and guitar (can't say which is better) -- own more than a dozen MIJ/CIJ Strats and several Japanese classicals like Kohno, Yairi, Yamaha, and MIJ Epiphanies from the 70s -- planning on visiting Tokyo after a LOOOONG time - I had NO IDEA about Japan's guitar culture, or that 1 in 5 Japanese men play guitar. Thanks for the heads up.
Mike you gotta check out some of the Metal/Rock bands coming out of Japan, im talking about bands like Nemophila and Lovebites also Koiai and bandmaid just to name a few . The guitar playing is next level.....you won't be disappointed.
Mike, this is by far your best video yet. If you continue to do this you will go far seriously. I think I speak for a lot of guitar RUclips viewers we are sick and tired of the Rhet Shull copy’s, this docu style is really good
Hey Mike. You gotta come back for Festivals on the summer. Fuji rock festival and Summer sonic as well. Fuji rock is great experience. A lot of different kind of music.
Speaking as a guitarist who has been living in Japan/Tokyo for more than 10 years, and like someone else wrote in the comment section, you absolutely gotta go to Ochanomizu during your next visit. You won't regret it. Meanwhile, super happy to see that you enjoyed your experience here. It's a great country for musicians 🙂
@@RelicOnMaui Unfortunately, it’s difficult for me to say. 10 years, I could not speak Japanese but now I can. Enough to communicate in the context of a band at least. And that’s a far more important factor than how Japan has changed compared with 10 years ago I believe.
The biggest point missed was Japan’s fascination with The Ventures who started the whole guitar boom in the mid 60’s. Every age group knows and plays their music. Every town has a Ventures cover band. Also the love of the Mosrite guitar played exclusively by The Ventures, who outsold The Beatles in Japan 2 to 1. Seek out Beloved Invaders which is a documentary of The Ventures mid 60’s tours in Japan.
Congrats Mike on such an adventure. To be honest, I had not checked you out for quite some time, but the minute I saw where you were I had to check you out. I'm from Flint, Mi and spent 24 years overseas living in 5 different countries, and though I can't play the guitar, I love guitar music; the guitar is my favorite instrument. That said, check out the guitar culture in Spain if you get a chance; It's awesome. I'm a big fan of flamenco guitar. I've never been to Japan, been close, but I did live 2 great yrs in Spain. Finally, love me some Blues, one of my fav genres. Again, props to you and may you have many more travels; do it while you're young man!!! Oh, a ?. One thing I think of when I think of Japan is All the people. I saw so few in your video. Where were they all? Finally, one more suggestion for great musicians in general and of course some very good guitar players: Brazil and Italy. Happy New Year. Thanks.
Cool video! You've touched on a subject that I'm quite definitely interested in exploring. Most of my guitars are, or have recently been, made in Japan. I'm mostly a Les Paul guy, so Greco, Burny, Orville, Tokai, Edwards and Aria Pro ii are very familiar names to me. I'm planning on going there within the next two to three years and I plan on hitting a lot of the second hand stores as well as some of the larger retailers like Ishibashi, etc. I'm hoping to discover other brands that might not be as well known, but are of the same excellent build quality as those brands I've mentioned. I'm already familiar with a few more, but when checking out brands online, it's become very obvious to me that I've only scratched the surface.
Hi, I've watched many of your videos time to time, and I adore it when you speak on certain influences within your life. Recently I started to take to Stephen Stills, and I've been looking for a review video on a particular song, however, I can never seem to find one. It's called 'Nothin to do but today', check it out, it's great, has some incredible licks. I'd love to finally see someone do a video on it, or just to talk about this man because my God the talent. I'm going to ask you to go out of your way to make a video, that's a big ask, but just listen to this dude GROOVE! It's life changing.
American guitar player impact was at its height 30+ years ago. I hear from globe-trotting producers there's a new place to get to, before the next wave follows
Music knows no boundaries friend. The Japanese love music just like everyone else. It may be in a different language but it’s still invokes the same emotion. Really love that culture and the math rock scene that Japan has.
I also went to Japan recently for my 21st birthday. On my birthday I went to Meidai Dori which is an entire street filled with guitar/instrument stores. I had to stop myself from buying this beautiful Japanese Telecaster that I fell in love with lmao. It was an amazing experience tho
The high school im going to in the next year had done so many trips around the world. they did a piece in japan with one of there highschools. I hope i can do that stuff when i go
Man, I want to visit the Yairi factory in Nagoya and the Yamaha factory. I’m trying to set up a cruise around Japan, with about a week in the country beforehand to explore guitar venues. Looks like you had a great trip!
Hey Mike, I’m a new guitar player (approx 1 year), and I was curious on your thoughts about when someone could call themselves a “musician”? It’s nothing I’m losing sleep over, but I thought it was kind of an interesting thing to consider. Have fun in Japan!
I went to Japan once and I swear everyone on the subway was carrying a guitar case
If you get a chance to go back, I would definitely recommend visiting an area in Tokyo called Ochanomizu. There's an entire street dedicated to guitar stores (and other instruments).
Ohhh yea. Forgot all about that. Whenever I go, I’ll have to remember that.
Just came back from there, a must go for sure
To be accurate, it is a block and a half. About 20 stores.
Woah
Also TC gakki in Shin-okubo, legendary used guitar shop.
1:45 that bassist is on another planet
Man's seen some shit - that's for sure
bro really was
and why is he barefoot
Vibe check=passed
Did you get the impression his idol was Bill Wyman?
I play drums in the band at the beginning of the video.
There are some videos of the band on my channel, if you are interested.
Thanks for featuring us🙇
that's awesome man hope it goes well
aw fuck yea! i'm defo gunna check you guys out it was amazing!
That shuffle feels great!!
Mike cole has unlocked a new level.
One of the things that stand out to me is the build quality of their guitars, I have a vola strat model and the thing is amazing. I was underestimating the hand built in japan until i got my hands on it. Shows the craftmanship and the care they have for guitar in Japan
I’m a guitarist on an artist visa in Japan. It’s crazy to see the music culture in Japan but the music scene is indeed completely different in so many ways. Despite being here for a number of years as a musician, it’s still a process for me to get used to the scene here. It feels like another planet compared to other countries that I’ve been to. A lot of people say the same thing
Hey man i want to ask questions.
How can you get the artis visa, and how hard it was to get one?
Im planing to go to Japan next year as musicians but didn't know wich visa should i take
@ I am told that it’s almost impossible to get actually because of some very strict requirements that I happen to meet by a set of unique circumstances (very little to do with talent) because I run a music business that generates good passive income and I have strong connections here. Apparently as of now, only a couple of hundred people have this visa. The artist visa is not just for musicians but actors, composers, dancers, etc.. I still haven’t met one single musician in Japan who has the same visa. Every single foreigner artist I met has the marriage visa haha. I do not recommend coming to Japan as a musician unless you are already making good money because independent musicians will have to pay a whole lot more. There are lots of hidden fees such as much more expensive health insurance. You have to pay all your bills in order to continuously renew your visa and eventually get permanent residency. I came here under very strange circumstances and I can make it work, but unfortunately I cannot recommend this to anyone who does not have a steady income already or huge savings. Like I said thus far, 100% of foreigner musicians that I’ve met have the marriage visa. You can also apply for a business manager visa, but that has strict requirements as well. If you really want to come as a musician, you can try to be an English teacher and play gigs on the side and then hopefully marry a Japanese person. I suggest talking to an immigration lawyer too for more information. Even my lawyer was so surprised when I got my visa on the first try. I met a French person in the film industry who has the visa; he is the only person I’ve met with the same visa, and even he told me it’s not possible to get on the first try and the only way to get it is to come to Japan under another visa, and build connections then switch. He was surprised when I told him that it was my very first visa, and I applied for it from abroad. Again, I will just say that it has nothing to do with me being an exceptional musician, and everything to do with me having an established music business that happens to translate well to the Japanese market. One of the criterias is that you have to prove that you can generate X amount of money per month strictly through activities in Japan. In other words, if you generate money through gigs in any other country, it won’t count. Then you have to pay all the bills, municipal tax, income tax, pension, health insurance (health insurance is significantly more expensive if you work as a freelancer). My health insurance and pension are about 500$ US a month. I will try to make a YT video about this topic one day since there ‘s no info on the internet. Lots of incorrect info on reddit and whatnot since practically no one has this visa as a musician lol; everyone is just speculating online. I know very famous musicians who couldn’t get it either. It’s really unfortunate but at the same time, the Japanese music scene is highly competitive, and there’s lots of homegrown talent that you will have to “compete” against.
And what exactly are the differences?
@ my replies get deleted :-( so i’m not gonna bother anymore
Started digging into the Japanese guitar rabbit hole back in 2010 and never stopped. It's like a complete different planet when it comes to music, and I honestly feel like the stuff they are creating in the last 15 years is way more interesting than what is happening in the western rock/metal scene...
Great metal bands, great solo guitarists, well established artists doing collabs with animes for opening themes, all-female-bands actually mastering their instruments and not just cashing on their looks, they are the real deal. I will list a few artists I discovered over the years and I highly recommend.
Starting with the amazing solo guitarists behind Babymetal's instrumentals (Kami Band), it's worth checking their previous works:
*-Takayoshi Ohmura* (Great solo albums, amazing picking technique and also played for the bands Liv Moon and Baby Metal)
*-Leda Cygnus* (Galneryu's bassist who switched into lead guitar for bands like Deluhi, Undivide, Far East Dizain and Baby Metal)
*-ISAO* (has done a lot of solo works, game soundtracks and Baby Metal)
*-Mikio Fujioka* (For a lot of japanese guitarists he was a legendary/mentor figure, passed away in 2018 while in Baby Metal, often referred as "Sensei" by other artists like Takayoshi Ohmura, he did a lot of instructional materials for Young Guitar Magazine since the early 2000s. Known for his use of pinch harmonics and whammy bar, "Harmony X" is one of his popular songs).
Takayoshi Ohmura composed a song as a tribute to Mikio Fujioka before he passed away, it's called "Hill of Wisteria". (Hill of Wisteria = Fujioka).
To name a few bands:
*Versailles* (You will probably never see something like that, Metal meets french aristocracy meets vampire tales. Amazing guitar duo Hizaki and Teru, beautiful harmonized solos, check the song "Ascendead Master")
*Galneryus* (One of the best japanese Power Metal / Progressive Metal bands, Syu is known for his amazing guitar solos).
*Deluhi* (it's the first band Leda joined as a guitarist after leaving his role as bassist in Galneryus, great riffs and solos)
*Wagakki Band* (Metal/Rock meets traditional japanese music, one of my favorites lately, check their songs Senbonzakura and Homura if you want to get a feel of what they sound like)
*Unlucky Morpheus* (Started as a Touhou cover band, turned into one of the best active japanese metal bands, Fuki is the female vocalist, she has one of the craziest vibratos I've seen in a metal band, no screams, just high quality opera singing style. To top it off they have 2 amazing guitarists and a violinist called Jill, they often do harmonized guitar+violin solos). The songs I would recommend from them to start out are "The Black Death Mansion Murders", "CADAVER", "Change of Generation" and アマリリス ("Amaririsu", it's their anime opening type of song).
If you are into beautiful and melodic guitar solos, you will probably love everything I mentioned on that list. 😂
Also, there is a recent "boom" of all-female japanese bands and as usual, their instrumentals are amazing.
So you might want to check them: *Nemophila, Hagane, Band-Maid, East Of Eden.*
One last thing worth mentioning, *Marty Friedman* (Megadeth's legendary guitarist) moved to Japan after he left the band and he is kinda well known in the japanese music scene, he is a host on *"ROCK FUJIYAMA channel"* , it's a youtube channel where they interview popular japanese musicians (mainly guitarists, bassists and drummers).
Versailles....ah Visual Kai, how i miss you....even though you never were.
....I'm a D'espairsray fan myself.
@@e7thstar Yeah, that period from 2008 to 2012 I believe was like the golden era for Visual Kei in terms of online communities. I couldn't read a single word in Japanese but I remember creating an account on Nicovideo just to watch random japanese people doing guitar/piano covers of all the popular Visual kei bands at the time.
Music scene in Japan is a totally different theme.
I went to Japan earlier this year but unfortunately missed out on going to the flagship stores. Thanks for showing them and some of the local things in the video!
2:35 the bassist is just so active
I'm an American Expat in the Philippines and make occasional trips to Japan. About 3 months ago I picked up a Fender Japan Hybrid II Telecaster. Awesome guitar! Lots of talented guitarists in Japan and their dedication is awe inspiring!
I’m a Filipino (Angono, Rizal), I visit JP every year. Will be there in two weeks to buy music gear. Much cheaper there😊. Also eyeing a Hybrid 2 strat😉… here in the PH its 79k php, in JP its less than 50k php tax free😊
Happy New Year Mike.
That bass player in the blues bar was the chillest, most relaxed human I think I've ever seen :)
I loved seeing the contrast between the various flagship stores, that seemed to reflect the culture of each company.
The musical culture seems very diverse and vibrant - I would have enjoyed hearing your take on Kawaii Metal, if there was a show on somewhere.
Oh, and Fujita-san is the GOAT.
That dude didn’t even move, except for his fingers.
That's pretty cool Japan is a country of so many guitar players! Great to see some of the music scene there, and enjoyed the footage of live bands. Thanks for taking us along!
I played shows all over Okinawa in 2009-2011, and am moving back to mainland Japan in March. It's an amazingly supportive culture and society toward musicians.
This was enjoyable and reminded me of my times in Japan. Thanks for this. Ochanomizu is music store heaven. I bought a bass there many years ago. Great memories. Thanks for sharing your journey,
Make more traveling music videos its a win win you get to travel we get to see the music culture right along with you!
I went to Japan 3 times and brought a guitar home on 2 of those, its just unbelieavable the guitars they have at a more than reasonable prices.
Everyone loves music there and the metal rock culture is more alive than in other countries
I can't wait to visit Japan one day! and it's amazing to see how far American music culture has reached! good job mike nice video.
4:40 THose guys are from MYANMAR! They're singing Burmese song.
Do you know the song? Its a nice song…
@@RazgrizGE8 it's Moe by Wana or (in Burmese) မိုး - ဝန
Been to Japan 4 times . im a guitar player as well , its always fun to jam out in clubs in Tokyo , Bauhaus Club in Roppongi and also Gigabar in Shibuya are my fave spots to jam out with musicians , and also Guitar Street Ochanomizu is awesome !
I recommend checking out Masayoshi Takanaka for some great guitar playing
Great trip. Thoroughly enjoyed coming along in your backpack. Travel more! MIJ is my Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. One piano, two guitars, a flute, a multi-effects pedal, as well as my stereo and television, all flawless.
Loved it. LOVE Japan. Hopefully more footage from your trip.
I lived in Northern Japan for 2 years back in the 90's and the Guitar scene was on fire. I got to play some amazing guitars over there that belonged to a friend of mine Masaharu Mori. That guy was legit.
Great video, it’s awesome to see how Japan has a great guitar culture, and they have very talented guitarists and bands, like Shingen Isu,Love Bites etc.
Back in the 80s I rented a video called "Rainbow Goblin Story" by Japanese guitarist Masayoshi Takanaka and was really impressed
An all time classic of japanese alternative. Takanaka has some amazing guitar centric albums. Hes got one thats bossa nova themed, rhythms and melodies from brazil.
6:36 is so nice, reminds me of Ichika Nito or Seiji Igusa
I was really impressed by that one guitar store that had lighting and space. I hate the US guitar shopping experience of feeling cramped into a poorly lit doghouse with so many products, yet so little difference as it overwhelms the senses with nothing meaningful.
TOMO IS THE GOAT! His guitar wisdom courses have helped me so much. Seeing you trip makes me want to go even more!
Hell yeah dude, I could have watched a long video of this trip. That looked cool and fun. Guitarist (and really most musicians) are open and friendly, almost anywhere you go.🤘🏻good video
Tomo Fujimiya is one of my favorite Japanese guitarists!!!
@ahiyasannn wrote, "Tomo Fujimiya is one of my favorite Japanese guitarists!!!" I wonder if your favorite guitarist Tomo Fujimiya knows Tomo Fujita.
@motorbikeray what? 😅
@@ahiyasannn wrote, "@motorbikeray what? 😅" I never heard of Tomo Fujimiya. I do know of Tomo Fujita, who is a great guitar instructor and great guitar player.
@@motorbikeray Oh! Yeh, I meant Tomo Fujita. I got his name wrong, I see. Thanks for pointing it out. 👌
@@ahiyasannn Haha! Turns out we were talking about the same Tomo.
cool nice to see your vid on new years eve, im old but starting to enjoy plucking on a guitar. im hoping to keep going on it and be somewhat decent.
The guitarists here in Japan are quite good. I did find a couple of guys from Brazil originally to play with. Hopefully, we can keep it going.
I was in Japan and I found out these guys named Qoopie. I think you actually might like them. Their first record was sold only at Tower Records in Tokyo.
Lived in Tokyo as a grade school kid between 1979-83 -- live in the US now - been playing guitar since 1988 - fluent in both Japanese and guitar (can't say which is better) -- own more than a dozen MIJ/CIJ Strats and several Japanese classicals like Kohno, Yairi, Yamaha, and MIJ Epiphanies from the 70s -- planning on visiting Tokyo after a LOOOONG time - I had NO IDEA about Japan's guitar culture, or that 1 in 5 Japanese men play guitar. Thanks for the heads up.
I would love to see longer form travel documentaries on music scenes in different places!!
Mike you gotta check out some of the Metal/Rock bands coming out of Japan, im talking about bands like Nemophila and Lovebites also Koiai and bandmaid just to name a few . The guitar playing is next level.....you won't be disappointed.
Not what I was expecting… great video!
Mike, this is by far your best video yet. If you continue to do this you will go far seriously. I think I speak for a lot of guitar RUclips viewers we are sick and tired of the Rhet Shull copy’s, this docu style is really good
I live in Koenji, it’s such a great place, loads of musicians everywhere.
Thanks!
Looks like such an amazing trip! Such a different perspective on Japan Roger and I did not realize when we visited a couple years ago!
mike you just lived my dream and i was happy to watch and enjoy.
Mike, how was this so short? Lol fingers crossed for more! Great stuff. Glad it was a good experience. One of my favorite places on the planet.
I’m going to Japan (from uk) very soon and this video came at the perfect time! Great stuff
Really well put together. Fascinating stuff!
just came across your wholesome channel! loving this journey of yours
I'd love to see more travel content, really enjoyed this one!
I loved this so much! Yes, please do another travel video!
Great video! More please!
Hey Mike. You gotta come back for Festivals on the summer. Fuji rock festival and Summer sonic as well. Fuji rock is great experience. A lot of different kind of music.
Not including a longer sample of the two handed tapper at 6:35 is actually criminal 😭
Speaking as a guitarist who has been living in Japan/Tokyo for more than 10 years, and like someone else wrote in the comment section, you absolutely gotta go to Ochanomizu during your next visit. You won't regret it.
Meanwhile, super happy to see that you enjoyed your experience here. It's a great country for musicians 🙂
Were there more opportunities for you as an American player before or now?
@@RelicOnMaui Unfortunately, it’s difficult for me to say. 10 years, I could not speak Japanese but now I can. Enough to communicate in the context of a band at least. And that’s a far more important factor than how Japan has changed compared with 10 years ago I believe.
Seems like you had a great trip. This is a bucket list trip for me
Music is a universal language !
The biggest point missed was Japan’s fascination with The Ventures who started the whole guitar boom in the mid 60’s. Every age group knows and plays their music. Every town has a Ventures cover band. Also the love of the Mosrite guitar played exclusively by The Ventures, who outsold The Beatles in Japan 2 to 1.
Seek out Beloved Invaders which is a documentary of The Ventures mid 60’s tours in Japan.
Congrats Mike on such an adventure. To be honest, I had not checked you out for quite some time, but the minute I saw where you were I had to check you out. I'm from Flint, Mi and spent 24 years overseas living in 5 different countries, and though I can't play the guitar, I love guitar music; the guitar is my favorite instrument. That said, check out the guitar culture in Spain if you get a chance; It's awesome. I'm a big fan of flamenco guitar. I've never been to Japan, been close, but I did live 2 great yrs in Spain. Finally, love me some Blues, one of my fav genres. Again, props to you and may you have many more travels; do it while you're young man!!! Oh, a ?. One thing I think of when I think of Japan is All the people. I saw so few in your video. Where were they all? Finally, one more suggestion for great musicians in general and of course some very good guitar players: Brazil and Italy. Happy New Year. Thanks.
I lived and worked in Japan for 3 years. It’s a beautiful and wonderful country. I have nothing but love and respect for the Japanese. Great video!
That was awesome you should make more travel videos and go more in depth on the things you have learned and saw!
6:30 That is some ichika type shi
Cool video! You've touched on a subject that I'm quite definitely interested in exploring. Most of my guitars are, or have recently been, made in Japan. I'm mostly a Les Paul guy, so Greco, Burny, Orville, Tokai, Edwards and Aria Pro ii are very familiar names to me. I'm planning on going there within the next two to three years and I plan on hitting a lot of the second hand stores as well as some of the larger retailers like Ishibashi, etc.
I'm hoping to discover other brands that might not be as well known, but are of the same excellent build quality as those brands I've mentioned. I'm already familiar with a few more, but when checking out brands online, it's become very obvious to me that I've only scratched the surface.
4:40 feels so real
Great stuff!!
6:37 - Is that a Chapman Stick?
Yes
shoutout tomo fujita
Hi, I've watched many of your videos time to time, and I adore it when you speak on certain influences within your life. Recently I started to take to Stephen Stills, and I've been looking for a review video on a particular song, however, I can never seem to find one. It's called 'Nothin to do but today', check it out, it's great, has some incredible licks. I'd love to finally see someone do a video on it, or just to talk about this man because my God the talent. I'm going to ask you to go out of your way to make a video, that's a big ask, but just listen to this dude GROOVE! It's life changing.
I loved your Japanese trip and the music language you shared 😊
My boy needs to go to Brazil and experience their music now please and thank you
More such videos originating from different countries would be a profound learning experience.
this was an epic video! I wish it was 10min longer!
great vid, keep it up!!
I just came back and I swear you see talented people playing on the streets with almost no followers. Now I see why
Is that bass player breathing? 😂
American guitar player impact was at its height 30+ years ago. I hear from globe-trotting producers there's a new place to get to, before the next wave follows
i had a very good time watching this video thanks a lot
Music knows no boundaries friend. The Japanese love music just like everyone else. It may be in a different language but it’s still invokes the same emotion. Really love that culture and the math rock scene that Japan has.
I also went to Japan recently for my 21st birthday. On my birthday I went to Meidai Dori which is an entire street filled with guitar/instrument stores. I had to stop myself from buying this beautiful Japanese Telecaster that I fell in love with lmao. It was an amazing experience tho
When I found out Japan existed I was floored
The high school im going to in the next year had done so many trips around the world. they did a piece in japan with one of there highschools. I hope i can do that stuff when i go
First big difference - guy wearing no shoes on stage.
Man, I want to visit the Yairi factory in Nagoya and the Yamaha factory. I’m trying to set up a cruise around Japan, with about a week in the country beforehand to explore guitar venues. Looks like you had a great trip!
I believe Yairi factory is in Gifu preficture.
One minute of silence in respect for your spinal column who suffers a lot every day
Great video keep it up
i need to hear more of this guy at 6:36
Bassist at the first gig is one of the most bassist looking bassists to ever bass
The beatboxer at osaka bridge
I own three "Japanese crafted" guitars. Two nice acoustics and one Fender Telecaster. That's all I have to say about that.
that guitar looks fuckin sick amazing truly
There is a massive classical guitar scene in Japan due to the probably best guitarist of all time Kazuhito yamashita
you should see sugi guitar, and japan also known for their bassist
Bro went to japan to listen to the blues
Did you visit guitar street? Big boss? Play any made in Japan Jazzmasters? Hope to see me footage from the trip. I’ll be going to Tokyo next month.
That's how i play bass too.
Good stuff!
Love japan especially the Fender Flagship store. I can stay there a whole day.=)
This is a next level good video
If I was there, I would immediately go Coldrain! Band Maid!!!
Did you see any grassroots at the ESP flagship?
Hey Mike, I’m a new guitar player (approx 1 year), and I was curious on your thoughts about when someone could call themselves a “musician”? It’s nothing I’m losing sleep over, but I thought it was kind of an interesting thing to consider. Have fun in Japan!