Majo at Heaven’s Door

A quick look at the numbers hints at the scope of the thriving scene. There are roughly 1,000 live houses in Japan, and around 300 in Tokyo alone. Figure five or so bands playing nightly at each venue, with three or four members per band, and you get a sense of the expansive scale of this vibrant subculture.

Japan’s network of live houses and fans is often a welcome surprise to visiting foreign musicians. Danish punk band The Assassinators, who recently toured the country for the first time, were impressed with the sheer range of the scene—especially in contrast to their native Copenhagen, where forced evictions by the police and condemned buildings are not unusual.

“The whole concept of having a lot of live houses putting on shows for underground bands is really healthy for the cultural life,” says guitarist Jani. “It’s nice to have a scene that isn’t dominated by commercial, MTV-rock-star bands. It stimulates the not-so-commercial music scene and gives up-and-coming groups an opportunity to play. And it is those kinds of bands that make the music scene.”