FEMM will perform their last solo concert in London on Saturday 16 December 2023. Two shows will take place on the same day at The Lower Third, situated on London’s iconic Denmark Street. The state of the art venue was selected especially for the futuristic pair’s farewell show, and is accessible by walking through a mind-blowing immersive space that is connected to the venue, which is also home to the world’s largest high-resolution wrap-around screens. FEMM reached our timeline ten years ago, after travelling from the year 20XX in order to carry out a secret mission. With a decade passed and ..read more

Wacky fun ahoy… Japan’s WACK agency makes their UK debut this week. WACK rose to notoriety with Brand-New Idol Society, dubbed “the most hated girl group in Japan” by VICE, before the idol unit disbanded in 2014, not before causing all kinds of havoc in the media with extreme music videos and outrageous magazine photoshoots. Since then, WACK continues to produce nonconventional stars who dominate pop and rock spaces, including BiSH (Brand-new idol SHIT) who called themselves in an interview with Billboard a “punk band with no instruments” and who have a song written by Taka (ONE OK ROCK), MEG ..read more

The Japanese English Meetup team are back with their annual Halloween party, taking place once again in London. The event will feature live music from alternative band Krokodile, some Japanese classics from Press X and also some idol action care of Mioenergy. Filling in between band performances will be some DJ sets from our good selves at J-Pop Go. As always fancy dress/cosplay is encouraged, though no worries if you don’t feel comfortable that way. The event also has a late license to make the most of the evening. Krokodile An alt-rock band feat. Joel Oldham (lead guitar, British), Kam Willi ..read more

The FEMM story reaches a perfect close… FEMM have always felt like Avex’s secret weapon; a smart combination of both Japanese and Western music elements that should have scored bigger commercial success across the years since their inception. Tokyo Ex Machina continues that journey, but it also offers up the mannequin duo’s most accomplished collection of work in the process. FEMM’s third album is a smoother, lusher affair than previous releases. Which isn’t to say that they’ve lost any of their talent for angular, kinetic pop, but the tunes here perhaps showcase the duo playing around with di ..read more

Japan music showcase July sees the return of Japanese cultural event Hyper Japan to London, this year taking place at Olympia between 21-23 July 2023. As part of Hyper Japan’s 2023 activities, there’s a wealth of live music performances featuring familar acts and some new faces. Here’s a choice selection of some of the acts scheduled to perform at Hyper Japan across all three days. FEMM Electronic dance music duo FEMM (Far East Mention Mannequins) are living mannequins consisting of RiRi and LuLa. FEMM have been a J-Pop Go favourite for some time. They made their mark with the phenomenal succ ..read more

To celebrate the highly-anticipated release of Hikaru Utada’s upcoming single ‘Gold -Mata Au Hi Made-‘ on 28 July, a special promotional campaign has been launched. In this campaign, 300 lucky winners will have the opportunity to receive an exclusive Original Gold Mirror featuring the cover art of the forthcoming track. Fans from around the world are invited to participate. Fans can take part in the campaign to win an Original Gold Mirror by participating through Apple Music Pre-add, Spotify Pre-save, or iTunes Pre-order (*iTunes Pre-order will start from 19th July). The special gold-colored m ..read more

Mannequins on manoeuvres… As FEMM fans will be aware, the duo made a dramatic announcement earlier this year to call it a day stating that they had “completed their role” and were returning to their home in the future. “What FEMM really stands for” read a statement at the time, “is ‘Far East “Military” Mannequin’. These intelligent dolls were forced to perform proxy wars for humans in their era. RiRi and LuLa were transferred to the present age to change this scenario.” But before the pair depart, they’ve embarked on what they call their “Last Femm-Isation”, which consists of some final perfor ..read more

Japanese musical acts assemble… July sees the return of Japanese cultural event Hyper Japan to London, this year taking place at Evolution between 22-24 July 2022. As part of Hyper Japan’s 2022 activities, they’re teaming up with promoters Orion Live to stage two nights of exclusive performances from a variety of Japanese musicians and performers. The Hyper Live event will be staged over July 22nd and 23rd. The Friday performance on the main stage will be the Hyper Party selection running from 20:00 (Doors: 19:30). Saturday is being billed as the Japanese Underground and Alternative selection ..read more

Mannequin Pop Go Ahead of their UK/EU tour, FEMM 2.0 have announced more details of their live show plans. Joining the electronic pop outfit will be low-res J-pop artist MIKUROMIKA (see J-Pop Go feature previously) in support. The pair have also announced that laser artists YAMACHANG, responsible for the music video’s impressive visuals, will be joining FEMM for the London performances at Boston Music Room and Hyper Japan. Plus, FEMM will add a further date to the tour with an appearance at Japan Expo in Paris, the largest celebration of Japanese pop culture outside of Japan. Meanwhile, brand ..read more

Celebrating the legendary musician’s legacy Today marks the 70th birthday of musician and composer Ryuichi Sakamoto. As one of Japan’s pioneering names in the world of electronic music, Sakamoto will always be associated with technopop outfit Yellow Magic Orchestra, a band that paved the way for a variety of electronic genres, including synth-pop, J-pop, electro and techno. However, over 40 years his scope and career has expanded beyond YMO’s legacy into a variety of different disciplines, including pianist, record producer and actor. Sakamoto’s film, TV and anime soundtrack work has become on ..read more