I’ve been wondering about this for some time now. Japan has a huge international music scenne, the number of music bands is incredible considering the size of the country (I know it is dense with people).
I live in central EU, a city with 700k people 3rd biggest in my country. I have a 4 man band and it is really hard to find a decent rehearsal place that is not a obscure basement. One time I spent literally 6 months trying to find anything, and nothing was available or it costed so much it was crazy.
So how do Japanese bands manage that? Are there just dedicated places for rehearsals or companies which rent dedicated rehearsal rooms where you can keep your equipment and play? 🙂
by HadaParabol
13 comments
Yes there are rehearsal spaces everywhere available at reasonable prices including supplied drums and amps. I’ve left equipment in storage before but it’s not a usual thing.
Yes, rehearsal studios are pretty common, some with rental equipment (drums, keyboards, amplifiers). They’re not just for bands, but also for individual musicians that can’t practice at home for fear of disturbing neighbors. Many are booked by music teachers for lessons.
Studio Penta and Noah are some of the chain rehearsal spaces in Tokyo. But yeah, rehearsal spaces and sometimes if it’s choreography, the park.
In addition to proper rehearsal spaces, I know some people who play in non-professional bands and they literally just bring their instruments to a karaoke room.
Yup, rehearsal spaces are in a good number of places. Sometimes even ku civic centers have rehearsal rooms available. You can rent gear and some places even have long term storage options.
That said, if you are a metal band and your drummer needs a big kit, that’s not so easy to find. Depends on the studio willing to rent gear like that.
To give you a perspective, a quick search gave me over 500 studios in Tokyo alone. Granted not all of these are for bands, as some are piano rooms, and some may be geared for single music creators/editors, but it gives you an idea of how accessible rehearsal studios are in Japan.
Actual, dedicated, music rehearsal spaces. Japan is awesome like that
Almost exclusively rehearsal studios. Venues usually have their own backline too, so it’s pretty common to not own a drum kit or amp
I don’t know if you heard of BookOff but they sell used products.
There are even BookOffs that have these spaces for rental by hour with drums, microphones, amp etc.
Because the walls in the houses are thin, people practice their guitar at home without an amp and the rental spaces are fully equipped.
It’s all to do with the population density, there are rehearsal studios everywhere. I’ve been to one, it was pretty cheap and had good quality equipment.
Look at the km2 of your city, then compare it to Japan’s 3rd biggest city. Your answer’s right there.
I live in a small town and we have two rehearsal places that are very well equipped. There’s even a rehearsal place not too far away that’s in a log house on the side of a mountain!
They really are everywhere!
They’re scattered all over Tokyo, which isn’t surprising since Japan’s still the #2 music market in the world, even if they just moved down a slot as far as economy goes.
There’s at least one rehearsal space within walking distance from my place as well as a few dozen venues 15-20 minutes away by bicycle.
Most spaces/venues will either be underground or located in the upper floors of a building though.