I’m in Tokyo & Osaka from the 10th March to the end of the month. I love watching live bands especially Indie, Alt-Rock & Neo-Soul.
Can anyone tell me where I can go to see these genres of music while I’m in Japan?
Also are there any venues that host touring bands from the U.K. & America?
I have tried researching this online but as someone who earns their living performing I know only too well that the economic impact of the pandemic caused around [40% of venues in Europe](https://www.live-dma.eu/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Impact-of-COVID19-on-music-venues-and-clubs-in-Europe-Live-DMA-Oct-2021.pdf) & [50% of venues in my home country](https://amp.theguardian.com/culture/2020/jun/09/majority-of-uk-theatres-and-music-venues-face-permanent-shutdown) to close down permanently.
I can’t break it down by sector but I know an [enormous number of Japanese businesses](https://www.statista.com/statistics/1118255/japan-number-of-bankruptcies-impact-coronavirus-by-prefecture/)also closed so I have no way of knowing if any of the information I have been able to find is still valid. Not only that most of the information is too generic (i.e. includes other genres like Classical or Jazz) or doesn’t differentiate between live performance and DJ clubs.
All of the following posts/sites/articles predate the reopening for tourism so won’t take account of any closures.
[From 2014](https://blog.gaijinpot.com/groovy-osaka-small-venues-big-names/)
[From 2018](https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/comments/9zm4ee/cool_underground_indierock_bars_in_tokyo_and_osaka/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf)
[From 2019](https://www.timeout.com/tokyo/music/where-to-watch-live-music-in-tokyo)
[From 2020](https://www.localiiz.com/post/travel-funkiest-underground-music-venues-osaka-japan) is the most recent I’ve found.
TL/DR: I’ve tried to research Indie/Alt-Rock/Neo-Soul live venues in Tokyo & Osaka but none of the sources are still trustworthy. Can anyone please give me up to date valid information?
TIA
2 comments
[Tokyo Gig Guide](https://www.tokyogigguide.com/ja/) is a great general purpose calendar for finding shows in Tokyo for mostly rock based genres.
[Tokyo Dross](http://tokyodross.blogspot.com/?m=1) is my personal “check first”, but it’s a curated page of listings that may or may not fit your interests. It just happens to match most everything I listen to as well.
Other than that, check the calendars for the venues and YouTube to see if you like the artists. You’ve already got a list of venues, see if they are still open… I clicked the 2020 one and most of the ones I saw like Hokage, Socore Factory, etc are still open.
This isn’t super specific to what you’re looking for, but I’ve got [this site](https://www.tokyogigguide.com/en/gigs) saved to check out whatever random shows are listed on dates we are there! It might help to see what gigs some of these shows are at then searching specifically by those venues to see what’s playing? I’m in a big live music city in the states so was determined to catch some shows in Japan but, yeah, they don’t make searching around for specifics super easy I have found.
Edited to add: if you’re into early/mid 2000’s punk/pop-punk, Punkspring festival is happening at the end of the month but, again, Japan is not great at giving details for anything (no agenda yet for who is playing when and what ‘and more’ means for bands playing, etc) I am finding.