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As demonstrated previously, David Bowie was, especially in his earlier
days, very much a Japanophile. David Sylvian, who was a decade younger,
had followed in Bowie’s footsteps, admiring and sharing his obsession with
Japanese culture. His early enamour for the nation is evident in the naming
of Japan in 1974 when he was only sixteen. Japan began its days as a Glam
production, in emulation of Sylvian’s hero Bowie, and in the vein of other
Glam Rock bands like T-Rex and Roxy Music. However, as the group
matured, the music of Sylvian and his band gradually transformed to
represent a Japanesque vibe, shifting from Glam Rock influences to an
adoption of Japanese instrumental sounds. Their two final albums are
remembered for their exquisite melding of the Oriental with the Occidental,
and the traditional with the avant-garde.
Towards the end of Japan’s career, the band members began to work
quite closely with Ryûichi Sakamoto. Before Sakamoto and Sylvian joined
forces on Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence, for which Sakamoto won a BAFTA
(British Academy of Film and Television Arts) Award, the pair released their
own single, Bamboo Houses, in collaboration with drummer/percussionist
Jansen who had, along with bassist Mick Karn, been prominent in creating
Japan’s innovative Japanesque accents. Sakamoto later went on to win an
Oscar, a Golden Globe, a Grammy and a LAFCA (Los Angeles Film Critics
Award) for the original score of Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Last Emperor
(1987), a film which he also starred in as an actor, establishing a prolific and
an illustrious career.
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