# Japanoise > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Japanoise > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Japanoise.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanoise > Source revision: 1326422412 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Noise music scene of Japan Japanoise Keiji Haino (top), Merzbow (bottom left), and Yamantaka Eye (bottom right) Stylistic origins Kansai no wave[1] noise Cultural origins Late 1970s, Japanese underground; height of popularity in late 1980s and 1990s Derivative forms Harsh noise Fusion genres Power noise Onkyokei Other topics Post-industrial music noise rock **Japanoise** (ジャパノイズ, *Japanoizu*), a [portmanteau](/source/Portmanteau) of "Japanese" and "noise", is the distinctively intense and [experimental](/source/Experimental_music) style of noise music that emerged in Japan from the late 1970s onward.[2][3] Nick Cain of *[The Wire](/source/The_Wire_(magazine))* identifies the "primacy of Japanese Noise artists like [Merzbow](/source/Merzbow), [Hijokaidan](/source/Hijokaidan) and [Incapacitants](/source/Incapacitants)" as one of the major developments in noise music since 1990.[4] Certain Japanese noise artists themselves feel uncomfortable being categorized under the umbrella of "Japanese noise", arguing that use of the term is a way of ignoring the differences between musicians who don't necessarily follow the same approach or even know each other at all.[5] ## History On May 8, 1960, six young Japanese musicians, including [Takehisa Kosugi](/source/Takehisa_Kosugi) and [Yasunao Tone](/source/Yasunao_Tone), formed the [Group Ongaku](/source/Group_Ongaku) with two tape recordings of noise music: Automatism and Object. These recordings made use of a mixture of traditional musical instruments along with a vacuum cleaner, a radio, an oil drum, a doll, and a set of dishes. Moreover, the speed of the tape recording was manipulated, further distorting the sounds being recorded.[6] In the late 1970s and early 1980s, [Merzbow](/source/Merzbow) took Lou Reed's album *[Metal Machine Music](/source/Metal_Machine_Music)* as a point of departure and further abstracted the noise aesthetic by freeing the sound from guitar based feedback alone, a development that is thought to have heralded noise music as a genre.[7] According to [Paul Hegarty](/source/Paul_Hegarty_(musician)) (2007), "In many ways it only makes sense to talk of noise music since the advent of various types of noise produced in Japanese music, and in terms of quantity this is really to do with the 1990s onwards [...]. With the vast growth of Japanese noise, finally, noise music becomes a genre".[8] ## Prominent artists - [Hijokaiden](/source/Hijokaidan) - [Merzbow (Masama Akita)](/source/Merzbow) - [Onkyokei](/source/Onkyokei) - [List of Japanoise artists](/source/List_of_Japanoise_artists) Other key Japanese noise artists that contributed to this upsurge of activity include [Boredoms](/source/Boredoms), [C.C.C.C.](/source/C.C.C.C._(band)), [Incapacitants](/source/Incapacitants), [KK Null](/source/KK_Null), [Yamazaki Maso](/source/Yamazaki_Maso), [Solmania](/source/Solmania), K2, [The Gerogerigegege](/source/The_Gerogerigegege), [Mayuko Hino](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mayuko_Hino&action=edit&redlink=1) [[ja](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%97%A5%E9%87%8E%E7%B9%AD%E5%AD%90)], [Ruins](/source/Ruins_(Japanese_band)) and [Hanatarash](/source/Hanatarash).[9][10] During the 1990s, the scene also began to gain recognition overseas, as artists such as [Sonic Youth](/source/Sonic_Youth) and [John Zorn](/source/John_Zorn) introduced many Japanoise performers to American audiences.[11] ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["The Birth of Noise in Japan"](https://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2014/10/birth-of-noise-in-japan-feature). *daily.redbullmusicacademy.com*. Retrieved 2025-09-19. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** David Novak, Japanoise: Music at the Edge of Circulation, Duke University Press. 2013 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** [Nancy Kilpatrick](/source/Nancy_Kilpatrick), *The Goth Bible: A Compendium for the Darkly Inclined*, New York: St. Martin's Griffin, 2004, chapter 5, "Music of the Macabre," p. 86. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Nick Cain, "Noise", *The Wire Primers: A Guide to Modern Music*, Rob Young, ed., London: Verso, 2009, p. 29. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Toshiji Mikawa, "日本のノイズを語る", *G-Modern*, 1994. [http://japanoise.net/j/incapa15.htm](http://japanoise.net/j/incapa15.htm) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20090607044549/http://www.japanoise.net/j/incapa15.htm) 2009-06-07 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine) 1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Mereweather, Charles (2007). *Art, Anti-art, Non-art: Experimentations in the Public Sphere in Postwar Japan, 1950-1970*. Getty Research Institute. pp. 13 and 16. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0892368662](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0892368662). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ["Japanoise.net"](http://japanoise.net). *japanoise.net*. Retrieved 29 March 2018. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Hegarty, Paul (2007). *Noise/music : a history*. New York: Continuum. p. 133. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-8264-1726-8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-8264-1726-8). [OCLC](/source/OCLC_(identifier)) [145379732](https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/145379732). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** ["japanoise.net-index"](http://Japanoise.net). *japanoise.net*. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** Young, Rob (2009). *The Wire Primers: A Guide To Modern Music*. Verso; Original Edition. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1844674275](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1844674275). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** Matsumura, Masato (2014-10-14). ["The Birth of Noise in Japan"](https://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2014/10/birth-of-noise-in-japan-feature). *[Red Bull Music Academy](/source/Red_Bull_Music_Academy)*. Retrieved 2024-01-29. ## External links - [Japanoise.net](http://www.japanoise.net) v t e Avant-garde movements Visual art Abstract expressionism Art Nouveau Art & Language Conceptual art Constructivism Proto-Cubism Cubism Functionalism Bauhaus Grosvenor School Devětsil Divisionism Fauvism Impressionism Neo-Impressionism Post-Impressionism Color Field Incoherents Lyrical Abstraction Mail art Minimalism Mir iskusstva Multidimensional art Neoplasticism De Stijl Neue Slowenische Kunst Nonconformism Nouveau réalisme Orphism Performance art Pop art Process art Purism Rayonism Suprematism Temporary art Vorticism Literature and poetry Acmeism Angry Penguins Asemic writing Conceptual poetry Cyberpunk Ego-Futurism Experimental literature Flarf poetry Hungry generation Imaginism Imagism Language poets Neoavanguardia Neoteric Nouveau roman Oberiu Oulipo Slam poetry Ultraísmo Visual poetry Young Vienna Zaum Music By style Funk Jazz Free funk Yass Pop Rock Prog Punk Metal Others Aleatoric music Ars nova Ars subtilior Atonal music Electroacoustic music Electronic music Industrial music Experimental pop Free jazz Free improvisation Futurism Microtonal music Minimal music Drone music Music theatre Musique concrète New Complexity No wave Noise music Post-rock Rock in Opposition Second Viennese School Serialism Spectral music Stochastic music Textural music Totalism Twelve-tone technique Cinema and theatre Cinéma pur Dogme 95 Drop Art Epic theatre Experimental film Experimental theatre Modernist film Poetic realism Postdramatic theatre Remodernist film Structural film Theatre of the Absurd Theatre of Cruelty General Constructivism Dada Expressionism Fluxus Futurism Russian Futurism Cubo-Futurism Lettrism Modernism Minimalism Postminimalism Neo-minimalism Neo-Dada Neoism Postmodernism Postmodernist film Late modernism Primitivism Situationist International Social realism Socialist realism Surrealism Symbolism Russian symbolism v t e Experimental music Related contemporary classical music genres Aleatoric indeterminacy Avant-garde Drone Electroacoustic Acousmatic music Tape music Minimal Musique concrete Noise Danger Experimental popular music genres By style Avant-garde jazz Avant-garde metal Post-metal Avant-pop Avant-prog Avant-punk Biomusic Deconstructed club Experimental pop Experimental rock krautrock math rock neo-prog no wave noise rock post-punk post-rock Intelligent dance music Neofolk Wave Related Art pop Art punk Art rock Avant-funk Ambient Drone metal Free improvisation Free jazz Glitch Hyperpop Industrial Progressive jazz Punk jazz Witch house Extended techniques 3rd bridge Circuit bending Frippertronics Plunderphonics Prepared guitar Prepared piano Scordatura Turntablism Related concepts Cymatics Dada Data sonification Experimental musical instrument Experimental luthier Fluxus Progressive music Sound art Sound collage Sound installation Sound sculpture Soundscape Electroacoustic improvisation Events and lists List of experimental music festivals List of electronic music festivals List of experimental musicians v t e Music of Japan "Kimigayo" (National anthem) Traditional Instruments Genres and styles Bugaku Bushi Dainichido Bugaku Danmono Gagaku Gigaku Jōruri Kouta Min'yō Nagauta Rōkyoku Saimon Ondo [ja] Komori-uta (lullaby) Warabe Uta [ja] Kazoe Uta [ja] Ekaki Uta [ja] Temari Uta [ja] Post Meiji Restoration (1868–present) Commercial song [ja] Gakusēka (student song) [ja] Kōka (school song) [ja] Ryōka (dormitory song) [ja] Daigaku-Ōenka (cheering song of university) [ja] Enzetsuka/Enka Gunka (military song) Jazz Kayōkyoku Senji-kayō [ja] Gunkoku-kayō [ja] Radio calisthenics song Ryūkōka Shichōsonka (municipality song) [ja] Shōka [ja] Manshū-Shōka [ja] Shin-min'yō [ja] Post-War (1945–present) 1945–present Kayōkyoku Mood-kayō [ja] Idol-kayō [ja] Group sounds Image song Pop Rock 1970–present Anime song Chiptune City pop Denpa song Disco [ja] Electro Electropop Eurobeat Hardcore punk Hip hop Metal Noise Noise rock Nu-music [ja] Ōenka (cheering song) Reggae Synth-pop Ska Visual kei Italo Disco Italo House Juliana’s techno 1990–present Bitpop Grime Being-kei [ja] J-core Japanese net label scene Kawaii metal Komuro-kei [ja] Onkyokei Shibuya-kei Akishibu-kei Utaite Visual kei Eroguro kei Nagoya kei Vocaloid music Ethnic and regional Ainu music Rekuhkara Southern Islands Charts Oricon Singles Chart Combined Singles Chart Albums Chart Combined Albums Chart Digital Singles and Albums Karaoke Chart Billboard Japan Hot 100 Hot Albums Top Download Songs and Albums Other RIAJ Digital Track Chart (discontinued) Achievements List of best-selling music artists in Japan List of best-selling Western artists in Japan List of best-selling albums in Japan List of best-selling singles in Japan Record companies "Big 10" (as of 2026[update]) Avex Group Sony Music Entertainment Japan Universal Music Japan King Record Co. J Storm Victor Entertainment Being Inc. Warner Music Group Pony Canyon Teichiku Entertainment Others Major Independent Musicians List of musical artists from Japan List of Japanese musical groups List of J-pop artists List of Japanese composers List of Japanese hip hop musicians List of Japanese singers Timeline and years 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 Online distributors iTunes Store Apple Music Google Play Music Amazon Music Spotify KKBox (the successor of LISMO Unlimited) RecoChoku [ja] Music.jp [ja] Mora Dwango.jp E-Onkyo music Oricon Music Store Line Music MySound [ja] OTOTOY [ja] AWA [ja] Other topics Awards Shinto music --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Japanoise](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanoise) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanoise?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.