Asakusa Jinta

Experimental performance artists/preservation band Asakusa Jinta take their name and inspiration through the Tokyo historical district where jintas (roving Japanese street bands) once loaded the streets. The band’s combination of punk, ska, golf swing, and march music (performed from the seven-piece clothing including accordion, standup bass, horns, and tempo section) began traveling audiences crazy in 1999. Asakusa Jinta’s powerful display gained a status throughout their hometown of Tokyo for lively (bordering on frantic) live shows, offering outlandish swing-era-gone-mad outfits and typically standing-room-only halls. Having a horn section susceptible to marching through the loaded viewers and a frontman/bass participant whose vocals conjure pictures of the carnival barker, Asakusa Jinta provide the nature of chindon’ya (traditional Japanese road performance) alive. Their debut record, Asakusa Rock and roll, was released for the Indie label in 2005. The record was well received by critics, though it didn’t fit quickly into traditional advertising classes. Their follow-up work, Rakugo Geijutsu Kyokai Recording, was fulfilled with an identical reception as the band’s nationwide fan base continuing to swell. Asakusa Jinta broke fresh ground in the 2007 South by Southwest event in Austin, carrying out within the festival’s Japan Nite display. The event appearance increased reputation of Asakusa Jinta, presenting an entirely fresh market towards the band’s unique efficiency experience.