Taking islands in Africa
Watch the slow boat hit and run
Outside there's a world waiting
I'll take it all by storm
And when the sunset finds me
I'm coming home
- From 'Taking Islands in Africa' on the Gentlemen take Polaroids Album.

Japan was formed in the mid-1970s when brothers Steve and David Batt from Beckenham, Kent (UK) formed a band whilst still at school. They took the names Steve Jansen and David Sylvian, and were joined by bassist Mick Karn and keyboardist Richard Barbieri.

Their first gig in 1976 was supporting the Fabulous Poodles, which could hardly be more appropriate as Sylvian had been expelled from school for wearing make-up and dyeing his hair. They really started to perform in 1977 when, with the addition of Rob Dean on lead guitar, they were mixing Metal, Glam, Motown and David's original songs.

The line-up therefore was:

• David Sylvian (vocals)
• Steve Jansen (drums)
• Mick Karn (bass)
• Richard Barbieri (keyboards)
• Rob Dean (lead guitar)

The Ariola Years

The band had a glam rock image which was being overtaken by the punk movement at the time. Once the influence of punk faded, however, they were ideally positioned for the first wave of the New Romantic movement. Karn had been classically-trained and was the only real musician in the group, an advantage for a band that was on the back of the punk explosion.

They won a talent contest which led to European label Ariola signing them. Their debut album, Adolescent Sex (1979), was a mish-mash of styles, including a Barbara Streisand cover version of Rain On My Parade. It did however get them a tour supporting The Blue Oyster Cult. An early single, 'The Unconventional', made the band a big hit in - ironically - Japan.

The second album, Obscure Alternatives, was the first to settle down into their interest in Eastern music, especially music from Japan and China. The next album, Quiet Life, was produced by Roxy Music's producer John Punter, and does lean a little towards the style associated with Bryan Ferry's band, but it was the group's biggest hit to date. Another cover was one of the standout tracks on the album: a cover of the Velvet Underground's 'All Tomorrow's Parties'.

The Virgin Years

At this stage they were gathering a following in Japan, Germany and Britain. The ex-manager of the Yardbirds, Simon Napier Bell, took them on and got them a contract with Richard Branson's Virgin record label.

Their first album for their new label was Gentlemen Take Polaroids, which was a collaboration with Japanese keyboardist Ryuichi Sakamoto from the Yellow Magic Orchestra. One of the best songs written by the band - 'Taking Islands in Africa' - features on this album; but while it was a step up as far as sales went, it was also the beginning of the end. Rob Dean left the band for artistic reasons: the synthesiser-oriented track the band was taking gave him little opportunity to play lead guitar.

Ariola were also trading on the band's increased fame, and released a compilation of the band's back catalogue with themselves in 1981. This was called Assemblage, and reached No 26 in the UK charts. On the back of this success they also released a number of retrospective singles between 1981 and 1983. The Smokey Robinson track, 'I Second that Emotion', was the most successful, reaching No 9 in the charts.

Tin Drum followed on Virgin in 1981, and a No 5 hit with 'Ghosts', but tensions were already starting to pull the band in different directions. The biggest cause of the split was the two artistic temperaments of Sylvian and Karn. After Tin Drum the band engaged in a number of solo projects. Karn, a sculptor, poured a lot of effort into that. As well as joining Rob Dean in backing Gary Numan, he also played for Robert Palmer. Meanwhile Sylvian teamed up with Sakamoto for a Top 30 hit, 'Bamboo Houses', before adding vocals to 'Forbidden Colours' from the original sound track of Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence which Sakamoto had been working on. In classic rock star style, Sylvian had also stolen Karn's girlfriend Yuka Fujii, so it really had led to irreconcilable differences. Barbieri meanwhile produced an album by the Swedish group 'Lakejer', and composed for the Ballet Rambert.

Their 'Sons of Pioneers' tour was to be the last time the band would be together. Japan ended as a unit in a final concert in Nagoya, Japan on 16 December, 1982. The swansong, however, came with the release of the live album and video, Oil on Canvas, in 1983. After that the band went off to pursue their solo projects.

In 1991 the band did re-form, however, with the exception of Dean, for Rain Tree Crow. Virgin were prepared to put money into this follow-up, but only if they performed under the name Japan. But Sylvian deemed it to be dwelling on the past, and took off with the tapes to complete the project himself. Yet again, as Karn had noticed earlier, Sylvian was to dominate in the studio; and Japan really were finished after this one last project.

Just when I thought I could not be stopped
When my chance came to be king
The ghosts of my life
Blew wilder than the wind
- From 'Ghosts' on the Tin Drum album.

The Albums

• Adolescent Sex (1978)
• Obscure Alternatives (1978)
• Quiet Life (1979)
• Gentlemen Take Polaroids (1980)
• Assemblage (1981)
• Tin Drum (1981)
• Oil on Canvas (1983 - Live)
• Exorcising Ghosts (1984 - Compilation)
• Rain Tree Crow (1991 - The band performed as 'Rain Tree Crow', as Sylvian refused to have the name 'Japan' tied to the project.

After the Split

After the band split, each of the members continued with a career in music and the arts. So the story and sound of 'Japan' has continued to develop along different avenues.

David Sylvian

After the split David continued to have a successful solo career, and also displayed a number of collections of photographs. He has worked since with Jansen and Barbieri and has often collaborated with Sakamoto. He is still producing music today.

Discography:

• Brilliant Trees (1984)
• Words with the Shaman (1985 - three track instrumental EP)
• Gone to Earth (1986)
• Secrets of the Beehive (1987)
• Plight and Premonition (1988 - with Holger Czukay)
• Flux and Mutability (1989 - with Holger Czukay)
• Weatherbox (1989 - a Five CD retrospective)
• The First Day (1993 - with Robert Fripp)
• Damage (1994 - Live, with Robert Fripp)
• Dead Bees on a Cake (1999)
• Approaching Silence (1999)
• Everything and Nothing (2000 - Retrospective)

Mick Karn

Mick went on to appear with Gary Numan, Midge Ure, David Torn, Kate Bush, Terry Bozzio, Joan Armatrading, Bill Nelson and Peter Murphy (ex-Bauhaus) on various projects, but has also put a lot of effort into his sculpture. He also formed a new label, 'Medium Productions', with Jansen and Barbieri, with whom he carried out a number of collaborations. As well as these he had some solo albums.

• Titles (1982)
• Dreams of Reason Produce Monsters (1987)
• Bestial Cluster (1993)
• Polytown (1994 - with David Torn)
• The Collector's Edition (1997)
• Each Eye a Path (2001)

Steve Jansen and Richard Barbieri

They supplied instrumentals for a number of Sylvian and Karn's projects, as well as numerous projects on their 'Medium Production' label.

Jansen, Barbieri and Karn's Albums:

• Other Worlds In A Small Room (1984 - Jansen and Barbieri)
• Beginning To Melt (1993 - Jansen, Barbieri and Karn)
• Seed (Jansen, Barbieri and Karn)
• Stone To Flesh (1995 - Jansen and Barbieri)
• Indigo Falls (1997 - Suzanne J. and Richard Barbieri with Jansen and Karn)
• Changing Hands (Jansen, Barbieri and Nobukazu Takemura)
• The Medium Label Sampler (1997 - Jansen, Barbieri and Karn)
• Playing In A Room With People (1997 - Jansen, Barbieri and Karn)
• Ism (1999 - Jansen, Barbieri and Karn)

Rob Dean

After leaving the band in 1980 Rob went on to play guitar for Gary Numan.

Ryuichi Sakamoto

Although only a collaborator on Gentlemen Take Polaroids, it is worth mentioning the subsequent career of Sakamoto. As well as having a number of solo performance albums he is the mastermind behind a number of haunting and famous scores to films though the intervening years.

Albums:

• Thousand Knives of Ryuichi Sakamoto (1978)
• End of Asia (1981)
• Esperanto (1985 - A Ballet Score)
• Tokyo Joe (1988)
• Neo Geo (1991)
• Beauty (1992)
• Heart Beat (1992)
• 1996 (1996)
• Smoochy (1997)
• Discord (1998)
• Raw Life (1999)
• Cinemage (2000 - A collection of his film tracks)
• Casa (2001 - with Jaques and Paula Morlenbaum)
• In The Lobby (2001 - At GEH In London)
• Comica (2002)

Film Scores:

• Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1983)
• The Last Emperor (1991 - with David Bryne)
• The Sheltering Sky (1992)
• High Heels (1992)
• Emily Bronte's 'Wuthering Heights' (1992)
• Little Buddha (1994 - Contributed)
• Love Is The Devil (1998)
• Snake Eyes (1998)
• New Rose Hotel (1999)
• Taboo (2000)
• BTTB (2001)