Improvised Music from Japan

Improvised Music from Japan is a music website and record label.

The website was originally known as Japanese Free Improvisers. As its name suggests, it concentrates on Japanese and Japan-based musical improvisers, particularly free improvisers. It was founded in 1996 by Yoshiyuki Suzuki.

Releases
In December 2001, a compilation box-set, also called Improvised Music from Japan, was released to mark the fifth anniversary of the website. It was a 10 CD collection of previously unissued material from a variety of Japanese musicians (some of them collaborating with Europeans and Americans). The artists featured on the release are:


 * Tetuzi Akiyama
 * Big Picture (band)
 * Haco
 * Shoji Hano
 * Junji Hirose
 * Ryoji Hojito
 * Yoshimitsu Ichiraku
 * Kazuo Imai
 * Incapacitants
 * Atsuhiro Ito
 * Utah Kawasaki
 * Kyoko Kuroda
 * Brett Larner
 * Sachiko M
 * Toshimaru Nakamura
 * Takehito Nakazato
 * Mitsuru Nasuno
 * Masahiko Okura
 * Aki Onda
 * Yasuhiro Otani
 * Otomo Yoshihide
 * Tetsu Saitoh
 * Michihiro Sato
 * Skist
 * Taku Sugimoto
 * Tamaru
 * Yumiko Tanaka
 * Tsuguto Tsunoda
 * Kazuhisa Uchihashi
 * Michiyo Yagi
 * Seiichi Yamamoto
 * Tetsuro Yasunaga
 * Ami Yoshida
 * Yasuhiro Yoshigaki

The label has since released a number of other records featuring similar artists:


 * Toshimaru Nakamura, Tetuzi Akiyama and guests, Meeting at Off Site Vol. 1 (IMJ-501, April 2002)
 * Otomo Yoshihide, Ensemble Cathode (IMJ-502, July 2002)
 * Kaffe Matthews, Andrea Neumann and Sachiko M, In Case of Fire Take the Stairs (IMJ-503, December 2002)
 * Ami Yoshida, Tiger Thrush (IMJ-504, July 2003)
 * Shoji Hano, 48 (IMJ-505, May 2003)
 * Toshimaru Nakamura, Tetuzi Akiyama and guests, Meeting at Off Site Vol. 2 (IMJ-506, May 2003)
 * Yumiko Tanaka, Tayutauta (IMJ-507, due January 2004)
 * Raku Sugifatti (Radu Malfatti and Taku Sugimoto), Futatsu (IMJ-508/9, December 2003)
 * Aki Onda, Bon Voyage! (IMJ-510, October 2003)
 * Otomo Yoshihide, Park Je Chun and Mi Yeon, Loose Community (IMJ-511, December 2003)
 * Peter Brötzmann and Shoji Hano, Funny Rat (IMJ-512, October 2003)
 * Toshimaru Nakamura, Side Guitar (IMJ-513, December 2003)
 * Han Bennink and Kazuo Imai, Across the Desert (IMJ-514, December 2003)
 * Toshimaru Nakamura, Tetuzi Akiyama and guests, Meeting at Off Site Vol. 3 (IMJ-515, December 2003)

Other Japanese artists which could be considered free improvisers include:


 * Kaoru Abe
 * Masayuki Takayanagi