Mikeru On Japanese Music Today

Japanese rock band L'Arc-en-Ciel recently wrapped up their TOUR 2008 L'7 ~Trans ASIA via PARIS~. Held from April 19 to June 8, the world tour brought L'Arc-en-Ciel to Shanghai, Seoul, Hong Kong, Taipei, Paris, Tokyo, and finally full circle back to Osaka, where the band first began their musical journey 17 years ago. In close to two decades of ups and downs, this Japanese aesthetic rock band has grown from a Kansai indie to a world-class act.


There is, of course, a reason I'm describing L'Arc-en-Ciel as "aesthetic rock" instead of "visual rock". In 1999, the host of Japanese music program Pop Jam repeatedly called L'Arc-en-Ciel a "visual kei band", a label that the band strongly resists. Usually mild-mannered bandleader tetsu was visibly angered by the slight, and L'Arc-en-Ciel left the program early in a show of discontent. From that day on, L'Arc-en-Ciel has had nothing to do with the words "visual kei".


Even so, early L'Arc-en-Ciel did display many visual kei characteristics. Image wise, the band had visual rock's sense of Japanese aesthetics. Music wise, their early style was similar to visual contemporaries SHAZNA, PENICILLIN, and SOPHIA, and the later PIERROT and Janne Da Arc. However, since L'Arc-en-Ciel has repeatedly stressed to the media that they are not a visual kei band, we can only say that their music and image includes visual kei elements.