Sense of Place: ATARASHII GAKKO! wants to awaken Tokyo from its doldrums

The United States and Japan have a long tradition of cultural exchange. For our Sense of Place: Japan series, you may have heard us talk to Japanese artists who are influenced by American garage rock, Chick Corea or the massive post-war import of American vinyl. But to close out this series, the tide turns the other way.

ATARASHII GAKKO! is a J-pop group of four members who perform highly choreographed, extremely energetic routines. Their popularity in Japan has been boosted by their songs being used in anime and film, but over the last few years, their presence has been growing in the U.S., as well.

They’ve performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and at Coachella. This fall, they are embarking on a major North American tour to support their new album, AG Calling!

In fact, they were so busy touring the world that we couldn’t record them when we were actually in Japan. Instead, we caught them in Philadelphia, where they performed in front of a live audience for World Cafe.

Many thanks to interpreter Marie Pappas for helping with this session.

This episode of World Cafe was produced and edited by Kimberly Junod. The web story was created by Miguel Perez. Our engineer is Chris Williams. Our programming and booking coordinator is Chelsea Johnson and our line producer is Will Loftus.