Hijokaidan is a Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese noise

Noise music

Noise music is a term used to describe varieties of avant-garde music and sound art that may use elements such as cacophony, dissonance, atonality, noise, indeterminacy, and repetition in their realization. Noise music can feature distortion, various types of acoustically or electronically...

 and free improvisation

Free improvisation

Free improvisation or free music is improvised music without any rules beyond the logic or inclination of the musician involved. The term can refer to both a technique and as a recognizable genre in its own right....

 group with a revolving lineup that has ranged from two members to as many as fourteen in its early days. The group is the project of guitarist Yoshiyuki "Jojo" Hiroshige (Japanese; 広重嘉之, JOJO広重) its one constant member, who is head & owner of the Osaka

Osaka

is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...

-based Alchemy Records

Alchemy Records (Japan)

Alchemy Records is a record label based in Osaka, Japan, specializing in noise / experimental music and psychedelic rock. It is run by Jojo Hiroshige of the noise group Hijokaidan. Alchemy has released albums by Hijokaidan, Balzac, Hanatarash, Masonna, Incapacitants, Borbetomagus, and Merzbow,...

. Other regulars include Jojo's wife Junko and Toshiji Mikawa (also of Incapacitants

Incapacitants

are a Japanese noise music group formed in 1981. It consists of Toshiji Mikawa and Fumio Kosakai, whose stated aim is to produce "pure" noise, uninfluenced by musical ideas or even human intention, using primarily feedback, vocals, and various electronics...

). The group began at the very end of the 1970s as a performance art

Performance art

In art, performance art is a performance presented to an audience, traditionally interdisciplinary. Performance may be either scripted or unscripted, random or carefully orchestrated; spontaneous or otherwise carefully planned with or without audience participation. The performance can be live or...

-based group whose anarchic shows would often involve destruction of venues and audio equipment, food and garbage being thrown around, and on-stage urination. As the group's lineup changed over time, their focus became less performance-based and more musically based, fine-tuning their sound into a dense wall of noise.

Partial discography

• Syumatsu-Syorijo(compilation) (1980)
• Zoroku no Kibyo (1982)
• Viva Angel (1984)
• King of Noise (1985)
• Tapes (1986)
• Limited Edition (1987)
• No Paris No Harm (1988)
• Modern (1989)
• Romance (1990)
• Windom (1991)
• The Neverending Story of King of Noise Compilation (1992)
• Noise From Trading Cards (1997)
• Ferocity of Practical Life EP (1997)
• The Last Recording Album (2004)
• The Lord of the Noise (retrospective CD and DVD) (2004)
• Polar Nights Live (2008)
• The Noise (30cd box set, 2009)

Collaborations

• S.O.B.Kaidan: Noise Violence and Destroy (1988)
• Borbetomagus & Hijokaidan: Both Noises End Burning (2007)