Back in the mid-'80s the J-pop scene experienced what was known as the "band boom." This trend was triggered by a late-night TV show called Ikaten, which featured live performances by amateur bands eager to make it big. Most of the bands that appeared on Ikaten have faded into obscurity, but a few went on to fame and fortune. One of them was Blankey Jet City, a hard-rock trio that had been paying its dues on the Tokyo live-house circuit. BJC suddenly found themselves to...

Back in the mid-'80s the J-pop scene experienced what was known as the "band boom." This trend was triggered by a late-night TV show called Ikaten, which featured live performances by amateur bands eager to make it big. Most of the bands that appeared on Ikaten have faded into obscurity, but a few went on to fame and fortune. One of them was Blankey Jet City, a hard-rock trio that had been paying its dues on the Tokyo live-house circuit. BJC suddenly found themselves to be the flavor of the month when they appeared on the show in 1990 and won the Ikaten Grand Prix. That triggered a bidding war among Japanese record companies to sign them, with Toshiba-EMI eventually winning out. The band's leader was Kansai native Kenichi Asai, who besides being BJC's lead vocalist and guitarist, also wrote most of the group's material. The other two members were bassist Toshiyuki Terui and drummer Tatsuya Nakamura. Terui and Asai had previously played in a rockabilly band together, while Nakamura had played in several punk bands. BJC affected a tough, leather-clad punk look, and the band's sound was dominated by Asai's distinctive, high-pitched love-it-or-hate-it voice. BJC soon gained a reputation as one of Japan's hardest-working rock bands, doing a nationwide tour every year and releasing a steady stream of singles and albums. The band inspired intense devotion among its fans, who were caught up in the mythology of "Blankey Jet City," a fictional city that served as the background of many of Asai's songs, which deconstructed various images and pop icons of Western subculture. BJC remained largely unknown outside Japan, although the band played a few club dates in Los Angeles, New York and London during the course of its career. That career ended in 2000, when BJC decided to call it a day, playing their last-ever show at the Fuji Rock festival. Since then Asai has been involved in various projects, including the band Ajico, which he formed with female vocalist Ua. Terui joined hard-rock trio Rosso, while Nakamura has played with various bands as a "support" drummer.