Which Japanese musical act is most popular internationally? Shonen Knife? Pizzicato Five? Puffy? Nope. Although it's hard to get exact sales figures, odds are it's veteran keyboardist Kitaro, who has successfully integrated Far Eastern musical themes and modern technology in a series of New Age chart-topping albums. After playing guitar in R&B-based bands in his teens, Kitaro switched to keyboards when he became a member of legendary Japanese hippie ensemble the Far East Family Band, which...

Which Japanese musical act is most popular internationally? Shonen Knife? Pizzicato Five? Puffy? Nope. Although it's hard to get exact sales figures, odds are it's veteran keyboardist Kitaro, who has successfully integrated Far Eastern musical themes and modern technology in a series of New Age chart-topping albums. After playing guitar in R&B-based bands in his teens, Kitaro switched to keyboards when he became a member of legendary Japanese hippie ensemble the Far East Family Band, which enjoyed some overseas success in the early 1970s. He then went solo, and scored a major success with his soundtrack to the NHK documentary series Silk Road. A deal with Geffen Records followed in 1985, and Western orientophiles proved a receptive audience for his exotic-sounding, spacy soundscapes. For many years Kitaro maintained homes in the mountains of Colorado and in the Japanese Alps, environments which he found creatively and spiritually stimulating. After several years of being nominated, Kitaro won a Grammy in the Best New Age Album category for his 2000 album, Thinking of You. Kitaro's music is rooted in the natural world of the Japanese countryside in which he grew up, and he boasts loyal fans on both sides of the Pacific.