Reconstruction and Music Walking Together: Fukushima, a Musical Prefecture of 1.8 Million — Finding Band Members Now
Fukushima Prefecture has a population of approximately 1.8 million (2024 confirmed figures, ranked 18th nationally). The prefecture is neatly distributed across four core cities: Iwaki City (approximately 350,000) on the Pacific coast, Fukushima City (approximately 280,000), the prefectural capital, Koriyama City (approximately 320,000), directly connected to Tokyo by bullet train, and Aizuwakamatsu City (approximately 110,000) in an inland basin. Instead of one massive center, each region has its own independent cultural core—this is the essential starting point when discussing Fukushima's music scene.
And there is one more fact that cannot be avoided when speaking of this prefecture. The Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, 2011, and the subsequent Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident. Fifteen years have passed as of 2026. During those fifteen years, Fukushima's music has walked step by step alongside reconstruction. Project FUKUSHIMA! was launched by Yoshihide Otomo, Michirou Endou, and Ryoichi Wago; Takashi Yamaguchi of Sambomaster and the Inawashiro Lake Zoo sang "I love you & I need you Fukushima"; Michihiko Yanai, a native of Koriyama who has led the music movement for Fukushima's reconstruction as executive director. Shiniji Matsuda and Shigeyoshi Suganami of THE BACK HORN are also musicians who have continued to engage deeply with their hometown after the disaster.
Restraint over showiness. Sustainability over trends. The fifteen years of time have imparted a unique composure and strength to Fukushima's music. In this article, for those looking to find band members in Fukushima, I have compiled information about the music scenes of the four cities and the active live houses, cultural facilities, studios, and annual events. Combined with Membo's recruitment bulletin board, you should be able to meet the best musical companions in this land where reconstruction and music walk side by side.
What is Band Member Recruitment?
"Band member recruitment" refers to announcements to find companions (vocalist, guitar, bass, drums, keyboards, chorus, etc.) for musical activities, and the act of responding to such announcements in general. This ranges from serious talent searches for professional bands aiming to go pro, to monthly sessions in adult circles, to gathering members for student band cover competitions. The range of purposes is extremely wide.
The means of searching can be broadly divided into four categories: (1) Post and search on specialized recruitment bulletin boards like Membo, (2) Spend time at live houses and practice studios and meet people in person, (3) Reach out on social media such as X (Twitter), Instagram, and Facebook, (4) Search from within a university light music club or local music community—each has its pros and cons, and in regions distributed across four cities like Fukushima, using multiple methods in combination is the practical approach.
This article will introduce these four methods in Fukushima's context, based on information about venues actually operating there (live houses, cultural facilities, studios, and festivals). The combination I most recommend is "using Membo's recruitment bulletin board as your main axis, with local venues and social media as supporting tools." I've also organized the specific strengths and weaknesses of each method in the section on alternative platforms beyond Membo later on.
Musicians Connected to Fukushima
Yoshihide Otomo — Raised in Fukushima City
Born in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture in 1959, Yoshihide Otomo is one of the few musicians who naturally accepts being called a "Fukushima-raised musician." From age 9 to 18, he grew up in Fukushima City, and his entire formative musical period was spent in Fukushima while immersed in free jazz at jazz coffeehouses during his time at Fukushima Prefectural Fukushima High School. After the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, he founded Project FUKUSHIMA! with Michirou Endou and poet Ryoichi Wago, continuing to question society about the relationship between disaster recovery and music. He is also well known for composing the music for the 2013 NHK asadora (morning drama) Amachan and winning the Japan Record Awards Composition Prize. His official website and Wikipedia provide a comprehensive overview of his extensive career.
Takashi Yamaguchi (Sambomaster) — Born in Fukushima Prefecture
Born in Fukushima Prefecture in 1976. He founded Sambomaster in a light music club at Toyo University in 2000 and made his major debut in 2003. In 2010, he participated in the Inawashiro Lake Zoo at the "Wind and Rock Imoni Party" hosted by Michihiko Yanai, and in 2011, appeared on the NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen with the charity song "I love you & I need you Fukushima." Sambomaster's songs hold a special place among local musicians as a song of support that was repeatedly sung in post-disaster Fukushima. The band's history is summarized on Wikipedia.
Michirou Endou — From Nihonmatsu City (Passed Away in 2019)
Born in Adachi District, Fukushima Prefecture (now Nihonmatsu City). As the vocalist of THE STALIN, a symbol of 1980s Japanese punk rock, he pioneered the era. After the 2011 disaster, he cofounded Project FUKUSHIMA! with Yoshihide Otomo and Ryoichi Wago, realizing the "August 15 Global Simultaneous Simultaneous Festival FUKUSHIMA!" on August 15 of that year. Responding to his hometown's disaster became the center of his late-career activities, and after his death in 2019, his ideals continue through Festival FUKUSHIMA!. A detailed biography is available on Wikipedia.
Michihiko Yanai — From Koriyama City
A creative director born in Koriyama City in 1964. He left Hakuhodo in 2003 to establish "Wind and Rock," and began publishing the monthly free paper "Wind and Rock" from 2005. In 2010, he founded the Inawashiro Lake Zoo, and after the Great East Japan Earthquake, he has led the continuous rock festival "LIVE Fukushima: Wind and Rock SUPER Nomaoi" as executive director in support of Fukushima's reconstruction. He currently serves as professor in the Design Department of the Faculty of Fine Arts at Tokyo University of the Arts, making him a rare figure who travels between Fukushima and Tokyo across three layers: music, advertising, and education. His career is summarized on Wikipedia.
Shinji Matsuda / Shigeyoshi Suganami (THE BACK HORN) — From Hanawa Town and Sukagawa City
Shinji Matsuda, THE BACK HORN's drummer and leader, is from Hanawa Town in Higashishirakawa District, Fukushima Prefecture, while guitarist Shigeyoshi Suganami is from Sukagawa City. In 2010, Matsuda participated in the Inawashiro Lake Zoo, and has been at the core of support activities including "LIVE Fukushima CARAVAN Japan" which has continued since 2009. As a band, THE BACK HORN has balanced music and local support by traveling back and forth between Fukushima and Tokyo since after the disaster. A record of the band's history and support activities is preserved on Wikipedia.
Major Live Houses and Cultural Facilities
Iwaki Art and Culture Exchange Hall Alios (Iwaki City)
Located at 1-6 Mihaki, Taira, Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, Iwaki Art and Culture Exchange Hall Alios is a comprehensive cultural facility with a grand hall, medium theater, small theater, music small hall, practice rooms, and rehearsal rooms. As a cultural hub of Iwaki after the disaster, it has continuously hosted large-scale performances and community-participatory events, accommodating everything from local band one-man shows to national tour artists performing in Fukushima. Inquiries about performances and studio usage can be made through the official website's contact window.
Fukushima City Concert Hall (Fukushima City)
Located at 1-1 Irie-cho, Fukushima City, Fukushima City Concert Hall opened in 1984 and is the main classical music facility in Fukushima City. It has long served as the headquarters for the municipal orchestra and wind band, as well as the venue for high school choral and wind band competitions throughout the prefecture (the official website could not be confirmed at the time of writing, so only text references are included here). While classical-oriented, it is one of the places local musicians first name when referring to "the center of my town's music."
Koriyama Civic Culture Center (Koriyama City)
The Koriyama Civic Culture Center, 80 minutes from Tokyo by bullet train, is the central cultural facility of Koriyama, an important junction city in Tohoku. Koriyama is also the hometown of Michihiko Yanai, and the facility has repeatedly been used as a base for Wind and Rock events and LIVE Fukushima-related projects. Backed by the prefecture's largest economic sphere, Koriyama offers the widest range of options from hall performances to studio usage.
Aizuwakamatsu City Culture Center (Aizuwakamatsu City)
The main cultural facility in Aizuwakamatsu City in the inland basin. With a unique cultural sphere rooted in samurai culture, it functions as a venue for hall performances and the presentation of local choral groups, traditional music, and citizen bands. It is a presence that supports an independent music community separate from the coastal and central regions.
CLUB SONIC iwaki / Small and Medium Live Houses
In Iwaki City, CLUB SONIC iwaki has long been known as an established rock venue (official information confirmation was incomplete at the time of article writing, so please check local information to confirm the latest operational status before requesting performances). The total number of live houses in the prefecture is estimated at approximately 10-15. Fukushima's rock venues are distributed across Iwaki, Fukushima City, and Koriyama, with the characteristic that they are not concentrated in one city.
Practice Studio Information
Finding a place to practice is as vital to band activity as finding members. Practice studios throughout Fukushima Prefecture are scattered across the four cities of Iwaki, Fukushima City, Koriyama, and Aizuwakamatsu, with small to medium-sized rehearsal studios in each, and practice rooms often attached to civic culture center facilities.
Price levels are around 1,500 to 2,500 yen per person per hour (varying with late-night packages and student discounts). As a regional city, there is no concentration of large chains like Tokyo or Osaka, but many small studios have been operating for over 20 years in their respective communities, and the density of the community is by no means inferior.
Practice studios are not just places to make noise, but meeting places where you become acquainted with other bands. I have heard several stories of member additions resulting from casual conversations in lobbies, hallways, and break spaces. If you're struggling with a bassist shortage, posting a recruitment notice on the studio's bulletin board is still an effective method. Posting Membo's URL with a QR code makes it easier to contact you.
Annual Events
Festival FUKUSHIMA! (Hosted by Project FUKUSHIMA!)
Starting from the "August 15 Global Simultaneous Festival FUKUSHIMA!" on August 15, 2011, and held annually every August since then is Festival FUKUSHIMA! Founded by Yoshihide Otomo, Michirou Endou (after his 2019 passing, the ideals are inherited), and poet Ryoichi Wago as the core, with the slogan "The future is in our hands," it has continued for over 15 years as a place connecting reconstruction and music. Large-scale art projects like "Fukushima Grand Tarpaulin" and "Flags Across Borders" are also developed by the same organizers, giving it aspects of a citizen-participatory creative movement beyond just music. It will be held in 2025 and is planned to continue in 2026.
"LIVE Fukushima: Wind and Rock SUPER Nomaoi" (Executive Director Michihiko Yanai)
With the 2010 "Wind and Rock Imoni Party" as its predecessor, since the disaster it has continued as Wind and Rock SUPER Nomaoi, a rock festival supporting Fukushima's reconstruction. Michihiko Yanai, from Koriyama, serves as executive director, and with musicians centered around Sambomaster, THE BACK HORN, and the Inawashiro Lake Zoo, the event has continuously questioned the meaning of continuing music in Fukushima every year. Simply attending as an audience member allows you to quickly grasp the roster of players supporting Fukushima's rock scene.
How to Perform or Participate in Festivals
When considering "I want my band to perform at these festivals" or "I'd like to get involved on the organizing side," there are essentially three realistic steps you can take.
(1) Participate in Project FUKUSHIMA!'s "Collective FUKUSHIMA!"—The official website of Project FUKUSHIMA! explains a collective framework that recruits members to carry out activities together. A movement body where citizens, artists, and volunteers participate on equal footing, it is the most open entry point for getting involved in festival operations and related projects (like the Fukushima Grand Tarpaulin). Even if not performing directly, multiple cases have been reported where continuous relationship building with the organizing side has led to performance opportunities over the past 15 years.
(2) Wind and Rock SUPER Nomaoi is fundamentally a matter of contacting the executive committee—Since Wind and Rock SUPER Nomaoi is a disaster recovery support festival with a strong invitation-only character, whether there is a general public band slot may vary year to year. For performance requests, it is most reliable to check the official announcements of the Wind and Rock executive committee (the organizers' social media and official website) for the status of applications for each fiscal year. If details are not publicly available for a given year, it is more respectful to judge it as "unclear" and wait for another year.
(3) Build relationships starting as an audience member and volunteer—For both festivals, the shortest path is not live performance but "first attending as an audience member or volunteer for a year or two." As mentioned in the Yamagata article (on Tohoku's first orchestra), there is a strong culture in Tohoku's music communities of trusting "people who have met repeatedly at venues." After attending for one to two years and then using Membo's recruitment bulletin board, the groundwork for negotiations naturally falls into place.
Fukushima Music Scene Statistics
| Item | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Fukushima Prefecture Population | Approximately 1.8 million (18th nationally) | 2024 confirmed figures |
| Four Major Cities Population | Iwaki 350,000 / Koriyama 320,000 / Fukushima 280,000 / Aizuwakamatsu 110,000 | Four cities form the core of band activity in the prefecture |
| Estimated Number of Live Houses in Prefecture | Approximately 10-15 | Distributed across four cities, estimated |
| Time Since Great East Japan Earthquake | 15 years as of 2026 | March 11, 2011 |
| Project FUKUSHIMA! Years of Continuation | 15th year as of 2026 | Founded in 2011 |
| Estimated Junior and Senior High School Light Music Club Members | Approximately 2,500-3,500 | Rough calculation based on Ministry of Education's "School Basic Survey" junior and senior high school numbers × typical light music club participation rate (3-5%) |
| Major Age Distribution | Teens to 20s (student band layer) / 30s to 50s (adult band layer) showing bimodal distribution | Based on observation of university light music club and studio regular communities |
The characteristic of Fukushima is its asymmetry: "while the number of live houses is not particularly large, the cultural depth of the 15 years walking alongside reconstruction is unique." Compared to other prefectures in the same 47-prefectures series like Yamagata (Tohoku's First Orchestra) and Aomori (Tsugaru Shamisen's Global Expansion), Fukushima can be described as "a rare prefecture where contemporary music has walked alongside social change."
Comparison of Iwaki, Fukushima City, Koriyama, and Aizuwakamatsu
When considering band activity in Fukushima Prefecture, the first important fact to grasp is that "each of the four cities has its own independent music community." Just as neighboring prefectures like Ishikawa (Kanazawa), Toyama, and Fukui in the Hokuriku set differ significantly in musical culture, the four cities within Fukushima Prefecture, though geographically within the same prefecture, are essentially independent as cultural spheres.
| City | Character | Main Venue Candidates | Suitable Band Types |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iwaki City | Prefecture's largest with 350,000. Coastal region, most affected by disaster and nuclear accident. Centered on Alios, many recovery events | Alios / CLUB SONIC iwaki / Surroundings of Spa Resort Hawaii | Rock and pop in general / Recovery event-oriented participation |
| Fukushima City | Prefectural capital with 280,000. Base of Project FUKUSHIMA!, Yoshihide Otomo's hometown during his formative years | Fukushima City Concert Hall / City café live performances / City studios | Alternative and experimental music / Project FUKUSHIMA! context |
| Koriyama City | Prefecture's largest economic sphere with 320,000. Good bullet train access, Tohoku junction, Michihiko Yanai's hometown | Koriyama Civic Culture Center / City live houses | Rock-centered / Nationwide tour reception |
| Aizuwakamatsu City | 110,000, inland basin, samurai culture, independent economic sphere | Aizuwakamatsu City Culture Center / Downtown venues | Folk and traditional systems / Locally self-contained bands |
Among the four cities, the community density is said to be thickest in Fukushima City. It is the base of Project FUKUSHIMA! and also the "hometown during Yoshihide Otomo's formative musical years" from age 9 to 18. On the other hand, Koriyama City is easiest for bands with national tour and professional aspirations to base themselves, given its bullet train access and economic scale. For disaster-recovery-oriented work, Iwaki City is suitable; for tradition-focused and the calm unique to basins, Aizuwakamatsu City—such is the character of each city.
Comparison with Tokyo (Capital Region) — The Real Differences of "Doing Bands in Regional Areas"
"What's the difference between doing a band in Tokyo (capital region) versus in regional Fukushima?"—This is a perspective that is repeatedly asked by foreign musicians and also by people considering Uターン (returning to hometown) and Iターン (moving to a different region) as working musicians. Reading this alongside the Tokyo article will make the differences three-dimensional, but honestly organizing it from Fukushima's perspective goes like this:
| Perspective | Tokyo (Capital Region) | Fukushima (Regional Four Cities) |
|---|---|---|
| Population Density and Recruitment Pool | Tokyo population approximately 14 million, Membo and live house posts among the highest nationally | Prefecture-wide approximately 1.8 million. Pool is one digit smaller. Conversely, the intensity of "selecting carefully, one by one" tends to emerge |
| Travel Distance and Studio Concentration | Many practice studios concentrated within the Yamanote Line. Easy to gather after work | Four-city dispersed structure makes combined practice across cities car-dependent. Design for completion within single city is more realistic |
| Cost Level | Rent, studios, and live house charges are among the highest nationwide | Rent and studio fees generally feel like half to 2/3 of Tokyo. Long-term household music budget clearly lighter |
| Community Density | Large scene means rapid turnover; sustained exposure needed for relationship building | After attending for 2-3 years, major players' faces and names are memorized. Once trust is built, it lasts long |
| Post-Disaster Specificity | Served as both sender and receiver of recovery support messages | The 15 years of reconstruction and music walking together itself has become the context of the land's music. An irreplaceable weight not reproducible in other prefectures |
In conclusion, Tokyo offers "numbers and immediacy," Fukushima offers "density and unique contextual weight." It's not a matter of which is superior, but rather your choice of axis should change depending on what you want to gain from music. Posting recruitment notices in both regions on Membo and comparing the quality of responses can be effective.
Reconstruction and Music — Cultural Deep Dive
March 11, 2011. Exactly fifteen years have passed since that day. When speaking of Fukushima's music, there is honestly no way to write while looking away from this fact. Conversely, Fukushima's music's unique character has been born from this fifteen-year period of "walking alongside reconstruction."
Project FUKUSHIMA! Foundation Background
Several months after the earthquake and nuclear accident, on August 15, 2011, the "August 15 Global Simultaneous Festival FUKUSHIMA!" was held at Shikinosato in Fukushima City. It was launched by three people: Yoshihide Otomo (born in Yokohama, raised in Fukushima, leading figure in jazz/free music), Michirou Endou (from Nihonmatsu City, vocalist of THE STALIN), and Ryoichi Wago (poet from Fukushima City). With the slogan "The future is in our hands," they initiated a movement connecting music, poetry, and citizen-participatory creation in Fukushima. The official website preserves the founding circumstances and the 15-year activity record.
What was epoch-making about this festival was that rather than fitting within the traditional framework of charity or comfort visits for recovery, it made "musicians gathering at Fukushima's actual site and making sound" itself into a continuous movement. It has been referenced for over the following decade by researchers and music professionals domestically and internationally as a case example in Japan's disaster-recovery music.
Inawashiro Lake Zoo and "I love you & I need you Fukushima"
In 2010, at the musical event "Wind and Rock Imoni Party" hosted by Michihiko Yanai, Inawashiro Lake Zoo was formed. Members include Michihiko Yanai, Takashi Yamaguchi of Sambomaster, Shinji Matsuda of THE BACK HORN, and Toshimi Watanabe of TOKYO No.1 SOUL SET. After the disaster, in 2011, they released "I love you & I need you Fukushima," which with its simple lyrics and powerful chorus was widely sung as a support song for Fukushima Prefecture residents, and the members appeared on the NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen.
What made this song special was that rather than being a message of support sent from outside the disaster area, it was sung by musicians from Fukushima themselves toward their own homeland. Apart from artistic movements like Project FUKUSHIMA!, as a much more direct and popular "return song to hometown," it is positioned in contemporary Fukushima's music history.
Yoshihide Otomo's Youth and "Amachan"
Yoshihide Otomo was born in Yokohama in 1959 but spent his ages 9 to 18 in Fukushima City. He is an alumnus of Fukushima Prefectural Fukushima High School, and his immersion in free jazz at jazz coffeehouses during his Fukushima years became the starting point for his entire subsequent career.
After the disaster, when Otomo, who founded Project FUKUSHIMA!, composed the music for the 2013 NHK asadora Amachan and won the Japan Record Awards Composition Prize, this held special significance for Fukushima's people. "A musician who spent his musical formative years in Fukushima composed the music for Japan's most beloved asadora after the disaster"—this fact provided concrete role models for young Fukushima musicians that "music reaching the world can be born from my hometown."
Foreign Musicians' Perspective on Fukushima
When considering band activity in Japan as a foreign musician, Fukushima might not be the first name to come to mind. If the thinking starts with "looking for English-speaking venues in Tokyo," Fukushima appears geographically and linguistically like a detour.
However, from another perspective, Fukushima is also a very special option. Project FUKUSHIMA! has had a foundational openness to international participation and collaboration since its establishment, and foreign musicians have repeatedly participated in Festival FUKUSHIMA!. The theme of "disaster recovery and the relationship with music" is a universal question shareable across music communities worldwide. Also mentioned in the perspective of forming bands with foreign musicians and A Foreigner's Guide to Finding Band Members in Japan (English version guide), for foreign musicians wanting to center their music on "literary lyrics, social context, and the introspection unique to cold regions," Fukushima can actually become a natural base.
Restraint over showiness, sustainability over trends—Fukushima's music, 15 years after the disaster, continues to walk step by step alongside reconstruction. It is not a "past event" but the ongoing-present musical context. Beginning a band in Fukushima with understanding of this context will be an experience of a kind not obtainable elsewhere in Japan. Just as my own musical history shows, ultimately continuing over the long term becomes the greatest strength.
5 Ways to Find Band Members in Fukushima
1. Post and Search on Membo
The most immediate and effective is Membo's recruitment bulletin board. You can search and post with keywords like "Fukushima," "Iwaki," "Koriyama," "Aizuwakamatsu," and "Fukushima City," and check from spare moments on your smartphone. In addition to Japanese, it supports English, Chinese, and Korean, so you can expect responses from foreign musicians and international students or ALTs (Assistant Language Teachers) staying in Fukushima. Posting with the perspective of forming bands with foreign musicians is also a strategy unique to recovery-context Fukushima. If you want easier smartphone use, completing home screen addition (PWA conversion) and push notification settings will let you receive new recruitment notices without missing any.
2. Attend Live House and Culture Center Performances as an Audience Member
The classic approach is to attend performances at Iwaki Art and Culture Exchange Hall Alios, Koriyama Civic Culture Center, Fukushima City Concert Hall, and Aizuwakamatsu City Culture Center as an audience member, then talk to performing band members. It's not rare for a single word after a live to develop into a combined practice discussion. Just continuously attending for three months will imprint the faces and names of the local scene's main players in your mind.
3. Participate in or Perform at Festival FUKUSHIMA! and Wind and Rock SUPER Nomaoi
Citizen-participatory music movements like Festival FUKUSHIMA! have extremely low barriers to entry as audience participants, while the number of musicians you can meet on-site is among the highest in Fukushima Prefecture. Volunteering creates connections with the organizing side, and you naturally position yourself in a space where recovery, music, and community intersect. Wind and Rock SUPER Nomaoi, where Michihiko Yanai serves as executive director, is likewise a valuable occasion when major Fukushima rock scene players gather.
4. Connect with University and Community Light Music Clubs
Universities like Fukushima University, Fukushima Prefectural Medical University, Koriyama Women's University, and Aizu University have light music clubs with active student bands. Even if not currently a student, attending outside performances or jam session projects these clubs organize naturally creates meetings with young musicians. If looking for a drummer, university light music clubs are the most drummer-dense venues.
5. Join Community Musical Movements and Citizen Band Communities
Fukushima has accumulated 15 years' worth of citizen-participatory music movements born from recovery context. Related projects of Project FUKUSHIMA!, local choral groups, wind bands, citizen bands, jazz combos, and more—many people have participated for years. Getting to know companions through these communities, then starting a rock band in a separate formation—this is one characteristically Fukushima entry point to musical life.
Alternative Platforms Beyond Membo
Membo is a bulletin board specialized in band member recruitment, but in reality many musicians use it in combination with other services. Here, from the perspective of "using Membo as the main axis, what supporting means work best?", I'll honestly lay out representative alternative platforms. No perfectly universal tool exists. Adapting to your purpose, base, and skill level and using multiple tools in combination is ultimately the least roundabout approach.
| Platform | Best Uses | Points to Note |
|---|---|---|
| Membo | The main choice for band member recruitment searches and posts. Multi-language support facilitates connections with foreign musicians. Region and part-specific search is strong | In regional areas posts still skew toward Tokyo and Osaka. Being an early poster gives advantage |
| X (formerly Twitter) | Casual broadcasting using hashtags (e.g., #バンドメンバー募集 #福島バンド #いわきバンド). High immediacy | Posts disappear in the timeline. Assessing seriousness is difficult, responses tend to be one-time |
| Strong for showcasing performance videos and live footage as self-introduction. Reels allow reach to distant listeners | Relies on DM responses, so search efficiency is lower. More suited to artist introduction than active recruitment | |
| Region and genre-specific groups (e.g., "Fukushima Live House Information," "Koriyama Music Community") enable real-name-based connections. Strong with 30+ working musicians | Youth usage declining. Activity varies greatly by region in music-related groups | |
| Jmaty (Jimoty) | Free posting possible in regional "member recruitment" categories. Locally-rooted, suited to casual adult band recruitment | Not music-specific, so fewer experienced people. More possibility of frivolous responses |
| OURSOUNDS / bandcrew | Veteran band recruitment bulletin boards. Established rock musicians in the country use these | No multi-language support. Services like with9 were once large but operational status needs checking |
| University Light Music Clubs / Local Communities | Fukushima University, Aizu University, etc. light music clubs. Project FUKUSHIMA! related projects and local citizen bands/movements | Requires in-person meetings as foundation. Not suited for quick results but trust relationships are deepest |
The combination I recommend to working musicians is "Membo (primary search) + X (sharing your musical personality) + attending Alios, civic culture centers, and Festival FUKUSHIMA! events in person (relationship building)" as a three-point set. Narrowing candidates through Membo, making your musical personality visible on X, and attending local events monthly keeps both "text information" online and "personal impression" offline functioning as paired wheels.
As mentioned in parallel prefectures in the Shiga and other regional city articles, finding companions in regional cities tends to yield better results through "narrow but deep trust building" than "casting wide nets." Fukushima's four-city dispersed structure is a classic example—attending and getting to know one base over 2-3 years naturally makes you acquainted with main players in that city's music scene.
Find Your Fukushima Bandmates on Membo
Fukushima is a musical prefecture with a unique structure: 1.8 million people, distributed across four cities, 15 years after disaster. The 15-year movement of Project FUKUSHIMA!, Sambomaster and Inawashiro Lake Zoo's "I love you & I need you Fukushima," the path from Yoshihide Otomo's Fukushima City youth to Amachan, the contemporary rock core maintained by Michihiko Yanai and Shinji Matsuda and Shigeyoshi Suganami—each carries the weight of 15 years of reconstruction walking alongside music.
To find companions in Fukushima, Membo is the most efficient tool.
- Post and search for member recruitment in Fukushima right now
- Part-specific search for drummers, bassists, vocalists, keyboardists, and more
- Multi-language support in Japanese, English, Chinese, and Korean—connect with foreign musicians staying in Fukushima
- Works for any base: Iwaki, Fukushima City, Koriyama, or Aizuwakamatsu
- Combining with parallel 47-prefecture entries like Yamagata, Aomori, Tokyo, Ishikawa, and Shiga allows you to build an Eastern Japan-spanning music network
- Check the latest blog articles and how-to help as well
Restraint over showiness, sustainability over trends. Quietly layering new sound on top of 15 years of reconstruction walking alongside music—somewhere in that procession, your very best companion is surely waiting.
