Takehiko (“Take”) Saiki seeks to connect the world through bluegrass music. He puts a lot of time and work into his YouTube channel where he shares rare and forgotten bluegrass albums. Many of these records, mainly from the 1970s and 1980s, were never reissued on CD or digital formats, making them hard to find today. He has built a digital library to preserve this music for future generations. He also has posted videos from jam gatherings worldwide, and interviews jam participants. He also posts an events calendar as a video slideshow (below).
Anya Hinkle is back in Japan! See her tour dates below, and the QR code for booking reservations, and notice all the great musicians she is collaborating with on this 2025 tour.
The Annual Takarazuka Festival
The annual Takarazuka Festival is quite famous in the bluegrass community, both in Japan and the U.S. It was started in 1972, and is the third longest-running bluegrass festival in the world. It is sponsored by B.O.M. Services, a music mail order company founded by Saburo Inoue and Toshio Watanabe, both members of Bluegrass 45. They started the festival after their 1971 tour of the U.S. They also founded the monthly Japanese bluegrass magazine Moonshiner in 1983. You can view the Facebook group for the Takarazuka Festival here.
B.O.M. also holds an annual Autumn Takarazuka Festival. For more information, contact B.O.M. Services.
The Annual Gifu Mountain Time Festival (October)
Approximately 2 hours from Kyoto. 2 1/2 hours from Osaka. The predecessor to this festival dates back to 1975, making it the second oldest bluegrass festival in Japan.