Japanoise: The Extreme Edge of Sound

May 8, 1960. Six musicians gathered in Tokyo with a vacuum cleaner, an oil drum, a radio, a doll, and a set of dishes. Takehisa Kosugi and Yasunao Tone's Group Ongaku recorded Automatism and Object that day—treating traditional instruments like found objects, overloading tape, manipulating speeds. No one called it 'noise music' yet. But in a country still processing war's psychic aftermath and rebuilding through rapid industrialization, these artists were already exploring sound as raw material. Melody's obligations didn't apply.