Far East Family Band | Artist

Far East Family Band was a Japanese space rock group formed 1972 in Tokyo, by Fumio Miyashita (guitar, keyboards, vocals), Akira Ito (keyboards), Masanori Takahashi aka Kitaro (keyboards, percussion), Hirohito Fukushima (guitar, vocals), Akira Fukakusa (bass), Shizuo Takasaki (drums) and Yujin Harada (drums). The band is regarded as the first Japanese progressive rock group. They played keyboard-dominated space rock with extended compositions that brought comparisons to Tangerine Dream and early Pink Floyd. They released four studio albums including standouts Nipponjin (1975) and Parallel World (1976). After the band split in 1978, keyboardist and future new age composer Kitaro carried on a successful solo career releasing 45 new age, electronic albums and soundtracks. Miyashita went on to form the band Far Out who recorded the excellent 1973 album Nihonjin.

Artist Website: discogs/Far-East-Family-Band

Featured Albums: Far East Family Band

Related Artists: Far Out, Samurai, Kitaro