Renowned Japanese festival promoter and music critic Yoichi Shibuya passed away on 14 July, at the age of 74, after developing aspiration pneumonia.
The Rockin’ On Group CEO is said to have played key role in popularising rock music in Japan, having founded the country’s first large-scale festival, Rock in Japan, in 2000.
More recently, he launched Rockin’ on Sonic alongside Summer Sonic promoter, Creativeman Productions.
Born in Tokyo, Shibuya began his music critic career in 1971, when he was just 19. He went on to launch several influential publications, including rockin’on (est 1972), a long-running magazine focusing on Western rock music, and Rockin’on Japan (est 1986), a sister magazine focused on Japanese rock.
In 2000, he founded the annual festival Rock in Japan, which takes place in early August at Soga Sports Park, Chiba, and is one of the ‘big four’ large-scale music festivals in the country.
Three years later, Shibuya produced the country’s first nationwide indoor winter festival, Countdown Japan, which takes place at Makuhari Messe International Exhibition Hall, Chiba, over New Year’s Eve.
“His great footsteps and aspirations will surely be passed down”
This is also where the two-day Rockin’ on Sonic debuted earlier this year, with acts including Pulp, Weezer, Manic Street Preachers, Primal Scream and The Lemon Twigs. The venue utilised stages from Countdown Japan, including the 20,000-cap Galaxy Stage and 8,000-cap Cosmo Stage.
Shibuya was also a popular radio disc jockey, serving as host of programmes including Sound Street of Japan Broadcasting Corp., or NHK.
“We would like to express our deepest gratitude for the kindness showed to us during his lifetime,” reads a statement from Rockin’ On Group.
Creativeman Productions added: “We would like to express our heartfelt condolences upon hearing of the passing of Shibuya Yoichi, who made a tremendous contribution to the development of the music industry for many years.
“We still vividly remember him personally attending many artists and festivals visiting Japan, and always facing music with sincerity. His great footsteps and aspirations will surely be passed down to your company and will continue to live on within us. May he rest in peace.”
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AloJapan.com