Onkyo, from a Japanese word for sound, is the name critics gave to the hushed improvised music that emerged in Tokyo around the turn of the millennium. Its main stage was Off Site, a small gallery in Yoyogi run by Atsuhiro Ito and Yukari Ito, which hosted a regular concert series from 2000 to 2003 and closed in 2005. Thin walls and neighbours’ complaints obliged the performers to play very softly, and the constraint became an aesthetic.
Sachiko M drew pure sine tones from an empty sampler, Toshimaru Nakamura played a mixing board fed back into itself with nothing plugged in, Taku Sugimoto moved towards extremely sparse composition, and Otomo Yoshihide, previously known for the loud, dense group Ground Zero, turned towards close listening. Most of the musicians disliked the label, yet onkyo remains a key reference for anyone drawn to sustained tones, near-inaudible detail and the kind of attention that drone demands.