'We fear change' might as well be the mantra at music magazine Rockin' On, which for years has been tirelessly pushing the same old acts at its annual Rock in Japan and Countdown Japan festivals. Perhaps that's what inspired this most pusillanimous of periodicals to start Japan Jam, a spring event in which familiar faces from Rockin' On's other festivals are encouraged to do something different, playing one-off sessions with guest musicians. This year's lineup includes collaborations between axe god Miyavi and club jazz supremos Soil & "Pimp" Sessions, punk acts Totalfat and Northern19, rockers Hige with Zainichi Funk vocalist Kenta Hamano and pop-rap duo Halcali, and the bizarre prospect of Stones-esque garage quartet Okamoto's appearing in their former incarnation, Zuttozuresteruzu.
May 3: Suneohair (with Kenji Watanabe), Hige (with Kenta Hamano & Halcali), Toru Hidaka (as TV Murders, with Shinya Kogure), Miyavi (with Soil & "Pimp" Sessions)
May 4: Good 4 Nothing (with Masanori Sera & Scott Murphy), Totalfat x Northern19, Junji Nakada (with Shutoku Mukai & Gen Hoshino)
May 5: Kiyosaku Uezu & The BK Sounds!! (with Masaru Shimabukuro & Ivan), Okamoto's (as Zuttozuresteruzu), Triceratops (with Kyoko), The Novembers (with Ryutaro Arimura & Kazuhide Yamaji)