Sad day for jrock in Europe...

On October 4th, 2004 died a very important person in the European jrock community: Masaaki Taketani. More than a colleague or collaborator, today we have to regret the death of a friend.

Japanese who had been studying in Paris for the last few years, Masaaki lived the evolution of our community as he was studying French. He will be remembered as a photograph, or also as a singer for the copy-band Beast. But his greatest job will remain his endless work to see Japanese bands come and play in Europe. It's mainly thanks to him that Blood, Kisaki Project and soon D'espairs Ray crossed the Earth to reach our countries.
Finally, one of his dreams had just come true, with the creation of Free Will Europe.

Mana, Dir en Grey, Kisaki, Blood and a lot of others already expressed their sadness after hearing this tragic news.

In memory of his work, and all the help he lent for the development of Japanese music in Europe, we wanted, through this news, to pay a last tribute to him.

Sayonara, Masaaki-san.