BENTEN Label Tokyo Japan

In 1994, I founded Benten Label, an independent record label based in Tokyo specializing in female artists of many genres. Benten is the name of one of the Seven Gods of Good Fortune. Benten (or Ben Zai ten), is the goddess of music, art, hapiness and love. Since 1994, we have produced over 30 releases and are still going strong. The key concept of BENTEN Label is silliness and seriousness; we enjoy the sillyness of our music seriously, and we hope that our listeners feel the same way. This is not a political statement that we are making about the sickening system of the music business or the all too passive attitude of the general listening population, We just want to have fun. Girls In Japan don't use words like feminist or Riot Grrl, etc. There are not even any Japanese words that equal these ideas. The girls in 1990 non-fuedal Japan are freed from all sexually discriminating issues. When they decide what they want to do, they do it, and nobody stands in their way. Young people in other countries may strongly support a band that has an intese political message, while Japanese girls (and boys too) have the same enthusiasm and great sympathy for a silly, crazy band . We bring to you the world of girls who are full of curiosity and fantastic ideas, who are shameless, courageous, and who love to entertain people