Initially a glam rock-inspired band, Japan developed their sound and androgynous look to incorporate art rock,[6] electronic music and foreign influences.

Its members went on to pursue other musical projects, though they reformed briefly in the early 1990s under the name Rain Tree Crow, releasing an album in 1991.

Brothers (birth surname Batt) David Sylvian (guitar and vocals) and Steve Jansen (drums), and bassist Mick Karn studied at the same school, Catford Boys', Brownhill Road, South London.

After coming runner up to the Cure in a talent contest staged by Hansa Records[9] the band signed a recording contract with Hansa-Ariola in 1977, becoming an alternative glam rock outfit in the mould of Lou Reed, David Bowie, T. Rex, Roxy Music, and New York Dolls, although their initial material was guitar-based funk.

[12] In March 1978, the band released their first single, a cover version of "Don't Rain on My Parade" followed a month later by their debut album Adolescent Sex.

However, both albums, produced by Ray Singer, sold well in Japan and the Netherlands, where the single version of "Adolescent Sex" was a top 30 hit.

The track was unsuccessful as a single but a significant change in musical style from their earlier guitar-laden recordings, moving them away from their glam rock roots and into electronic new wave.

In a retrospective review of the band's work, The Quietus described Quiet Life as defining "a very European form of detached, sexually-ambiguous and thoughtful art-pop, one not too dissimilar to what the ever-prescient David Bowie had delivered two years earlier with Low".

[17] It showcased Barbieri's synthesizers, Sylvian's now baritone style of singing, Karn's distinctive fretless bass sound and Jansen's odd-timbred and intricate percussion work, with Dean's guitar playing becoming somewhat sparser and atmospheric.

[16] Hansa-Ariola would later issue a compilation album (Assemblage) featuring highlights from the band's tenure on the label, followed by a series of remixed and re-released singles.

After leaving Hansa-Ariola, the band signed with Virgin Records who released their last studio albums, Gentlemen Take Polaroids (1980) and Tin Drum (1981).

The band had always worn make-up since their inception in the mid-1970s at the tail end of the glam rock era, several years before the New Romantic movement had begun.

Rob Dean had already departed (in May 1981) after the release of the Gentlemen Take Polaroids album, as his electric guitar work became superfluous for the band's sound on Tin Drum.

[20] The group's final UK performances included a final TV appearance playing together on The Old Grey Whistle Test in October and culminating in a six-night sell-out stint at London's Hammersmith Odeon in November (which would be recorded and filmed to produce Oil on Canvas, a live album and video released in June 1983).

A remixed version of "Life in Tokyo" and a Virgin Records release of "Nightporter" were subsequently both top 30 hits on the UK Singles Chart.

[21] During the early 1980s, Japanese multi-instrumentalist and experimental keyboardist Ryuichi Sakamoto, of Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO), briefly collaborated with the band, and worked directly alongside Sylvian on tracks such as "Taking Islands in Africa".

He would continue to work with Sylvian both before and after the band split, and the pair would achieve the hit singles "Bamboo Houses" (1982) and "Forbidden Colours" (1983).

He also had a top 40 hit ("After a Fashion") with Midge Ure in 1983, and collaborated with Peter Murphy of Bauhaus as the duo Dalis Car, releasing an album in 1984.

[14] Medium Productions was a record label created in 1993 primarily to publish the music of Steve Jansen, Richard Barbieri, and Mick Karn.

[23] TimelineIn 2003, Virgin Records re-issued remastered editions of Gentlemen Take Polaroids, Tin Drum and Oil on Canvas.

[citation needed] Half-speed mastered 45 rpm double vinyl LP editions of Gentlemen Take Polaroids and Tin Drum were issued in August 2018.