KATHMANDU, July 31: Folk rock band Nepathya is set to embark on a musical journey to Japan, where the band will perform a series of concerts in the capital Tokyo, Fukuoka and Osaka cities during the month of August.

Nepathya will perform a concert at the Toyosu Pit in Tokyo on August 8. Similarly, the band will perform at Fukuoka Civil Hall on August 12 and finally on August 17 the tunes of Nepali folk music will be heard at Namba Hatch in Osaka.

Nepathya's connection with Japan dates back to 1998 when they performed there for the first time. In 2018, the band achieved a significant milestone by performing at the famous 'Tokyo Dome.'

"Many memories are connected with Japan," said Amrit Gurung, the leader and lead singer of the band. “The audience of Japan always welcomes Nepathya with a warm heart, no matter what situation they are facing. For a long time, Japan has been an attractive destination for Nepali youths in terms of economic opportunities, but recently, it is becoming a destination for Nepali students in significant numbers for higher education. In this way, Nepathya's songs, blending Nepali folk language with rock music, resonate well with the Nepali diaspora there, including the young people with their Nepali identity,” Gurung said.

In 2015, following the devastating earthquake in Nepal, Nepathya's tour in Japan became a platform to raise public awareness for earthquake relief efforts. NHK, a leading Japanese television company, interviewed Amrit Gurung and aired a 15-minute video report about Nepal and the band during their visit. A short part of that video prepared by Kioska Sai was shown in NHK's most important 'Prime Time News'. Nepathya used that trip as a platform to spread public awareness for the relief of the earthquake victims, and the band's financial earnings from it were transferred to the Prime Minister's Relief Fund.

This year's Nepathya Japan series will carry forward the theme of 'Music for Humanity,' aiming to promote a message of humanity. Nepalaya, the organizer of the event said that this is the first time that they are going to organize a series of concerts in multiple cities in Japan. "It is more effective to take a team of technicians from Nepal to handle the technical aspects," said Kiran Krishna Shrestha, "Therefore, apart from the six artists who will be performing on the stage this time, our 14-team members are also going to Japan," Shrestha stated.