Peter Barakan


Peter Barakan is an English-born DJ and broadcaster in Japan, the host of "Barakan Beat" on InterFM and "Weekend Sunshine" on NHK FM. He also hosts the series Begin Japanology and Japanology Plus on NHK World, which introduces various aspects of Japanese culture.

Biography

Peter Barakan was born and raised in London by an Anglo-Burmese mother and a Jewish father of Polish ancestry. After attending SOAS, University of London, Barakan entered the music industry as a clerk and in 1974 moved to Japan to continue his career. He wrote lyrics and handled international marketing for the Japanese band Yellow Magic Orchestra. His younger brother is musician Shane Fontayne.
He hosted the TBS program CBS Document beginning in October 1988, a Japanese edition of 60 Minutes. He hosted the 3-hour Barakan Morning on InterFM radio as late as 2011. During the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, Barakan was prevented from playing a nuclear protest song, because it could "'create fuhyo higai, which means 'damage from rumors.'" In 2012, Barakan led a U.N. sponsored multi-city mayoral panel discussion on community rebuilding following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.