“Perfume concerts are always energetic, crazy and fun,” one male fan said. “They always talk to their fans and really care, you know?”

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The group’s fan engagement, backed up by infectious electropop, intricate hand dance moves, and a dazzling sci-fi, technological backdrop at their concerts that made Perfume one of the powerhouse groups in their native Japan.

Going under their stage names, NOCCHi (Omoto Ayano), KASHIYUKA (Kashino Yuka), and a-chan (Nishiwaki Ayaka), the trio have been in the music industry for a long time. The group was formed at a talent academy in Hiroshima in 2000 when the three girls were only 11 and 12.

They would soon move to Tokyo in 2003 and meet two people that would transform Perfume from a small Hiroshima-based trio to one of the most successful groups in Japan. These two would be long-time producer and songwriter, Nakata Yasutaka, and dance choreographer MIKIKO.

Nakata’s vision for Perfume was a blend of electronic dance music (EDM) and technology. From showing Twitter messages to using silhouettes in the background during their concerts, the trio would sing techno-pop alongside. With MIKIKO, she would emphasise highly choreographed upper-body, robotic arm, and hand-dance movements – features that would make their dances iconic – rather than leg-focused routines.

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In turn, these two were instrumental in making Perfume a Japanese household name, giving the techno-pop genre a resurgence in their native country.

Their 2008 hit GAME would go double platinum, selling over 500 000 copies. A year later in 2009, their album Triangle would sell over 300 000 copies, again going platinum. Then in 2010, the ladies would sell out at the prestigious Tokyo Dome with over 50 000 fans attending the show.

In just three years, the group from Hiroshima would already experience success few groups achieved. Since 2010, their six albums have all hit the number one position and their concerts have drawn huge crowds and sold-out shows.

The group’s visit to the US in 2019 would be a big milestone for Perfume. They would be the first female J-pop group to perform at the prestigious Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California. The three ladies would also hold a US tour around their Coachella schedule to promote their latest album Future Pop.

While the trio enjoys immense popularity in Japan, in America, they are relatively unknown to the mainstream public. Outside Asian music fans at their performance, a few celebrities meeting them, and media outlets interviewing them during Coachella, Perfume went largely under the radar during their US visit. The group admitted this during their San Jose concert, where in America, the trio had more freedom to walk around, eat, and shop freely in public.

But in Japan, Perfume’s life is a lot different. The girls would quickly be mobbed outside, as the girls joked, “we’re noticeable in public for often walking in formation like in our music videos”. Their distinct hairstyle and the many advertisements they appear in would also make them easily recognisable to the Japanese public.

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Perfume’s tour in the US is a big step for promoting Japanese music outside Asia. Their appearance at Coachella was well received, with Rolling Stone naming their performance one of the 16 best performances at the music event.

Suzy Exposito of Rolling Stone praised the EDM group for their Coachella performance saying, “the Hiroshima trio incited the best damn rave party Sunday night.” The group also met with talk-show host James Corden and had Puerto Rican star Bad Bunny bopping to their techno beats.

The demand for Japanese music in the West has been on an upswing in recent years. With the influx of more Japanese artists coming to the West, it made sense that Perfume would follow.

Other big Japanese acts such as HYDE, BABYMETAL, One Ok Rock, and MIYAVI have US concerts scheduled in 2019. Japanese groups, including Perfume, have also been invited to another major music event, SXSW. Mega groups such as BABYMETAL and Kyary Pamyu Pamyu have amassed large fanbases in the US.

While some of the aforementioned groups are pushing the boundaries in the metal, rock genres, Perfume is carving its own niche as well.

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The group and their producer, Yasutaka Nakata, continue to push the electropop and techno-pop genres to the forefront. Their sound is reminiscent of the Tokyo, citypop and Shibuya that was popular in the 1980s. This decades-past, citypop sound has made a comeback, with Mariya Takeuchi’s 1980s classic Plastic Love going viral on YouTube in 2018.

Takeuchi’s song introduced a new generation to the genre and gave older music fans a second chance to relive their favourite songs from the 1980s. Perfume plans to build on the genre’s new-found demand today.

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