KATHMANDU: After a successful two-city US tour, Nepal’s beloved folk rock band Nepathya is set to fly on a single show tour of Japan. The band will perform on July 7, 2018 at the Tokyo Dome City Hall, a reputed concert venue in Tokyo where major artists like Bob Dylan, Cold Play and Mr Big have performed.

While performing three years ago after the devastating Nepal earthquake, at the Aprikot Hall of Kamada-Tokyo, Nepathya front man Amrit Gurung had promised he would soon come back to share joy and fun.

“This time we have come to share sorrow not joy,” Amrit had said during the show citing thousands of lives lost during the earthquake. Before bidding farewell, he had also promised, ‘We will come again to share joy and dance together to the tunes of Nepal.”

There was a time when Nepathya had performed for a record low audience in Japan. The same trip lost many band members who decided to stay back there. The 1998 Japan trip almost brought Nepathya at the verge of being dismantled.

“A place which holds moments of joy and grief becomes intimate,” shared Amrit. “I somehow feel homecoming, each time I travel to Japan. Japan always reminds me of the lows in our journey.”

“The Nepali diaspora in Japan is longing to have fun with Nepathya, which they missed during their 2015 show,” said Krishna Thapa of the organising team. "We have been doing our best to make this a wonderful experience for the audience,” he added.

The 2015 Nepathya show was successful in attracting a remarkable number of Japanese audience as well. Amrit and Nepathya were then featured on prime time show by Japan’s leading TV, NHK.

“During that time of national sorrow, we had gone to share grief,” said Kiran Krishna Shrestha of Nepa-laya, the promoters and producers of Nepathya. “This time we will present our 25-year celebration set, which has enthralled audience in all recent performances. We look forward to sharing this joyful experience with tunes from Nepal during Nepathya’s upcoming Tokyo Dome show.”

Nepathya frontman Amrit Gurung will be accompanied on stage by Dhruba Lama on drums, Suraj Thapa on keyboards, Subin Shakya on bass, Niraj Gurung on guitars, and Shanti Rayamajhi on madals.

The Tokyo Dome show is being organised by Tokyo based Goreto Productions.