Japan - Visions Of China

What this video is

Released in October 1981 at the height of the British New Romantic scene, 'Visions of China' represents Japan's most overt engagement with Sinophile exoticism — a fascination that pervaded the entire Tin Drum album. The track was co-written by David Sylvian and Steve Jansen and produced by Steve Nye alongside the band. The video's use of Chinese military imagery and sparse orientalist staging reflected a broader…

Why it matters

A canonical document of British art-rock's engagement with Eastern aesthetics at the genre's commercial peak. Tin Drum — described by The Quietus as 'unique in pop history, a fearlessly ambitious, unusual and conceptual work' — found Japan synthesising electronic textures, Mick Karn's fretless…