Marty Friedman - Japanese Life

Japanese Life

Friedman currently lives in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. He also appears on Japanese television and as a columnist for a major Japanese music magazine and a national daily newspaper.

Friedman speaks Japanese fluently. He became a regular member of the cast of TXN's musical TV program Hebimeta-san (ヘビメタさん) (anglicized as "Mr. Heavy-Metal") with Japanese idol Yoko Kumada before the show came to an end in 2005. He had his own heavy metal TV program called Rock Fujiyama alongside Shelly, Ken Ayugai (Kenny Guy), Yorimasa Hisatake (Rock Ninja Yorimasa) and ex-Scanch member Rolly Teranishi from April 2006 until March 2007. In November~December 2005 he toured with singer Ami Suzuki on her "Suzuki Ami Around the World" live house tour, which took place in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya.

He was featured on Jukebox, a television program in which Marty and two Japanese people translate the lyrics of various English songs into understandable Japanese. He has also made guest appearances on the television programs Eigo de Shabera Night and Tamori Club.

Friedman is also a member of the Japanese musical group Sound Horizon which has contributed soundtracks to various anime and video games.

In 2008 Friedman played the role of Paul Weinberg, an English language teacher, in Isshin Inudou's Gou-Gou Datte Neko de Aru.

In 2009, Friedman appeared on The Quiz Show, a Japanese TV drama starring Sho Sakurai as a guest professor.

In February 2010, he made a guest appearance on guitar for the Ramones' song "California Sun" when CJ Ramone toured Japan.

He also launched a record label under Avex Group, Gokukara Records.

Shortly after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, Friedman began auctioning off a great variety of his musical equipment and paraphernalia that he used as a member of Megadeth. A message attached to each Ebay item stated that all proceeds would go to the GlobalGiving foundation, in an effort to help those whose livelihood had been wiped out by the disaster.

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