also pictured: Tatsuyuki Hiyamuta, Yuuichi Oki. Do you even need to ask which one Yanaka is? Image from Fantasia CD booklet. I think.

Japan ska fans know--and now you do too--that Gung-Ho-Gun Midvalley the Hornfreak is based on real-life musician Atsushi Yanaka, baritone sax player with the Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra. Name: Atsushi Yanaka (The kanji in his surname mean "valley" and "middle.") Birthdate: December 25, 1966 Hometown: Tokyo Height: 185 cm (6'1") Weight: 75 kg (165 lbs.) Blood Type: A Lucky Color: Red Hobby: Allegedly watches a movie a day. Habit: Sleeps a lot. Anecdote: Famously, took up the bari sax at the vague encouragement of SkaPara founder Asa-Chang, who suggested that the six-foot Yanaka would "look good" with the outsize instrument. Yanaka joined the band a scant month later. (source: Grand Prix album liner notes)

Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra

Probably best-known stateside for the "Incredible Crisis" (Japanese title "Tondemo Crisis") game soundtrack, or perhaps their contribution to the Lupin III remix album "Punch the Monkey 2," Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra (SkaPara for short) are at the heart and soul of Japan's ska scene. Their singles may not make the top 10 charts, but they can be heard in the background of countless commercials and TV shows.

To me, who's used to a more pop-band-with-a-horn-section, vocal-driven type of ska, the instrumental-heavy SkaPara fall under what I'd consider jazz, but then, I'm no music expert.

Albums

Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra (1990) Almost all instrumental, but with a much more traditional ska sound than some of their later albums. One of my favorite all-around albums.
SkaPara Toujou (1990)
Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra Live (1991)
World Famous (1991)
World Famous Remix (1991)
Pioneers (1993): Currently growing roots in my CD player. Sometimes I just set the ever so sweet and peachy "Sweet Peach Queen" on repeat.
Gifted: Winter Selection (1993)
Fantasia (1994): Lots of instrumental tracks I really like. I rented & MD'ed this one, but I ended up buying my own copy of the CD. Very jazzy.
Tokyo Deluxe Original Soundtrack (1995 movie soundrack)
I haven't actually listened to the soundtrack album, but I watched the movie. The music's pretty good.
Grand Prix (1995): SkaPara's fifth anniversary CD, containing an extra booklet of member profiles and band history (including all the different-colored suits the band has worn), and also a memorial to former frontman Cleanhead Gimura, who must have passed away just before this album came out. Content-wise, this CD compiles a whole bunch of songs they've performed with guest vocalists. "Jam" is good fun, but it's the sassy movie theme "Tokyo Deluxe" that I like the best.
Tokyo Strut (1996) "Kimama na Seikatsu" is the only song I really like on this album.
Moods for Tokyo Ska~We Don't Know What Ska Is!~ (1997) A collection of earlier hits and unreleased tracks in a striking homogenized-cartoon package. Not a bad place to start your collection.
Arkestra (1998) A disc of mostly good songs, including a Yanaka composition, "Uradoori no Futari," which is pretty good. The disc is an "enhanced" CD with a little computer game (I can't get it to work on my computer, though).
Justa Record Compilation Vol. 1 (1999)
Tondemo Crisis! Original Soundtrack (1999 game soundtrack) I hesitate to recommend a disc where most of the tracks are under 2 minutes, but it's actually some good listening even if you're not playing a video game. Love the main theme.
Full Tension Beaters (2000) Another enhanced CD, which defies my computer setup even more than "Arkestra" does.
Gunslingers (2001 live album): makes good, solid background music, but except for the Lupin III theme song, none of the tracks really stand out for me.

Official Websites

SkaPara.Net (http://www.skapara.net/ )
Yer source for SkaPara tourdates, news, and stuff like that. All in Japanese, though. Recently renovated.
SkaPara@Avex Records (http://www.avexnet.or.jp/skapara/)
Not updated in two years, but the "Reports" page has plenty of photos that are worth a look. I haven't tried the audio/video downloads. Avex also has a bare-bones SkaPara page in English.

Online Shopping

I can't endorse either of these businesses from personal experience, but a quick online search turned up SkaPara CDs for sale at CD Japan and JPOPHelp. Despite their misspelling of "Paradise" (as "Pradise"), which screws up the search function, CD Japan has a quite good selection and interesting detailed descriptions, and I know some people who have sucessfully ordered from them, but being based in Japan, the shipping's gonna cost you. JPOPHelp has cheaper shipping, but they only seem to have the two most recent albums, and I don't know how reliable they are.

Images

Pardon the graininess--all images are enlargements of really tiny pictures scanned from CD booklets.

From Tokyo Strut:

Solo pic (at right): enlargement
Clip 1: monochrome

From Grand Prix:

Centerfold: Kitahara/Yanaka/Oki close-up
Interior: Yanaka solo pic

Note: Yanaka doesn't actually look like this anymore--he's abandoned the floppy-haired dreamboat look for an unappealing buzz cut and scrungy facial hair in the new millennium. Sigh.

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