Casiopea is a Japanese Jazz Fusion band formed in 1976. Their key members include drummer Akiro Jinbo, guitarist Issei Noro, bassist Testuso Sakurai, and keyboardist Minoru Mukaiya. They also feature wind instruments such as saxophones and trumpets. Casiopea’s music is bright, up-tempo jazz, and what makes them such a unique group is that their music is extremely difficult as far as technique goes, incorporates many complicated aspects of music theory, but is still pleasing to listen to, from the perspective of both a musician and a non-musician. When listening to Casiopea, one may be reminded of the soundtrack of video games such as Mario Kart or Sonic. The thing is- the developers of these games were most likely inspired BY Casiopea, since the group is from Japan and has been making music since well before companies like Nintendo and Sega existed. Casiopea is still writing music and playing shows today, fifty years later, although many of their members have left and switched. Remarkably, the band’s sound has not changed much as new members join and old members leave. Minoru Mukaiya now writes the melodies that play over the speakers at every train station in Japan, and each one is written differently to match the “personality” of that station. Akira Jinbo has worked with drum company Zildian to design cymbals, and Issei Noro and Tetsuo Sakurai continue to perform with the group. All the members of Casiopea, both past and present, are some of the most talented musicians alive.