Merzbow (メルツバウ) is a noise music project create in Tokyo, Japan in 1979 by musician Masami Akita (秋田昌美 AKITA Masami) and has been noted as the first Japanese noise act. Since 1979, he has formed two record labels and has contributed releases to numerous independent record labels. As well as being a prolific artist, he has also written a number of books and has been the editor of several magazines in Japan. He has written about a variety of subjects, mostly about art, avant-garde music and post-modern culture. His more renowned works have been on the topics of BDSM and fetish culture. Other artforms Akita has been interested in include directing and Butoh dance.