A grunge darling of J-rock, Aya entered the field after the genre died in America along with Kurt Cobain, but still managed to make a stir on the Japanese scene and work with prime American grunge rockers, including members of Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and, yes, Nirvana. This career trajectory obviously has to do with the pent-up energy Aya accumulated during her childhood years spent in a town of 2,000 on the northern island of Hokkaido. She first heard electric guitar at a Ventures show in primary school; it was instant conversion. Soon Aya began playing in a local girl band p...