Izumi Kobayashi & Flying Mimi Band has been played on NTS in shows including Melodies International, featured first on 30 September 2016. Songs played include It's Raining and Hello Hello Hello.

In 1957, Izumi “Mimi” Kobayashi was born and raised in the seaside city of Funabashi located in Chiba, Japan. Before Izumi launched her musical career she was mostly known as a prodigious piano player. While attending the Tokyo College of Music, Izumi formed a group called Asoca and won Yamaha’s prestigious Grand Prix songwriting contest in 1977, landing on a record contract in doing so. Going under the name Mimie-Chan Super Band, CBS Sony…