Samurai - s/t (a.k.a. "Green Tea") - 1970 / "Kappa" - 1971

From "Prog Archives": Samurai was a Japanese heavy prog/rock band. They were initially out of Japan but moved to England, where they hired many English musicians to complete the lineup. They recorded two albums: "Samurai" (also known as "Green Tea") 1970, and "Kappa", 1971. They played an interesting mix of heavy prog a la Deep Purple, with a lot of Japanese folk influence (like using traditional Asian instruments) + late 60's psychedelia. The Leader was Mikki Curtis (Japanese guy, English name) who seemed to be quite a popular pop singer in the late 60's in Japan, and these days he's an actor.
Their debut was released only in Japan, and the preceding single was an Italian release.They are not to be confused with the U.K. band of the same name who released their s/t album on Greenwhich in 1971. They've been compared to early Traffic, and the music on their first album is fairly accessible, without at all sacrificing quality or creativity. On "Kappa" they played lengthier songs with a more heavy prog leaning. The bass player Tetsu Yamauchi was later in Free, and the Faces.