A collective of psychedelic-minded Japanese musicians headed by guitarist Masaki Batoh, Ghost records commune-minded free-range psychedelia with equal debts to the Can/Amon Düül axis of Krautrock, as well as West Coast psych units like Blue Cheer and Jefferson Airplane. Batoh grew up in Kyoto, where he attended a private school well-geared to spark his interest in rock music, from Dylan and Pink Floyd to the Velvet Underground. Later, he formed Ghost in 1984 in Tokyo with a large and varying line-up, centred around contributors such as Michio Kurihara, Kazuo Ogino, and Taishi Takizawa. In the beginning, they played only improvisation and freeform music. Although by the time they started their first recording in 1988, their music had been changing to become more constructive. When playing live they still enjoy improvisation. Their sound is mainly guitar based; however they also like to experiment with ethnic instruments or any strange instruments they can find. According to reports, the group lived a nomadic existence, drifting from ruins of ancient temples to disused subway stations around the Tokyo area and putting on shows at Buddhist temples, churches, ruins, in the woods, and in caves.

A compilation - The Ghost Chronicles was released in 2005, a double cd of new material is expected sometime this year on Drag City.