Japanese indie

This could be a long shot, stuff related to Japanese music on the English internet usually is, but does anyone know ought about Japanese indie?
Any recommendations of any bars or clubs or anything (I know of none)?
Also any bands to recommend? And I mean real, active indie bands. Not just the mainstream well known rock stuff (ooh hipstery). e.g Sotaiseiriron and all that sort of thing that most Japanese people wouldn't have heard of.

As no one else is answering let me, I realise that you probably know this. There are many bars & clubs in Japan referred to as Live Houses. The Tokyo Gig Guide website has a (long)list of them with web links http://www.tokyogigguide.com/en/livehouses it doesnt seem to get updated too often but its somewhere to start. Also Smash Japan http://www.smash-jpn.com/index.php has a list of upcoming gigs. A lot of these are foreign big names touring but there are smaller Japanese bands listed as well. There are also the J-indies & J-punk sections of HMV Japan http://www.hmv.co.jp/en/ You just have to hunt & find what you like.

I think the best way to catch up is just to pop up at the nearest Hmv or any other record store, and navigate a bit. The staff is usually helpful and will probably recommend you some local bars or clubs. I don't know what kind of music are you into but my favourite japanese bands are Polysics and Asian Kung-fu Generation, I don't know if you want them more "indie" than that, but I think if you just investigate a bit you can find lots of nice japanese bands. If you plan to go to a gig just try to get tickets in advance; It was an odissey to get someone to sell me a ticket for Asian Kung-Fu Generation in Tokyo (although I managed it!).

Another good way of discovering Japanese bands is to get the line-up of the Fuji Rock Festival and get to listen the japanese bands in there. Not all of them are indie acts, but most of the best bands play there and I'm sure you'll find something to start with.

According to the internets, Shimokitazawa in Tokyo is a good place to find indie music.

I haven't been personally, but I'll be visiting in a month. I'm not huge into music scenes but I'll see what I see.