Mr. Children, commonly referred to by their contracted nickname "Misu-Chiru" (ミスチル), are a Japanese pop rock band formed in 1989. Consisting of Kazutoshi Sakurai, Kenichi Tahara, Keisuke Nakagawa, and Hideya Suzuki, they made their major label debut in 1992. They are one of the best selling artists in Japan and one of the most successful Japanese rock artists, having sold over 75 million records and creating the "Mis-chil Phenomenon" (ミスチル現象) in the mid-1990s in Japan. They held the record for the highest first week sales of a single in Japan for 15 years, with 1.2 million copies of their 10th single "Namonaki Uta" (名もなき詩), have 30 consecutive number 1 singles, replaced Glay as the all-male band to have the most number 1 albums on the Oricon charts, and won the Japan Record Award in 1994 for "Innocent World" and in 2004 for "Sign". As of 2012, Mr. Children has published fifteen original studio albums and 34 physical singles, along with five compilations, a live album, and fifteen home video releases.
Asian Kung-Fu Generation is a Japanese alternative rock band formed in Yokohama in 1996. For its entire career, the band has consisted of vocalist Masafumi Gotoh, guitarist Kensuke Kita, bassist Takahiro Yamada, and drummer Kiyoshi Ijichi. Starting out as a college band, Asian Kung-Fu Generation released a series of independent EPs featuring lyrics mostly sung in English. In 2002, they released their major-label EP debut Hōkai Amplifier, from that point singing their lyrics in Japanese. The band's musical style is influenced by seminal Western alternative rock acts as well as their own local Japanese indie rock and punk scene. Their songs incorporate various aspects of the genres, most typically expressing fast tempos and prominent power chord guitar riffs in addition to rhythmic groove and emotional lyrics. Despite the indie nature of their music, the band has enjoyed worldwide commercial success in addition to critical acclaim. Asian Kung-Fu Generation has been cited as one of the best, most balanced modern rock bands to emerge from Japan in the 2000s.
Chihiro Onitsuka is a Japanese singer-songwriter.
D'espairsRay was a Japanese visual kei rock band active from 1999 to 2011. The lineup of Hizumi on vocals, Karyu on guitar, Zero on bass and Tsukasa on drums remained the same, with the group having released four full-length records, three EPs and thirteen singles. Outside Japan, D'espairsRay have toured Europe and North America and had domestic releases in those territories.
Orange Range are a Japanese rock band known for their strong Okinawan identity. Formed in 2001, the band began with Spice Music and later signed with Sony Music Japan's gr8! records division in 2003. The band left gr8! records in 2010 to start their own label, Super Echo. In 2012, they signed with Victor Entertainment's Speedstar Records label.
Ai Otsuka is a Japanese singer-songwriter from Suminoe-ku, Osaka, Japan. She is a popular artist on the Avex Trax label and is best known for her 2003 hit "Sakuranbo", which stayed in the Top 200 Oricon Weekly Singles Chart for 103 weeks.
Ami Suzuki is a Japanese recording artist, DJ, and actress from Zama, Kanagawa, Japan. Having been discovered at the talent TV show Asayan, she was one of the most popular female teen idols in the late 1990s. However, in 2000, Suzuki faced legal problems with her management company resulting in a controversial blacklisting from the entertainment industry. Suzuki attempted to resurrect her career under her own steam with two indie singles before signing to Avex Trax in 2005. She released "Delightful", a dance song that reached No. 3 on the Japanese Oricon charts with a style similar to electronic club music, significantly different from her pop idol days. Since her appearance in the 2006 film Rainbow Song, Suzuki has gradually made a name for herself in the acting field, starring in various movies, television series, and musicals.
Yui, stylized as YUI or yui, is a Japanese singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. In her solo career, she sold more than 5 million physical copies in Japan. She is popular in Japan and in surrounding countries, ranking number one in 2011 Count Down TV "Dearest Female Artist" and Music Station "Artist You Most Want to Marry" polls, as well as Radio Television Hong Kong's "Most Popular Japanese Artist".
The Gazette, formerly known as Gazette, is a Japanese visual kei rock band, formed in Kanagawa in early 2002. The band is currently signed to Sony Music Records.
Uverworld is a Japanese rock band consisting of six members and originating from Kusatsu, Shiga. They have released eleven studio albums and over thirty singles and have sold over three million records worldwide.
F.T. Island, is a South Korean rock band formed by FNC Entertainment in 2007. The band currently consists of main vocalist Lee Hong-gi, bassist Lee Jae-jin, and drummer Choi Min-hwan. Guitarist Oh Won-bin left the band in 2009 and was replaced by Song Seung-hyun. Former leader Choi Jong-hoon left the band and retired from the entertainment industry on March 14, 2019, while Seung-hyun left the group on December 31, 2019, to pursue his acting career.
Flumpool are a Japanese rock band. The band, originally from Osaka Prefecture, was formed in January 2007. The band's name is a portmanteau of the words four, lump, and pool. Thus, the name could be interpreted to mean "collective mass of four" or a "quartet".
Michiko Sellars, known by her stage name MiChi, is a Japanese British pop singer who began her career as an independent artist, but later signed to Sony Music Entertainment.
"Red" is a maxi-single by the Japanese rock band, The Gazette. It was released on September 22, 2010 in two editions; the "Optical Impression" edition, "Auditory Impression" edition. The first includes the songs "Red" and "Vermin"- it also includes a DVD containing the music video and making for the song "Red". The second comes with a bonus track, "An Unbearable Fact".
Vivid was a five-member Japanese visual kei rock band from Tokyo. The band was formed in March 2009 and is currently signed with Sony Music Japan's Epic Records Japan label. Vivid had announced on Jan 28, 2015, that they will be disbanding after the last stop of their final tour in April.
Japonesque is the tenth studio album by Japanese recording artist Kumi Koda. It was released on January 25, 2012 by Rhythm Zone. It was also released just a little under a year after her 2011 album, Dejavu. Japonesque marks Koda's tenth consecutive studio album to be produced by Japanese producer and manager Max Matsuura, amongst many other producers, while she contributes to the album as the lead vocalist, background vocalist, and songwriter to majority of the songs. Recorded in Japanese with minor phrases in English language, Japonesque is a Japanese pop album with numerous musical elements such as dance music, R&B, electronica, and rock music.
Gold Skool is the sixteenth studio album of Japanese singer Toshinobu Kubota, released on August 3, 2011. The album charted at number 3 on the Oricon Albums chart and remained on the charts for total of 18 weeks. The album sold over 78,124 units in Japan.
The Best is the first Japanese compilation album by South Korean girl group Girls' Generation. It was released on July 23, 2014, in Japan through EMI Records Japan. The album was released in three different editions, regular and two limited, with the latter containing a DVD or Blu-ray, an extra CD and a photobook. The album originally contains all of the group's previous Japanese singles, while including a previously unreleased Japanese version of "Mr.Mr." and an original track, titled "Indestructible".
Dogma is the eighth studio album by Japanese visual kei rock band the Gazette, released on August 26, 2015, in Japan and September 4, 2015, in the US by Sony Music and October 2, 2015, in the UK, Europe and Russia by JPU Records.
Mass is the tenth studio album by Japanese visual kei rock band the GazettE, which saw release on May 26, 2021, in the US and Japan by Sony Music Records and in the UK, Europe and Russia by JPU Records. Before the album was released, the single "Blinding Hope" was released on March 10, 2021.
