Maaya Sakamoto is a Japanese actress and singer. She made her debut as a voice actress in 1992 as the voice of Chifuru in the anime Little Twins, and became known as the voice of Hitomi Kanzaki in The Vision of Escaflowne. Other major roles in anime include Leila Malcal in Code Geass: Akito the Exiled, Jeanne d'Arc in Fate/Apocrypha, Shiki Ryōgi in The Garden of Sinners, Eto in Tokyo Ghoul, Riho Yamazaki in Nightwalker: The Midnight Detective, Moe Katsuragi in Risky Safety, Princess Tomoyo in Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, Haruhi Fujioka in Ouran High School Host Club, Sayaka Nakasugi in Birdy the Mighty, Ciel Phantomhive in Black Butler, Shinobu Oshino in Monogatari, Lunamaria Hawke in Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny, Merlin in The Seven Deadly Sins, Motoko Kusanagi in Ghost in the Shell: Arise, Quinella in season 3 of Sword Art Online, and Echidna in Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World.
Happy End was a Japanese folk rock band active from 1969 to 1972. Composed of Haruomi Hosono, Eiichi Ohtaki, Takashi Matsumoto and Shigeru Suzuki, the band's pioneering sound was regarded as avant-garde to most Japanese at the time. They are considered to be among the most influential artists in Japanese music. MTV described Happy End's music as "rock with psych smudges around the edges."
Haruomi Hosono, sometimes credited as Harry Hosono, is a Japanese musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is considered to be one of the most influential musicians in Japanese pop music history, credited with shaping the sound of Japanese pop for decades as well as pop music outside of Japan. He also inspired genres such as city pop and Shibuya-kei, and as the leader of the Yellow Magic Orchestra, contributed to the development and pioneering of numerous electronic genres.
Tatsurō Yamashita, occasionally referred to as Tatsu Yamashita or Tats Yamashita, is a Japanese singer-songwriter and record producer, who is known for pioneering the city pop style of music.
Takashi Matsumoto is a Japanese lyricist and former musician. After several years playing the drums in the rock bands Apryl Fool and Happy End during the late 1960s and early 1970s, Matsumoto decided to focus on writing lyrics for others in 1974. As of 2015, he had written over 2,100 songs, 130 of which entered the top 10 on the Oricon chart. Total sales of the singles he has written exceed 49.8 million copies, making him the third best-selling lyricist in Japan. In 2017, he was awarded the Medal with Purple Ribbon from the Japanese government for his work in music.
Kazuhiro Moriuchi known professionally as Shinichi Mori is a Japanese male enka singer and composer, who also sings folk and pop music. He has sold more than 90 million records, making him one of the best selling Japanese musicians.
Kazemachi Roman is the second album by Japanese folk rock band Happy End, released on URC Records in 1971. In this concept album, Happy End attempted to paint a musical picture of Tokyo before the 1964 Summer Olympics, through which sweeping changes transformed the city forever.
Happy End is the self-titled debut album by Japanese folk rock band Happy End. Because their third album is also self-titled, although written in English, this first album is also known by the name "Yudemen" (ゆでめん) after the sign depicted in the cover art.
A Long Vacation is an album by Japanese musician Eiichi Ohtaki, released on March 21, 1981. It sold over a million copies and won Best Album at the 23rd Japan Record Awards. It has been called one of the greatest Japanese rock albums of all time, including by Rolling Stone Japan.
Treasures is the compilation album by Japanese singer-songwriter Tatsuro Yamashita, released in November 1995.
Happy End is the third and final album by Japanese folk rock band Happy End. It was recorded in Los Angeles, produced by Van Dyke Parks and features several American session musicians such as Lowell George and Bill Payne of the band Little Feat.
Katsuki Hagiwara was a Japanese music critic and representative managing director of Elec Records, a Japanese media corporation re-established in November 2004. He was born in Yokohama, Kanagawa.
City pop is a loosely defined form of Japanese pop music that emerged in the late 1970s and peaked in popularity during the 1980s. It was originally termed as an offshoot of Japan's Western-influenced "new music", but came to include a wide range of styles – including funk, disco, R&B, AOR, soft rock, and boogie – that were associated with the country's nascent economic boom and leisure class. It was also identified with new technologies such as the Walkman, cars with built-in cassette decks and FM stereos, and various electronic musical instruments.
The year 2013 in Japanese music.
Shigeru Suzuki is a Japanese musician, songwriter and guitarist. He first became known as a member of the influential rock band Happy End in the early 1970s, before starting a solo career and becoming a prolific session musician. As of 2006, Suzuki had contributed to 588 recordings. In 2019, Suzuki's high school band Skye reunited and released their first album.
The discography of Japanese singer Masayuki Suzuki includes 16 studio, 6 compilation, 4 cover albums, a live album, 10 video albums, and 36 singles. Inspired by Western R&B acts and doo-wop songs, Suzuki formed a band Chanels in 1975, along with his friends and released their debut single "Runaway". Chanels would later be renamed to Rats & Star. In 1986, Suzuki made his solo debut through Mother of Pearl.
Taeko Ōnuki is a Japanese singer-songwriter and musician who achieved success and popularity during the 1970s and 80s in the city pop music scene.
Bad Friends is a 2009 tribute album, is kade from Akuyū (悪友), which translates to "Bad friend" and is the origin of Yū Aku's name.
Misora is the debut album of Japanese singer-songwriter Sachiko Kanenobu, released on September 1, 1972 by URC Records.
In 1984, Japanese music was released on records and performed in concerts, and there were charts, awards, contests and festivals.
