The Stalin were a Japanese punk rock band formed in June 1980, by leader and vocalist Michiro Endo. After numerous member changes, he disbanded the group in February 1985. In May 1987 Michiro formed a group called Video Stalin, which mostly made videos instead of albums; they disbanded in 1988. In 1989 Michiro created a new band named Stalin and continued to make music with them until 1993.
Mari Hamada is a Japanese heavy metal and pop rock singer. Since her debut in 1983, Hamada has been known as the "Heavy Metal Queen" of Japan. Throughout her career, she has released 25 singles and 23 studio albums.
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.
Michiya Haruhata is a Japanese musical composer, guitarist and music producer under Sony Music Entertainment Japan. He is member of the pop-rock band Tube.
Koki Tanaka is a Japanese singer–songwriter and actor. He was a member of Jpop idol boy band KAT-TUN from their debut until September 30, 2013, when his contract with Johnny & Associates was terminated. When he was a member of KAT-TUN, he was recognized as the rapper in the group and has a hip-hop-influenced style. Out of the other members, Tanaka was most often paired up with Yuichi Nakamaru and they even formed a comedy duo 'TaNaka'. After leaving Johnny & Associates, Tanaka formed his own indie rock band called INKT.
D'erlanger is a Japanese rock band from Kyoto Prefecture, formed in 1983 by guitarist Cipher and bassist Seela. While they originally played speed and power metal, after recruiting drummer Tetsu and vocalist Kyo they switched to a punk rock sound for their debut album La Vie En Rose in 1989. Although it was on an indie label, it sold out and was reissued three times that year, earning them a major label record deal with BMG Japan the following year. They released Basilisk in March 1990 and it reached the top five on the charts. However, in December the group suddenly announced their disbandment.
Radwimps is a Japanese rock band who debuted independently in 2003 and signed with Toshiba EMI in 2005. The band's name, Radwimps, was formed from two English slang terms, "rad" and "wimp". According to the band, the coined word had several meanings, including "excellent weakling" and "superlative coward".
Outrage is a Japanese thrash metal band, formed in Nagoya in 1982. They made their debut in 1987 with a lineup of Yosuke Abe on guitar, Yoshihiro Yasui on bass, Shinya Tange on drums and Naoki Hashimoto on vocals. Hashimoto left the band in 1999, but the group continued as a three piece and he returned in 2007. With a career spanning over four decades, Outrage are one of few Japanese metal bands to have never disbanded or paused activities.
Tourbillon are a Japanese rock trio formed in 2005 by Luna Sea members Ryuichi Kawamura (vocals) and Inoran (guitar), and D-Loop member Hiroaki "H. Hayama" Hayama (keyboards). They reached number three on the Oricon Singles Chart with "Break the Chain", the opening theme of the TV series Kamen Rider Kiva. The group ended activities in 2008 shortly after its release. Tourbillon reunited in 2015, and again in 2023.
Alterna is the fifth studio album by Japanese rock band Rize.
Man with a Mission, stylized in all caps and sometimes shortened as MWAM, is a Japanese rock band which was formed in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan, in 2010. The band currently consists of five band members, with stage names of Tokyo Tanaka, Jean-Ken Johnny, Kamikaze Boy, DJ Santa Monica and Spear Rib (drums). Their distinguishing feature is that all of the members wear differently designed wolf masks during both their concerts and their music videos. Many of their singles have been used as theme songs for a variety of anime, live-action movies, and video games.
2004 Ai is the third studio album by Japanese-American singer-songwriter Ai, released on June 16, 2004, by Def Jam Japan and Universal Sigma. 2004 Ai was Ai's first top 10 album, as well as her first album to be certified by the Recording Industry Association of Japan.
Bandage, stylized as BANDAGE, is a 2010 Japanese independent film directed by Takeshi Kobayashi, who also served as the editor, producer and composer and written and produced by Shunji Iwai. Based on the original novel Good Dreams by Chika Kan, Iwai adapted it along with Kan and renamed it Bandage.
My First Story is a Japanese rock band from Shibuya, Tokyo. Formed in 2011, the band currently consists of vocalist Hiroki Moriuchi, guitarist Teruki Nishizawa, bassist Nobuaki Katō, and drummer Shōhei Sasaki. Their debut album My First Story (2012) caught people's attention and put them in lineups of major music festivals. Their fourth studio album Antithese (2016) ranked 4th on Oricon chart, and directed their first Nippon Budokan live show, gathering 12,000.
Oldcodex was a Japanese rock band from Tokyo, Japan, formed in 2009. They performed the opening themes for the anime series Free!, Servamp and God Eater and the ending themes for Kuroko's Basketball and Togainu no Chi. Their band name indicates their wish to "create their distinctiveness" in rock music. They also take on a unique concept, having a painter draw on canvas while the main vocalist sing on live stages.
Nobuaki Kaneko is a Japanese drummer and actor. He is nicknamed Akkun (あっくん) and N.K. He is a member of the rock band Rize. He is represented with Itoh Company and his label is Illchill. He graduated from Horikoshi High School.
Anly is a Japanese pop singer-songwriter from Ie, Okinawa. She started playing the guitar at six years old, and started writing music in junior high school. In high school, she played live at various locations in Okinawa and Tokyo, allowing her to release two indie singles in 2015 before being signed to Sony Music Records. She released her debut single "Taiyō ni Warae" in 2015 and her debut album Anly One in 2017.
5x20 All the Best!! 1999–2019 is the fifth greatest hits album by Japanese boy band Arashi. It was released through J Storm on June 26, 2019. The album debuted at the top spot of the Oricon Weekly Albums chart, selling 1,304,251 copies in its first week of release in Japan. It spent the most weeks at number one of any album on the Oricon Albums Chart in 2019, with four, and was both the best-selling album of 2019 in Japan, as well as worldwide, with 3.3 million copies sold, eventually becoming the world's best-selling album of the year for 2019.
Hisato Takenaka, known professionally as Char, is a Japanese musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. He is considered one of Japan's greatest guitar players.
Avu-chan is a Japanese singer, songwriter, producer and actor. They debuted as the lead vocalist and songwriter of the band Queen Bee in 2009, and took on a side project as the lead vocalist and trumpeter of the supergroup Gokumontō Ikka in 2015. As a producer and songwriter, Avu-chan uses the name Avu Barazono, and has written songs for Meg, Rina Satō, Ai Shinozaki, Hey! Say! JUMP, LiSA, KERENMI, and the SUPERNOVA sub-unit Funky Galaxy. They also produce the alternative vocal-and-dance boy group Ryugujo, formed in 2023 through the audition program "0th Class 0 - Avu-chan's Classroom".
