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.
Flow is a Japanese rock band formed in 1998 as a five-piece band made up of two vocalists, a guitarist, a bassist, and a drummer. They are signed to Sacra Music. As of February 2023, the band has released 39 singles and 12 studio albums. Their songs have been featured in the opening sequences of several anime and Japanese drama series.
Jin Akanishi is a Japanese musician, singer, songwriter and actor. He has been active since 1998 as one of the two lead vocalists of the J-pop boy-band KAT-TUN before starting a solo career in 2009. Akanishi has also acted in several films and dramas.
Ling Tosite Sigure are a Japanese rock trio, formed in 2002 in Saitama Prefecture. The band's style resembles post-hardcore and progressive rock, math-rock, often incorporating rapid changes of tempo and mood framed in complex guitar melodies and technical drumming. They utilize both male and female vocals ranging from soft singing to loud wails and screams.
Supercell is an 11-member Japanese pop rock band led by musician and songwriter Ryo, which formed in 2007 as a dōjin music band. The other 10 members are artists and designers who provide illustrations in album booklets and music videos. Supercell started out by making use of the Hatsune Miku Vocaloid singing synthesizer to produce vocals for songs submitted to the Nico Nico Douga video sharing website. The popularity of the songs led the band to release their independent self-titled album Supercell (2008). Supercell later signed to Sony Music Entertainment Japan and had a professional release of their Supercell album in March 2009, which was updated with more songs.
Maon Kurosaki was a Japanese singer and songwriter signed to NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan. After being discovered while working as a performer in Akihabara, Tokyo, she made her major debut in 2010, performing ending themes to the anime television series Highschool of the Dead. She released her debut album H.O.T.D. in September 2010, which features the ending themes from Highschool of the Dead. Her first two singles were used as ending themes to the anime television series A Certain Magical Index II.
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.
Risa Oribe, better known by her stage name Lisa, is a Japanese singer and songwriter from Seki, Gifu, signed to Sacra Music under Sony Music Artists.
Eir Aoi is a Japanese singer from Sapporo, Hokkaido, signed to Sacra Music. After being discovered through the Japanese video sharing website Niconico, Aoi made her major debut in 2011 with the release of her first single "Memoria", whose title track was used as the first ending theme to the 2011 anime television series Fate/Zero.
Egoist was a Japanese pop music duo consisting of songwriter Ryo of Supercell and vocalist Chelly. Originally formed to produce theme music for the 2011 anime television series Guilty Crown, the group continued creating other songs after the end of the series including themes for other anime television series including Psycho-Pass and Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress. Egoist's debut album Extra terrestrial Biological Entities was released in September 2012.
Fear, and Loathing in Las Vegas(sic) is a Japanese electronicore band from Kobe that was formed in summer 2008. The band currently consists of vocalist So, keyboardist Minami, guitarist Taiki, drummer Tomonori, and bassist Tetsuya. They are best known for their heavy use of vocoder and synthesizer blended with emo/metalcore music and rave beats.
Silent Siren is a Japanese all-female band formed in 2010 and associated with Platinum Production. The members consist of three fashion models: Sumire Yoshida, Aina Yamauchi, and Yukako Kurosaka (keyboard). Ayana Sōgawa was originally the group's keyboardist until she left in 2012.
SiM are a Japanese alternative metal band from the Kanagawa Prefecture formed in 2004. The band currently consists of MAH (vocals), SHOW-HATE (guitar), SIN (bass), and GODRi (drums). Their musical style mixes heavy metal, alternative, hip hop, ska, reggae, dub and punk with rebellious lyrics and songs with attitude.
Cyntia was a Japanese heavy metal band formed in 2011. They are believed to have been the first act from the Girls Metal Band Boom to have signed to a major record label when they joined Victor Entertainment in 2013. Drummer and co-founder Kanoko left the group in April 2015, and the band moved to the Village Again Association label for their 2016 album Urban Night. Cyntia began an indefinite hiatus after January 13, 2018.
"Good Time" is the fifth physical solo single by Japanese singer-songwriter Jin Akanishi. It was released on August 6, 2014, by his newly founded independent record label Go Good Records. It was also made available on iTunes Store across the globe.
Band-Maid is a Japanese rock band formed in 2013, consisting of singer Saiki Atsumi, guitarist/singer Miku Kobato, lead guitarist Kanami Tōno, bassist Misa, and drummer Akane Hirose. The band combines a rock sound with a maid image modeled on Japanese maid cafés. They are currently signed to Pony Canyon. Their most recent studio recording, the EP Unleash, was released in September 2022.
Sayuri is a Japanese singer, musician and songwriter.
Just Bring It is the fourth studio album and first full-length album by Japanese band Band-Maid, released on January 11, 2017 in Japan via Crown Stones and February 10, 2017 internationally by JPU Records. The record was preceded by the quintet's first world tour and the single "YOLO", released in November 2016. The album reached number 16 on the Japanese Oricon Albums Chart, selling 4,015 copies in its first week.
Lovebites is a Japanese power metal band, formed in 2016 by former Destrose members Miho and Haruna. Its lineup currently consists of Haruna on drums, Midori and Miyako on guitar, Asami on vocals, and Fami on bass. After signing to Victor Entertainment, the group released both their debut EP and their first album in 2017, The Lovebites EP and Awakening from Abyss, before performing their first overseas concerts at the end of the year. With another EP and album released in 2018, Battle Against Damnation and Clockwork Immortality, Lovebites quickly garnered international attention and won that year's Metal Hammer Golden Gods Award for Best New Band. Following the releases of Electric Pentagram (2020) and Glory, Glory, to the World (2021), bassist Miho left the band in August 2021. After a year-long hiatus, Lovebites recruited Fami on bass and released Judgement Day, their fourth album, in February 2023. It is their highest-charting record to date, reaching number 5 on both the Oricon and Billboard Japan charts.
Passcode, is a Japanese metal idol group that was founded in 2013.
