About Me
Biography.
On May 29, 2004, after announcing that Shiina Ringo would be ceasing to release solo singles/albums anymore, it was revealed that she would in turn become the leading vocalist of a band she had formulated, called Tokyo Jihen. The band consisted of five members: herself, bassist Kameda Seiji (who previously worked a lot in arranging music in Shiina's solo career), drummer Hata Toshiki (who had similarly worked with Shiina as a live session drummer), guitarist Hirama Mikio and the pianist for the band PE'Z, Hiizumi Masayuki (who went under the stage names "H Zeddo M" and "HZM" during Tokyo Jihen). These band members were previously the band for Shiina's last live tour, her Sugoroku Ecstasy Tour (in fact, you are able to see the members play during Shiina's Electric Mole DVD concert).
Gunjou Biyori was then released as the band's debut single in September. The song was used for the KDDI CDMA 1X WIN W21SA cellphone commercial song, and managed to reach 2 on Oricon charts (just below the mega-hit single by Gorie with Jasmine and Joann, Mickey). The band's sophomore single, Sounan (released just one month after their first), received similar rankings (by reaching 2 on Oricon charts) though it did not exceed the record sales of their first.
The band would then release their debut album, Kyouiku, one month after the release of Sounan. The album reached the same position as both singles (2), below Hirai Ken's SENTIMENTALovers. Interestingly, band member Kameda Seiji had arranged many of the songs on Hirai's album.
In the first quarter of 2005, Tokyo Jihen's first major tour entitled Dynamite! spanned the nation, with over 14 different concerts. It was announced at these venues that the band would release a follow-up single to their debut, entitled Himitsu (秘密). However, the single was postponed and finally cancelled.
The band's two logos (top: '04-'05, bottom: '05~)In July 2005, it was officially announced that two members of the band, guitarist Hirama Mikio and keyboardist Hiizami Masayuki were to leave the band. Reputedly, Hirama left to start his solo project, and Hiizami Masayuki left in order to become part of PE'Z once more. It was not until two months later in September that two new replacement members were announced, guitarist Ukigumo and keyboardist Izawa Ichiyou. The band's crane logo also changed with this announcement.
Shiina was asked to sing the theme song to the drama Oh-oku ~Hana no Ran~. While Shiina already had a song in mind - Shuraba - she noted that she had to tweek the song to fit the drama. While this single was not as successful as the band's previous two singles, it still reached 5 on Oricon charts and sold a total of over 100,000 copies.
This single was be followed by the band's second full length album, Adult. The album would contain the aforesaid planned first single as its first track. Adult would become the band's first 1 release in their two years of activity. Following the success of Tokyo Jihen's second album, the band went on the largest tour in any of the member's careers. The tour entitled DOMESTIC! Just can't help it. spanned over 21 different concerts in over 17 different areas in Japan.
Tokyo Jihen begun preparations for their third album while Shiina was working on her concept album/soundtrack to the movie Sakuran, Heisei Fuuzoku. A large amount of the other band members' demo material was collected and the best songs were chosen. The band's fourth single, OSCA, was written and composed by guitarist Ukigumo and is described as a fast, wild rock tune.
Killer Tune Live on "Bokura 4".
Killer Tune (ã‚ラーãƒãƒ¥ãƒ¼ãƒ³) - Variety.
OSCA - Variety.
