Shiina Ringo, the J-Rock queen as many have dubbed her, assembled the band Tokyo Jihen (or Tokyo Incidents in English) on May 31st, 2004 after a relatively long-lived solo career which consisted of many tours, albums, songs (which i suggest all the readers to listen to) and a large and loyal fanbase. Consisting of Kameda Seiji on bass, Hata Toshiki on drums, Hirama Mikio on guitar, HZM on keys, and Shiina Ringo herself on lead vocals and guitar, Tokyo Jihen bursted out onto the music scene, and left a powerful impression on Japanese pop culture. A series of tours, live performances on entertainment shows, private and secret concerts, and extensive interviews were made to promote and implicate the arrival of their debut album, Kyoiku, which translates into simply, "Education". At the end of 2005 however, Hirama Mikio decided to leave the band to focus on his solo career (it is rumored however, that he left because of his relationship with Shiina Ringo, though that information is not verified, so don't quote me on this) and HZM, the man behind the keyboard left to return to his initial band, PE'Z, an instrumental quintet that is quickly gaining popularity in Japan. This absence of two members made way for two new additions into the band: Ukigumo (who played guitar for Shiina Ringo during her solo career) on guitar and Izawa Ichiyou (an extremely skilled pianist and longtime friend of the band) on keys. with a fresh line-up of members and some time to kill, the band returned to the studio to work and record their second album, Otona (Adult); that album was released on January 27th, 2006. As for now, Tokyo Jihen is doing what they do best: working on new material, playing shows, entertaining millions, and using their own personal medium to communicate to the masses: music. We'll be looking forward to listening to new material from Tokyo Jihen soon! :]
videos for your viewing pleasure!
HIMITSU
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an oldie but a goodie. this is SOUNAN, live.
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IF YOU CAN TOUCH IT
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