AP Bank is a Japanese non-profit organization dedicated to renewable energy and environmental projects, founded in 2003. AP Bank's seed money was provided by record producer Takeshi Kobayashi, musician Kazutoshi Sakurai and composer and musician Ryuichi Sakamoto. It channels its finance to small-scale sustainable projects that would otherwise struggle to receive loan funding. Beneficiaries have ranged from a recycling program in the far south of Kyushu, Japan, to the construction of an eco-resort in the Marshall Islands.
AP Bank holds its own festival since 2005. AP Bank Fes raises awareness about environmental issues such as recycling and global warming, with all profits from the festival going to fund more projects at AP Bank.
The concept for AP Bank arose out of a series of seminars in 2002 by the members of composer Ryuichi Sakamoto's Artists Power, a project started in 2001 by Sakamoto and Takuro of Glay to engender more financial responsibility amongst musicians. Seminar organiser and music producer Takeshi Kobayashi invited members to learn from experts about citizen's banks, where money is used according to the depositor's wishes as opposed to regular banks where depositors rarely know how their deposits are used.
Presenter Yu Tanaka, executive director of non-profit organization the Mirai Bank, established in 1994, encouraged the members to start their own citizen's bank in order to invest in wind turbines.
In June 2003 AP Bank was officially founded as a non-profit bank able to offer loan financing, with a goal of tackling environmental problems. It was started with an initial investment of ¥100 million (approx. US$952,000) each from music producer Takeshi Kobayashi, musician Kazutoshi Sakurai and composer Ryuichi Sakamoto. A former manager from one of Japan's largest regular banks, Mitsui Sumitomo also joined as a key member of the team. AP Bank, which operates as a lender with low interest rates, began receiving applications for loans online from May 1, 2004, receiving 75 applications in its first month and granting 14 in its first year worth a total of approximately ¥50 million (US$476,000).
Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra commonly abbreviated by fans as Skapara or TSPO, is a Japanese ska and jazz band officially formed in 1988 by the percussionist Asa-Chang, and initially composed of over 10 veterans of Tokyo's underground scene.
At the time, the band's sound was unlike that of any of its contemporaries in the then fledgling Japanese ska scene, and over the course of the past 21 years, their innovation has proved to have been very influential on Japanese music as a whole. Its sound, the product of the musical influences of its numerous members, is an eclectic mix of traditional ska, jazz, and rock. In the vein of many other more traditional ska acts, many of Skapara's songs are purely instrumental.
Since its inception, the band has gone on several nationwide tours of Japan, and have toured extensively worldwide. They have collaborated with several vocalists outside of their band, including Shiina Ringo, Akira Kobayashi, Kyōko Koizumi, Schadaraparr, PUFFY, Yoshie Nakano and Tamio Okuda.
They also performed the Japanese theme song to the PlayStation 2 game Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus, entitled "Black Jack" as well as numerous songs for the PlayStation game Incredible Crisis released in 1999.
Mr. Children (ミスターチルドレン , Misutā Chirudoren) , commonly referred to by their contracted nickname "Misu-Chiru" is a Japanese pop rock band formed in 1989 by Kazutoshi Sakurai, Kenichi Tahara, Keisuke Nakagawa, and Hideya Suzuki. They made their major debut in 1992.
As a group, they are one of the best selling artists in Japan and one of the most successful Japanese rock artists, having sold over 50 million records and creating the "Mis-chil Phenomenon" in the mid-1990s in Japan. They held the record for the highest first week sales of a single in Japan for 15 years, with 1.2 million copies of their 10th single "Namonaki Uta" (名もなき詩 ) , have 30 consecutive number 1 singles, replaced Glay as the all-male band (with 3 or more members) to have the most number 1 albums on the Oricon charts, and won the Japan Record Award in 1994 for "Innocent World" and in 2004 for "Sign".
OVERGROUND ACOUSTIC UNDERGROUND is an acoustic band formed by 6 members, TOSHI-LOW(Vo, in OAU as Vo&G), MAKOTO(B), RONZI(Dr), and KOHKI(G) (members of “BRAHMAN”, a leading hard core band of Japan) and by KAKUEI a percussionist who plays in various projects and MARTIN(Vo&Vio&G) a Scottish American violinist.
The sound of the acoustic guitar, wood base, drums, percussions, violin and the two vocalists skilfully weave in Western style.
They attract the audience with their vivid dynamism and fine live performance at Japan’s greatest rock festivals such as “FUJI ROCK FESTIVAL”, “ROCK IN JAPAN FESTIVAL”, “RISING SUN ROCK FESTIVAL” and “ASAGIRI JAM”.
MARTIN who takes the lead vocal, plays the guitar, violin, and mandolin is a Scottish American from Florida. As he was brought up in a family with his parents both being musicians, he started to play the violin when he was three years old. He won the Grand Prix at a violin competition in Florida three years in a row when he was a junior high-school student. But then he was very much into playing the guitar in his junior-high and high school years, and that brought him to Japan when he was 19 years old. During the days as a guitarist, he first met a studio percussionist KAKUEI (plays the conga, bongos, steel drums, timbales, paticas, and so on). Immediately they became close friends as they found out that they had a mutual friend. They had enjoyed jam sessions at home since then. In 2004, at a gig, MARTIN met TOSHI-LOW who’d become another vocalist and the guitarist of OVERGROUND ACOUSTIC UNDERGROUND later.
OVERGROUND ACOUSTIC UNDERGROUND was formed from their relationship. MARTIN called KAKUEI to join, and TOSHI-LOW called MAKOTO (bass), RONZI (drums), and KOHKI (guitar) who were the remaining members of his own band BRAHMAN. The band was formed in June 2005, after a year when MARTIN and TOSHI-LOW first met.
One day TOSHI-LOW received an offer to put a track into an omnibus album celebrating the tenth anniversary of 7STARS, a graphic designers’ office in Tokyo; the album entitled “The Basement Tracks -10YEARS SOUNDTRACK OF 7STARS” (2005). The work on it was their first studio recording, and the band performed their first show in September, 2005. They released their first album “OVERGROUND ACOUSTIC UNDERGROUND” on July 12, 2006. After that album they participated in big summer rock festivals in Japan such as FUJIROCK FESTIVAL and ROCK IN JAPAN FESTIVAL and in September they went on their first tour in Japan. They vigorously performed on several festivals after then.
In 2001 [Alexandros] (previously known as [Champagne]) was initially formed by vocalist Yoohei Kawakami and bassist Hiroyuki Isobe. Being brought up in Syria, Yoohei speaks fluent English with a unique Middle Eastern accent. He sings both in English and Japanese, not only aggressive rock numbers but sweet and mellow tunes he creates. Hiroyuki, spending most of his childhood in the US contributes to the band‘s sound that stands out from the other Japanese local bands. These two young talents got together to form what is to become one of the most original bands to emerge from the land of the rising sun. Guitarist Masaki Shirai joined the group in 2007.
In January of 2010, picked up by RX-RECORDS just a couple of years after, the band released their first-ever recording and a near-perfect debut album “Where's My Potato?". Regardless of the album coming from a yet-anonymous rookie band, this one gem of a record received great reviews and spread all over the country through word of mouth. The word was out. This is where it all began. In March that same year, the band contributed a Mary Poppins cover track for a Walt Disney compilation "DISNEY ROCKS!!" distributed exclusively via Village Vanguard, a subculture merchandise/book store chain. This helped the band gain great recognition. A month later, Satoyasu Shomura who had occasionally supported the band became the official drummer. This led to the now four band members to move to Tokyo, sharing one house together to focus on their musical career. The band released a couple of EP's during the rest of the year including "city" on July 7th, which was chosen as heavy rotation on a music channel Space Shower TV for July, and “You're So Sweet & I Love You" on Nov. 24th. The band concluded 2010 with their performance at famous Countdown Japan event.
The band released their sophomore album "I Wanna Go To Hawaii." on Feb. 9, 2011. Just like 1st album, new album got rave reviews from the press that triggered even more buzz to spread across the country and the album debuted at No. 14 on Oricon Weekly Album chart. Shortly after the release, the band went on tour in support of the release, out of which the last date was shot to make a very first live DVD released on Oct. 17th entitled "It's Me And Me Against The World". The band also released 2 singles in 2011, “Ie" on July 20th and “spy" on Dec. 14th.
On January 16, 2012, [Alexandros] supported the UK rock band KASABIAN for their Japan dates as an opening act, gaining recognition and acceptance from the international music. Soon after, on April 4th the band released their 3rd full-length album "Schwarzenegger", which debuted at No.10 on Oricon weekly album chart immediately after release. After another single release of "Kill Me If You Can" from the album in July, the band released a 2DVD entitled "I thought it was only one day" consisting of the live footage of their Schwarzenegger tour final show on June 30th at Shibuya and a collection of their music videos.
The year 2013 was a busy year for the band. They started off by being the supporting act for MUSE on their Japan show on Jan. 11th at the Saitama Super Arena. Soon after, their double A-side single “starrrrrrr / Namida ga Koboresou" was released, containing a natural mineral water GEROLSTEINER tie-in track. Reaching out to a wider range of audiences, the single marked No. 11 on the Oricon Weekly Single chart. On May 16th, the band performed on the UK‘s prestigious THE GREAT ESCAPE festival, receiving a positive reaction from the UK crowd. Following the festival, the band released brand new studio album “Me No Do Karate." on Jun. 26th which debuted at No.7 on Oricon Daily album chart. The band embarked on an extensive tour “We Don't Learn Anything Tour" visiting all over Japan soon after in support of the new release. This tour gathered 20,000 fans altogether, with ALL dates completely sold out immediately after tickets went on sale! One thing led to another, and the next step-up opportunity was a supporting act for PRIMAL SCREAM on their Japan show on Nov. 5th followed by a double A-Side, double tie-in EP “Run Away / Oblivion" on Dec. 25th. On the video of “Run Away“, the band collaborated with Nike + FuelBand, while the other track "Oblivion" was chosen for the theme song for fall/winter 2013 collection of an apparel brand LITHIUM HOMME. Appearances on music TV programs "Music Station" and "Countdown TV" also helped spread their name and keep the buzz going for 2013 and on to 2014.
In Jan. 2014, singer Yoohei participated on a song written for an annual campaign called ACCESS hosted by FM 802. He also went on to hook up with m-flo and collaborated on “m-flo + Yoohei Kawakami / FLY" which was released on Mar. 26th. The band decided to travel across the Pacific and performed at SXSW in Austin, TX on Mar. 12th and 13th. Soon after their return to Japan, they played a SOLD OUT show at prestigious Nippon Budokan gathering 11,000! And on this very day, the band announced their new band name as [Alexandros] (formerly known as [Champagne]). The band hosts a regular program “Welcome! [Alexandros]" on Space Shower TV. Collection of footages from this program was released on DVD titled “SPACE SHOWER TV presents Welcome! [Alexandros]" on Christmas Eve.
[Alexandros] signed and announced a partnership deal with Universal Music to kick off 2015 and released a double A-side single “Wataridori / Dracula La" on Mar. 18th including tie-in singles for a movie and a drama. The band plans to release a new studio album in June and another show at Nippon Budokan in July is confirmed followed by a nationwide album tour in fall. We are all to witness what the future holds for this promising band
indigo la End is a Japanese rock band led by vocalist and songwriter Enon Kawatani. The band released their debut extended play in 2012 with independent label Space Shower Records and were later signed by Warner sub-label Unborde.
The band first began in April 2009, however after a member change began full activities from February 2010. The original bassist, E ni Naranai Kachō, left the band in July 2011. In January he was replaced with Mariko Wada, and the band released their debut extended play Sayōnara, Subarashii Sekai in April 2012. Mariko Wada left soon after in June, with the band releasing a second extended play Nagisa nite in September.
The band released their debut album Yoru ni Mahō o Kakerarete in February 2013. Two months later saw the debut of another band of vocalist Enon Kawatani's, Gesu no Kiwami Otome, when they released the extended play Dress no Nugikata. Gesu no Kiwami Otome featured former indigo la End bassist E ni Naranai Kachō. In December, the band was signed to Warner sub-label Unborde simultaneously with Gesu no Kiwami Otome. Both musical units released their major label debut released on April 2, 2014: Minna Normal for Gesu no Kiwami Otome and Ano Machi Record for Indigo la End.
In the remainder of 2014, the band released two singles, Hitomi ni Utsuranai and Sayonara Bell the end of the band's performance at the Countdown Japan 14/15 new years music festival, band drummer Yūsuke Ōta announced his retirement from the band, citing differences in opinion for the future of the band. His final recordings with the band are featured on their second studio album, Shiawase ga Afuretara (2015).
Later in 2015, the band released the singles Kanashiku Naru Mae Ni and the double A-Side single Shizuku ni Koi Shite/Wasurete Hanataba, which was followed by another single in 2016, Kokoro Ame. In July 2016, the band released their third studio album, and second major label album, Aiiro Music (2016).
In 2017, the band's song Kane Naku Inochi was featured as the opening theme song of the Japanese television drama Inside Mari, and was released as part of the band's third major label album, and fourth studio album, Crying End Roll (2017). That same year, band leader Kawatani Enon's birthday on December 3rd served as the release date for the band's first digital single, Touya no Magic. This was followed in April 2018 by a second digital single, Haru no Iutōri, and the announcement of their fifth studio and fourth major label album, PULSATE (2018), released July 2018.
The band's name was inspired by Japanese band Spitz and their album Indigo Chiheisen (1996).
Ukasukaji is a Japanese music unit. Members are made up of two band, Mr. Kazuhisa Sakurai of the band Mr. Children and GAKU-MC of the hip-hop unit EAST END. Mr. Children 's Kazuhisa Sakurai and GAKU - MC, who had friends with football, formed a unit to excite the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The concept is a project to create various communication with music and soccer. In 2016, the first tour for Ukasukaji was held.
YEN TOWN BAND (Yen Town Band) is a Japanese pop music band. In addition, they released albums and singles since the date of establishment. In 2003 and 2015, they also performed live bands together.
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日本、〒436-0011 静岡県掛川市満水２０００ Map
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Ayaka", "Salyu", "Dienoji", "Ukaskaki", "Hanaregumi", "Shikao Suga", "Mr.Children", "ap bank fes", "Kameda Seiji", "[ALEXANDROS]", "Jimi Hendrix", "Tokyo Tanaka", "indigo la End", "YEN TOWN BAND", "SPECIAL OTHERS", "Hirokazu Ogura", "Naoto Nakamura", "Takehara Pistol", "Tomoyasu Kawamura", "Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra", "OVERGROUND ACOUSTIC UNDERGROUND", "Takahashi Yu (singer-songwriter)", "Takeshi Kobayashi (Music Producer)", "Mr. Kazuhisa Sakurai (Mr. Children)", "Takuo Yamamoto (Studio and musician belonging to CUBE)", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.
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