Tokyo Jihen
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| Tokyo Jihen | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Tokyo Incidents |
| Origin | Japan |
| Genres | Rock, Jazz |
| Years active | August 2003, September 2004-February 2012 |
| Labels | Toshiba-EMI (2004–2012) |
| Associated acts | Uni Inoue |
| Website | http://www.tokyojihen.com |
| Members | |
| Ringo Shiina (guitar & vocals) Seiji Kameda (bass) Toshiki Hata (drums) Izawa Ichiyou (keyboard) Ukigumo (guitar) |
|
| Past members | |
| HZM (Masayuki Hiizumi), (keyboard) Mikio Hirama (guitar) |
|
Tokyo Jihen or Tokyo Incidents (東京事変 Tōkyō Jihen) is a Japanese band started by Ringo Shiina (椎名 林檎, Shiina Ringo), after leaving her solo career. The band's debut single Gunjo Biyori was released in September 2004.
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[edit] History
[edit] Origins (2003)
Tokyo Jihen was formed as Shiina Ringo's backing band at first for her last concert tour before ending the first half of her solo career. Shiina was contemplating working with a band while working on her last solo album, Karuki Zamen Kuri no Hana. She began looking for members of her backing band to support her solo tour "Sugoroku Ecstasy" in the Autumn of 2003. The tour band was introduced as Tokyo Jihen during the tour for the first time, featuring guitarist Hirama, pianist HZM, drummer Hata, and familiar bassist Kameda. The musicians she selected became the core of what would become Tokyo Jihen.
After the tour, she announced that she would stop her solo career to join "Tokyo Jihen" as a full-fledged member.
[edit] "Phase 1" era and its end (2004-2005)
On May 31, 2004, the members of the Tokyo Jihen declared that they worked as a permanent band. On July 24, they appeared in the presence of fans at the live 0724 Yamabikari for the first time. They played some live sets during that year's Fuji Rock Festival, and made their major debut with the single "Gunjou Biyori" on September 8. Tokyo Jihen released one album and two singles, and held their first concert tour -Tokyo Jihen live tour 2005 "dynamite!"-.
On July 1, 2005, it was announced during the tour that keyboardist H ZETT M and guitarist Mikio Hirama would leave Tokyo Jihen. HZM returned to his duties as pianist for PE'Z, and Hirama went back to being a solo artist. It was decided that they would withdraw from the band before the "dynamite!" tour started.
After the departure of the band's former guitarist and keyboardist, Shiina began a search for new members. She was going to have at least a keyboard player join because two people left the band at the same time. HZM recommended his friend and former bandmate, Keitaro Izawa, as a substitute for him to Shiina, but she began visiting music clubs to look for other keyboardists.[1] In the end she found no one who was better than Izawa, and Shiina decided to invite him to join. He is called Ichiyo Izawa now.
On the other hand, the search for a new guitarist ran into difficulties. She invited some guitarists, but she was declined by all of them. They might have disliked being considered her "backing band".[2] At worst, she planned to choose a different guitarist each time without having a regular guitarist. However, when the other members listened to the 1st album "Kyouiku" demos by chance, the situation changed. All of them were pleased with the guitarist who played them on the guitar, and asked Shiina his name. This guitarist was Ryosuke Nagaoka, who assumed the stage name of Ukigumo after joining Tokyo Jihen. Shiina and Ukigumo had been friends since her days as a soloist. He turned down the offer to join Tokyo Jihen at first, but finally accepted just before recording began for "Adult."
With so many members replaced, Shiina considered changing the name of the band, but decided against it in the end.
In September 2005, keyboardist Izawa Ichiyou and guitarist Ukigumo joined Tokyo Jihen. After this, the lineup including the former members came to be called Dai-Ikki (第一期 Phase 1), with the current one referred to as Dai-Niki (第二期 Phase 2).
[edit] Beginning of "Phase 2" (2006-2007)
The second album "Adult" released on January 25, 2006 won the 1st place in Oricon chart for the first time as the band. They held two performance -"DOMESTIC!" Virgin LINE- in which new members appeared for the first time in Nippon Budokan Hall and Osaka-jo Hall in February, and went to the concert tour -"DOMESTIC!" Just can't help it- for about two months from April.
In the latter half of 2006, Shiina produced the film score of the movie "Sakuran", and the other band members except Hata who broke his leg cooperated with her work.
In 2007, they released two singles and the third album in which Shiina didn’t compose at all for the first time, and they went to the concert tour –Tokyo Jihen live tour 2007 Spa & Treatment-, which featured the third album.
[edit] Activities of individuals kept pace with the band (2008-2009)
On March 15, 2008, the music video of "Killer Tune" was chosen as "Best Technical Works Video" of Space Shower Music Video Awards 08 by Space Shower TV which is the first pay channel specialized for music in Japan.
In 2008, Shiina resumed her solo career for the first time since joining Tokyo Jihen because of the tenth anniversary of her debut as "Ringo Shena". Therefore, she participated in Rising Sun Rock Festival held in the summer, both as a solo singer and with a band. As a result, the activity of Tokyo Jihen was restricted during this period.
In 2009, Shiina continued her solo activity from the previous year, and she released a new solo album after a long absence in June. Therefore, the other members of Tokyo Jihen each also engaged in other activities in the first half of 2009. Ukigumo and Izawa worked in their respective bands. Kameda and Hata also did some side work. Kameda helped many bands and singers place in the top ten of the album & singles charts as a producer, and Hata participated in the recording of Fujifabric's album and their concerts as a session musician. Shiina, Ukigumo, and Izawa participated in Rie Tomosaka's album production. Ukigumo and Izawa accompanied her promotional campaign and performed as her backing band.
On May 25, 2009, it was announced that Izawa joined "The Hiatus" which Takeshi Hosomi (ex-Ellegarden) formed newly. They define the HIATUS as "a project of music, arts, and depicters" in their site. The recording artists and the tour artists are made public there, respectively, and Izawa appears as a tour artist. He joined their Trash We'd Love Tour 2009. Izawa also held some concerts with Hosomi as "Hosomi Ichiyo" (細美一葉) from October to December.
On December 2, 2009, Tokyo Jihen released the single "Nōdōteki Sanpunkan" after an interval of about 2 years, and resumed their activity.
On December 30, 2009, Tokyo Jihen appeared on Countdown Japan 09/10.
[edit] Recent activities (2010-Present)
The fourth album Sports, released on February 24, 2010 won the 1st place in Oricon chart after an interval of four years. The nationwide tour "Tokyo Incident live tour 2010 UltraC" started in March.
The fifth album Dai Hakken was released on June 29, 2011, and the nationwide tour "Tokyo Incident live tour 2011 Discovery" started in September 30.
On January 11th, 2012, Shiina Ringo announced their break up on their official site. Their last original release, a mini-album entitled Color Bars, was released on January 18, 2012. The band will officially dissolve on February 29, 2012. They will hold a final tour in February including Yokohama Arena (February 14-15), Osaka-jo Hall (February 21-22), and Tokyo's Nippon Budokan (February 28-29).
[edit] Members
[edit] Current members
Ringo Shiina (椎名 林檎 Shiina Ringo)
- Active: 2003–present
- Instruments: Lead vocals, Electric guitar, Acoustic guitar, Piano, Electronic keyboards, Melodica, Kazoo
- Real name: Yumiko Shiina (椎名 裕美子 Shiina Yumiko)
- Shiina is an acclaimed singer-songwriter who has enjoyed enormous popularity after her debut at the age of 18.
- She is the founder and the leader of the group, and initially wrote almost all their songs, but now shares songwriting duties with the other bandmembers.
Seiji Kameda (亀田 誠治 Kameda Seiji)
- Active: 2003–present
- Instruments: Bass guitar, Double bass, Electric upright bass
- Kameda is a music producer and music arranger of many musicians, as well as a session bassist.
- He knew Shiina Ringo before her debut, and he has supported her since then. Shiina Ringo calls him "Shisho"(=master or teacher). He rose to fame with her and became a famous producer, but plays music with Tokyo Jihen exclusively.
- Musicians he has produced include Angela Aki, Yui Aragaki, Ayaka, Chara, Chatmonchy, Do As Infinity, Elephant Kashimashi, Flow, Fujifabric, Ayaka Hirahara, Ken Hirai, Ikimono-gakari, Juju, Nico Touches the Walls, Plastic Tree, Shota Shimizu, Spitz, Shikao Suga, Hiroshi Takano, The Boom, and Wise.
Toshiki Hata (刄田 綴色 Hata Toshiki)
- Active: 2003–present
- Instruments: Drums, Percussion
- Real name: Toshiki Hata (畑 利樹 Hata Toshiki)
- Hata has drummed as session musician and tour musician for various artists, including Mika Nakashima (2002, 2004, 2005), Dreams Come True (2008 in recording), and Fujifabric (2009). He is also a past member of the band headed by Junpei Shiina (椎名 純平 Shiina Junpei), Shiina's elder brother.
- Hata supports the band; scoop of which he was a member before, and he also formed the band; kotoho (コトホ) with Hideaki Yamazaki (ex-scoop, a bassist of School Food Punishment).
Ukigumo (浮雲 The Drifting Cloud)
- Active: 2005–present
- Instruments: Electric guitar, Acoustic guitar, Backing vocals, Rapping
- Real name: Ryosuke Nagaoka (長岡 亮介 Nagaoka Ryosuke)
- Ukigumo is an old friend of Shiina's. He has also played music with Junpei Shiina before, as well as Hata and Tabu Zombie, the leader of Soil & "Pimp" Sessions before; Ukigumo additionally participated in the production of Shiina's third solo album, Sanmon Gossip. He gave Shiina advice when the former members of Tokyo Jihen left the band.
- He has his own band, Petrolz (ペトロールズ).
Ichiyo Izawa (伊澤 一葉 Izawa Ichiyo)
- Active: 2005–present
- Instruments: Piano, Electronic keyboards, Electric guitar, Background Vocals
- Real name: Keitaro Izawa (伊澤 啓太郎 Izawa Keitaro)
- Izawa and HZM are alumni of the Kunitachi College of Music, and been in a band together before.
- He has his own band, Appa (あっぱ), and has more recently played with the band "The Hiatus."
[edit] Former members
- Active: 2003-2005
- Instruments: Piano, Electronic keyboards, Background Vocals
- Real name: Masayuki Hiizumi (ヒイズミ マサユ機 Hiizumi Masayuki)
- HZM is a core member of the Japanese instrumental jazz band, "PE'Z", which made their major debut before the formation of Tokyo Jihen.
- After the release of Tokyo Jihen's first album, he decided to leave to devote himself to PE'Z full-time.
Mikio Hirama (ヒラマ ミキオ (晝海 幹音) Hirama Mikio)
- Active: 2003-2005
- Instruments: Guitars, Background Vocals
- Real name: Mikio Hirama (平間 幹央 Hirama Mikio)
- Nickname: Micky
- Hirama had released two mini-albums on indie labels as a solo musician, and was also was in the band "peppermints kiss cafe" as a guitarist at the time he joined Tokyo Jihen.
- Shiina had met him before at an audition, and subsequently searched for him in hopes of adding him to the band.
- After the release of Tokyo Jihen's first album, he decided to return to his career as a solo musician.
[edit] Timeline
[edit] Producers
Uni Inoue (井上 うに Inoue Uni)
- Main occupation: Audio engineer
- Inoue has produced Shiina's works all the time since her second album. Shiina calls him "the sixth member".
[edit] Naming of members
The real names of Hirama and Hata are "平間 幹央" and "畑 利樹" respectively, but, Shiina Ringo gave them stage names, using Kanji which is not usually used for their names, but as they are the phonetic equivalent, the pronunciation is not changed. Since Ryosuke Nagaoka always drifted unsteadily and nobody knew where he would go, Shiina named Nagaoka "Ukigumo" which means the drifting cloud. Shiina planned to give Keitaro Izawa a stage name, but he refused and chose one for himself - Ichiyo Izawa.
[edit] Music production
Shiina and Izawa write a musical score. Kameda takes various means, recording a humming and using musical instruments or the PC. Since Ukigumo cannot write a score, Izawa or Shiina (mainly Izawa) copies down his tune in the studio.
Hata stubbornly kept refusing to write music, even declining to write lyrics when Shiina asked him to. However, he finally changed his mind.
Since Ukigumo writes music without considering a song, it is hard for Shiina to put the words to his music. That's why he often writes lyrics by himself.
[edit] List of Tokyo Jihen concert tours
[edit] Concert tours
| Year | Title | Duration | Number of Performances |
Number of Venues |
Promoting album | Release format(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Tokyo Jihen live tour 2005 "dynamite!" | January 17 - February 16 | 14 | 10 | Kyōiku | Dynamite in & Dynamite out (DVD) |
| 2006 | Tokyo Jihen live tour 2005 "DOMESTIC!" Virgin LINE | February 19 & February 21 | 2 | 2[3] | Adult | Broadcast on SKY PerfecTV! Fuji TV 721 |
| Tokyo Jihen live tour 2005 "DOMESTIC!" Just can't help it. | April 7 - May 30 | 21 | 17 | Just can't help it. (DVD) | ||
| 2007 | Tokyo Jihen live tour 2007 "Spa & Treatment" | October 18 - November 21 | 14 | 7 | Variety | Spa & Treatment (DVD) |
| 2010 | Tokyo Jihen live tour 2010 "Ultra C"[4] | March 26 - May 23 | 22 | 18 | Sports | Ultra C (DVD, Blu-ray) |
| 2011 | Tokyo Jihen live tour 2011 "Discovery" | September 30 - December 07 | 26 | 20 | Dai Hakken | Discovery (DVD, Blu-ray) |
| 2012 | Tokyo Jihen live tour 2012 "Domestique Bon Voyage" | February 14 - February 29 | 6 | 3 |
[edit] Notable live performances
| Year | Title | Dates | Venues | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | FUJI ROCK FESTIVAL ’04 | July 30 | in Naeba Ski Resort of Niigata | |
| SUNSET LIVE 2004 | September 3 | in Keya Campsite of Fukuoka | Collaborated with SOIL&"PIMP"SESSIONS. | |
| 2006 | SOCIETY OF THE CITIZENS vol.1 | July 2 | in Hibiya Open-Air Concert Hall | The organizer： Tokyo Jihen. Yasuo Sano(佐野康夫) played the drums in place of Toshiki Hata who broke a bone. |
| COUNTDOWN JAPAN 06/07 -WEST- | December 31 | in Intex Osaka of Osaka | ||
| 2008 | RISING SUN ROCK FESTIVAL 2008 in EZO | August 15 & August 16 | at the Tarukawa Wharf Outdoors Specially Built Stage of the new port of Ishikari bay of Hokkaido | Shiina Ringo appeared as solo on August 16. |
| SOCIETY OF THE CITIZENS vol.2 | August 23 & August 24 | in JCB Hall of Tokyo | The organizer： Tokyo Jihen. | |
| 2009 | COUNTDOWN JAPAN 09/10 | December 30 | in Makuhari Messe of Chiba |
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
| Year | Album Information | Chart positions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oricon Albums Charts | Soundscan Album Top 20 | ||
| 2004 | Kyōiku (教育 Education)
|
2 | 2 |
| 2006 | Adult (大人(アダルト))
|
1 | 1 |
| 2007 | Variety (娯楽(バラエティ))
|
2 | 2 |
| 2010 | Sports (スポーツ)
|
1 | TBA |
| 2011 | Dai Hakken (大発見 Great Discovery)
|
1 | TBA |
| 2012 | Color Bars
|
2 | TBA |
Tokyo Collection (東京コレクション)
|
TBA | TBA | |
[edit] Singles
| Release | Title | Notes | Chart positions | Album | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oricon Singles Charts | Billboard Japan Hot 100† | RIAJ Digital Track Chart† | |||||
| 2004 | "Gunjō Biyori" (群青日和 Ultramarine Weather) | 2 | — | — | Kyōiku | ||
| "Sōnan" (遭難 Disaster) | 2 | — | — | ||||
| 2005 | "Shuraba" (修羅場 Fighting Scene) | 5 | — | — | Adult | ||
| 2006 | "Shōjo Robot" | Rie Tomosaka self cover. Digital download single from live DVD Just Can't Help It. | — | — | — | Just Can't Help It. (DVD) | |
| 2007 | "O.S.C.A." | 2 | — | — | Variety | ||
| "Killer Tune" (キラーチューン) | 5 | — | — | ||||
| "Senkō Shōjo" (閃光少女 Flash Girl) | DVD release/digital download. | — | — | 22* | Sports | ||
| 2009 | "Nōdōteki Sanpunkan" | 1 | 1 | 7 | |||
| 2010 | "Tengoku e Yōkoso/Dopa-mint!" (天国へようこそ/ドーパミント! Welcome to Heaven) | Digital download. | — | 38 36 |
31 | Dai Hakken | |
| 2011 | "Sora ga Natteiru/Onna no Ko wa Daredemo" (空が鳴っている／女の子は誰でも Rumbling Sky/Any Girl Will Do) | 6 | 5 11 |
40 54 |
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| * charted on monthly Chaku-uta Reco-kyō Chart. †Japan Hot 100 established February 2008, RIAJ Digital Track Chart established April 2009. |
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[edit] DVDs
| Release | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Tokyo Incidents Vol .1 | Music video collection |
| 2005 | Dynamite In | Live concert documentary |
| Dynamite Out | Live concert | |
| 2005 | Adult Video | Music video collection |
| 2006 | Just Can't Help It. | Live concert |
| 2007 | Senkō Shōjo (閃光少女 Flash Girl) | Music video collection |
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ She found Kiyoshi Hasegawa (長谷川 きよし Hasegawa Kiyoshi) at a certain club at the time. His songs were in her mother's record collection, and she also liked them. The two of them would play together taking advantage of this opportunity.
- ^ She said in "Just can't help it" tour that she invited Tomotaka Imamichi (いまみち ともたか Imamichi Tomotaka) of BARBEE BOYS, but he declined the offer.
- ^ On February 19 in Nippon Budokan Hall in Tokyo, on February 21 in Osaka-jo Hall in Osaka.
- ^ Ultra C is the coined word which a Japanese play-by-play announcer made for artistic gymnastics at Tokyo Olympic Games. It means the difficulty exceeding C score which was the highest score of those days.
[edit] External links
- Official sites
- Tokyo Jihen's official site (Japanese)
- Toshiba-EMI's Tokyo Jihen official artist page (Japanese)
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