X Japan was an influencias and popular band active from 1982 to 1997. Along with their main guitarist, Hideto Matsumoto, they have some references on popular culture.

X Japan

As one of the most popular Japanese acts, there has been many references of X Japan on the popular culture.

Music

Cover versions

The list of people that have covered some X Japan songs is long. The following artists are the most notable.

Sonata Arctica

Sonata Arctica played a short excerpt from Silent Jealousy in a show in Japan. The show was recorded and released as a bootleg under the name of Only Way You Can.

Cellador

American Power Metal band Cellador played once an instrumental version of Silent Jealousy. It has never been officially released. [1]

Anorexia Nervosa

Japanese version of Anorexia Nervosa's Redemption Process album included as a bonus track a cover of I'll Kill You. [2].

Dragonland

Swedish rock band Dragonland made a cover of Rusty Nail for their Starfall Japanese version.[3].

The Trax

Korean rock band The Trax recorded a version of Tears for their single Scorpio which was produced by X Japan leader Yoshiki Hayashi. [4]. MC The Max another Korean band produced by Yoshiki also did a cover of Tears.

globe

Japanese Pop band globe recorded a cover of Say Anything at the time that Yoshiki joined the band. The cover was later released on their Global Trance album. [5]

Films and television

In 1988, X Japan appeared in the American film Tokyo Pop, starring Carrie Hamilton (Carol Burnett's daughter). The group members played the bandmates of Hiro, performed by the rock musician Diamond Yukai.

Videogames

X Japan is one of the very few Japanese bands to have commercially released a videogame.

X Japan Virtual Shock 001 by Sega for Sega Saturn.

Places

A restaurant in Barcelona (Spain) it's named X JAPAN due to the band. [6]

hide

[[|right|200px|hide and his red hair|thumb]] hide who was the guitarist of X Japan also have his influence on the popular culture. hide's hairs, especially the ones in red, have inspired lot of cosplays and lot of times it's possible to see people wearing his clothes.

Music

Hide's Hide Your Face album features a distinctive mask designed by H. R. Giger across the cover (the mask was on display at the hide museum).

The title of one of hide's songs, about an abusive, unhealthy relationship, "Genkai Haretsu", is a phrase that he coined, meaning "limiting explosion".

His song "Pink Spider" won the Japanese International Viewer's Choice Award at the MTV Video Music Awards in 1998.

Cover versions

Bands like Siam Shade, Luna Sea, Glay covered some hide songs for the tribute album hide spirits
After hide's death, Zilch released a tribute album to hide called Skyjin. The album contained songs played by popular musicians such as former Guns N' Roses bassist Duff McKagan, Ian Astbury of The Cult, Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols and Cypress Hill's Sen Dog and Ol' Dirty Bastard of Wu Tang Clan. Duff McKagan and Dave Kushner met each other during this record and later went to play in supergroup Velvet Revolver.

Film and television

Hide (along the rest of X Japan) made a cameo in the 1988 comedy Tokyo Pop, starring the late Carrie Hamilton and Diamond Yukai.

In 1993 hide starred in the forty-three-minute art film Seth et Holth (produced by Fool's Mate magazine) with fellow J-rocker Tusk. The film was a blend of the biblical story of Adam and Eve, Egyptian mythology, goth visual kei, and social commentary on the hectic nature of modern life.

Places

A museum was opened in Yokosuka in his honor. It opened on the second anniversary of his death and featured many of his guitars, and personal possessions. The hide museum closed on September 2005 due to council regulations.