is a Japanese

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commercia ...

group from

Sakura, Chiba is a city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 173,740 in 78,483 households and a population density of 1700 people per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Sakura is located in northeastern C ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. The band members are Motoo Fujiwara (

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

rhythm Rhythm (from Greek , ''rhythmos'', "any regular recurring motion, symmetry") generally means a " movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions". This general meaning of regular rec ...

), Hiroaki Masukawa (

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

), Yoshifumi Naoi ( bass) and Hideo Masu ( drums). Since their conception in 1994, they have released 27 singles and 10 albums. They are a popular group in Japan; every release since their third single, " Tentai Kansoku", has charted in the top ten on the Oricon Weekly Charts. Their music has been used in various video games and as theme songs for movies, television shows and

anime is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening o ...

History

The members first met in kindergarten and were classmates throughout their primary and secondary education. Bump of Chicken's first performance was in 1994, during their ninth grade cultural festival, playing a cover of

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

' version of "

Twist and Shout "Twist and Shout" is a 1961 song written by Phil Medley and Bert Berns (later credited as "Bert Russell"). It was originally recorded by the Top Notes, but it did not become a hit in the record charts until it was reworked by the Isley Brother ...

". In 1996, their song "Danny" won an award on 96TFM. In 1999, Bump of Chicken released their first album, '' Flame Vein'', on High Line Records. Later that year, they released their first single, " Lamp". In 2000, they released ''The Living Dead'', their final release on High Line. They also held their first live tour, "", during March and April. Later in 2000, the group switched to

Toy's Factory is a Japanese record label founded in the late 1980s as a subsidiary of the entertainment company VAP, based in Japan. On May 30, 1990, it was established as an independent company. Toy's Factory, as of the first half of 2012, is the four ...

, releasing their first single on the label, "

Diamond Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, ...

", in September. Bump of Chicken's first big success occurred when their single, " Tentai Kansoku", appeared on the Oricon Weekly Charts in 2001. They held two live tours, " 2001" beginning in March and "Surf Porkin'" beginning in July. In October, they released "

Harujion is the fourth single by Bump of Chicken. The title track is from the album ''Jupiter''. Track listing # (Fujiwara Motoo) # (Fujiwara, Naoi Yoshifumi) #"Love" (Hidden track) Personnel *Fujiwara Motoo — Guitar, vocals *Masukawa Hiroaki — Gu ...

". They released their first album on Toy's Factory, ''

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but slightly less than one-thousandth t ...

'', in February 2002 and it was their first number one on the Oricon Weekly Charts. In the summer of 2002, their music was featured on the Japanese TV drama ''Tentai Kansoku'', giving them more exposure. At the end of 2002, the group released the single "

Snow Smile is the fifth single by Bump of Chicken. The title track is from the album . Track listing All tracks written by Fujiwara Motoo. # — 5:07 # — 3:26 #"Tinpost: Uncle On (Hidden track) — 2:59 Personnel *Fujiwara Motoo — Guitar, vocals *Masu ...

". 2003 saw the release of their first double A-side single "

Lost Man/Sailing day is the sixth single by Bump of Chicken. The title tracks are from the album . "Lost Man" is the song that writing took time most from summer of 2002 to the end of the year. Also "Sailing Day" featured as the end theme to the animated movie '' One ...

". " Sailing Day" was used as the ending theme to the animated movie '' One Piece: Dead End Adventure''. The beginning of 2004 saw a slew of re-releases. " Arue", from their album ''Flame Vein'', was released as a single in March. They re-released their first two albums in April. ''Flame Vein'' received an extra song and was re-released as ''

Flame Vein +1 ''Flame Vein'' is the first studio album by Bump of Chicken, released on March 18, 1999. One track, " Arue", was later released as a limited print single. Another, "Little Braver", was later released on the " Lamp" single as a B-side. It was re-re ...

''. ''The Living Dead'' received no modifications. In July, the group released "

Only Lonely Glory is the eighth single by Bump of Chicken. The title track was on the album . It is their first number one single on Oricon Weekly Charts. Track listing All tracks written by Fujiwara Motoo. # # # (Hidden track) Personnel *Fujiwara Motoo — Guit ...

", which became their first single to chart at number one on the Oricon Weekly Charts. A month later, they released their fourth album, ''

Yggdrasil Yggdrasil (from Old Norse ), in Norse cosmology, is an immense and central sacred tree. Around it exists all else, including the Nine Worlds. Yggdrasil is attested in the ''Poetic Edda'' compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional ...

'', which was their second album to reach number one on the Oricon Weekly Charts. Shortly after, they released " Sharin no Uta", from ''Yggdrasil'', as a single. In 2005, Bump of Chicken released two singles, "

Planetarium A planetarium ( planetariums or ''planetaria'') is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation. A dominant feature of most planetarium ...

" and second double A-side single " Supernova/Karma". Karma was used as the theme song for Namco's " Tales of the Abyss". The band's next single, " Namida no Furusato" was used in a commercial for Lotte Airs. It became the group's second number one single. In 2007, they released the singles " Hana no Na" and " Mayday" on the same day. The two singles reached number one and two respectively on the Oricon Weekly Charts. Bump of Chicken released their fifth studio album, ''

Orbital Period The orbital period (also revolution period) is the amount of time a given astronomical object takes to complete one orbit around another object. In astronomy, it usually applies to planets or asteroids orbiting the Sun, moons orbiting planets, ...

'', on December 19, 2007. They released their first compilation album '' present from you'' on June 18, 2008. This album contains b-sides from singles and other non-album tracks. On November 25, 2009, Bump of Chicken released its third double A-side single " R.I.P./Merry Christmas", their first single in two years. On April 14, 2010, they released " Happy" and then in the following week, another single, " Mahō no Ryōri (Kimi kara Kimi e)". These two singles also reached number one consecutively for two weeks on the Oricon Weekly Charts, the first time a band achieved this since

Orange Range are a 5-member Japanese rock band, based in Okinawa, Japan. Formed in 2001, the band began with Spice Music and later signed with Sony Music Japan's gr8! records division in 2003. The band left gr8! records in 2010 to start their own label, ...

's "Love Parade" and "Onegai! Señorita" in 2005. They released a fourth double A-side single " Uchūhikōshi e no Tegami/Motorcycle" on October 13, 2010, and they released a music video for the song on Toy's Factory's YouTube channel on September 14, 2010, which surpassed 200,000 views in two days. On December 15, 2010, they released their sixth studio album, ''

Cosmonaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally ...

'', but it did not feature the song " Merry Christmas". In 2011, Bump of Chicken announced that they wrote the song " Tomodachi no Uta" as the theme song for the animated 3D movie '' Doraemon: Nobita and the New Steel Troops: ~Angel Wings~'', and "Tomodachi no Uta" was released as the single on February 23, 2011. They also released two singles, " Smile" on May 11, 2011, and "

Zero 0 (zero) is a number representing an empty quantity. In place-value notation such as the Hindu–Arabic numeral system, 0 also serves as a placeholder numerical digit, which works by multiplying digits to the left of 0 by the radix, usuall ...

" on October 19, 2011. "Zero" was used as the theme song for video game by

Square Enix is a Japanese multinational holding company, production enterprise and entertainment conglomerate, best known for its ''Final Fantasy'', ''Dragon Quest'', ''Star Ocean'' and '' Kingdom Hearts'' role-playing video game franchises, among numerou ...

, '' Final Fantasy Type-0''. Also in 2012, they released two more singles "

Good Luck Luck is the phenomenon and belief that defines the experience of improbable events, especially improbably positive or negative ones. The naturalistic interpretation is that positive and negative events may happen at any time, both due to rand ...

" and "

Firefly The Lampyridae are a family of elateroid beetles with more than 2,000 described species, many of which are light-emitting. They are soft-bodied beetles commonly called fireflies, lightning bugs, or glowworms for their conspicuous production ...

", in January and September 2012, respectively. "Good Luck" was featured as the end theme to the Japanese film Always Sanchōme no Yūhi '64. On March 6, 2013, Bump of Chicken released their first live video and album '' Bump of Chicken Gold Glider Tour 2012'', recorded live at the

Yoyogi National Gymnasium Yoyogi National Gymnasium, officially is an indoor arena located at Yoyogi Park in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan, which is famous for its suspension roof design. It was designed by Kenzo Tange and built between 1961 and 1964 to house swimming an ...

Tokyo, Japan Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, on July 3, 2012. On September 29, 2020, Bump of Chicken released the single "Acacia", which was featured in a music video named "GOTCHA!" uploaded on the

Pokémon (an abbreviation for in Japan) is a Japanese media franchise managed by The Pokémon Company, founded by Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures, the owners of the trademark and copyright of the franchise. In terms of what each of those c ...

YouTube channel to celebrate the release of the Crown Tundra DLC in Pokémon Sword and Shield for the

Nintendo Switch The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a tablet that can either be docked for use as a home console or used as a portable device, making it a ...

Band members

Motoo Fujiwara

is the

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Def ...

lyricist A lyricist is a songwriter who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's income der ...

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

ist, and main vocalist of the group. He has written most of the music, and has also drawn the artwork for their albums ''The Living Dead'' and ''Yggdrasil''. In March 2006, he released a solo album entitled ''Song for Tales of the Abyss'', which included "Karma" and instrumental versions of songs from the game '' Tales of the Abyss''. He uses a Gibson 1960 Les Paul Special Single Cutaway, Sonic fender, Gibson J-45. In August 2020, Fujiwara got married. * Birth date: * Birthplace: Sakura,

Chiba Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Chiba Prefecture has a population of 6,278,060 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Chiba Prefecture borders Ibaraki Prefecture to the north, Saitama Prefecture to the nor ...

* Position: composer/lyricist/vocalist/rhythm guitarist

Hiroaki Masukawa

is the

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...

of the group, and also writes most of the hidden joke tracks for albums. His nicknames within the band are "Hiro", "Hose", (meaning "very thin"), and "Nikke". He uses a Gibson Les Paul Standard, Fender Stratocaster. * Birth date: * Birthplace: Sakura, Chiba Prefecture * Position: lead guitarist

Yoshifumi Naoi

is the

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboard bass or a low br ...

of the group, and is referred to as the "crowd pleaser". He has released an artbook containing his works, and helped with some album artwork. His nickname within the band is "Chama", a play on the Japanese phrase "Obotchama" referring to a rich family's son. He uses a Sonic Bass, Fender Jazz Bass 65. On September 18, 2020, an article was published detailing an affair he had in 2016 and 2017 while hiding the fact that he was married and a father. Later the same day, he published an apology for his behavior, and announced that he would be taking a break from music. On June 6, 2021, he published yet another, longer apology for the same incident, at the same time announcing his return to the band. * Birth date: * Birthplace: Sakura, Chiba Prefecture * Position: bassist

Hideo Masu

is the

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western bands that play rock, pop, jazz, or R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeeping and embellishing the musical timbre. The drummer' ...

for the band. He uses a Canopus Maple Shell. * Birth date: * Birthplace: Sakura, Chiba Prefecture * Position: drummer

Songs in popular culture

Their single "Arue" is a song dedicated to the fictional character

Rei Ayanami is a fictional character from the anime ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'', created by Gainax. She is the First Child and pilot of a giant mecha named Evangelion Unit 00. At the beginning of the series, Rei is an enigmatic figure whose unusual beha ...

, from the

series ''

Neon Genesis Evangelion , also known simply as ''Evangelion'' or ''Eva'', is a Japanese Mecha anime and manga, mecha anime television series produced by Gainax and animated by Tatsunoko Production, Tatsunoko, directed by Hideaki Anno and broadcast on TV Tokyo fr ...

''. The song is listed as R.A., the initials of the aforementioned character. Their song "Sailing Day" is used at the end credits of the animated film '' One Piece The Movie: Dead End no Bōken''. The same song is also featured in the ''

Guitar Freaks is a music video game series produced by Konami. It is a rhythm game where the player uses a controller to simulate the playing of an electric guitar. The game consists of music predominantly from the rock music, rock and roll and J-pop genres ...

'' and ''

Drummania is a music video game series produced by Konami. It is a rhythm game where the player uses a Game controller, controller to simulate the playing of an electric guitar. The game consists of music predominantly from the rock music, rock and roll ...

'' series of arcade games. The songs "Tentai Kansoku", "K", "Sailing Day", "Karma" and "Mayday" were later used in the musical arcade game by

Bemani , stylized as BEMANI, is Konami's music video game division. Originally named the Games & Music Division (G.M.D.), it changed its name in honor of its first and most successful game, ''Beatmania'', and expanded into other music-based games, mos ...

GuitarFreaks is a music video game series produced by Konami. It is a rhythm game where the player uses a controller to simulate the playing of an electric guitar. The game consists of music predominantly from the rock music, rock and roll and J-pop genres. ...

DrumMania is a music video game series produced by Konami. It is a rhythm game where the player uses a Game controller, controller to simulate the playing of an electric guitar. The game consists of music predominantly from the rock music, rock and roll ...

, Jubeat, Reflec Beat Limelight and Pop'n Music. "Tentai Kansoku" was also featured in '' Metcha! Taiko no Tatsujin DS: Nanatsu no Shima no Daibouken''. "Tentai Kansoku" and "Karma" were also featured as covers by the band Afterglow in the mobile game for ''

BanG Dream! ''BanG Dream!'', also known as , is a Japanese music media franchise owned by Bushiroad. Created by Bushiroad president Takaaki Kidani in January 2015 with original story by Kō Nakamura, the project began as a manga before ex ...

''. The song "Karma" from their "Supernova / Karma" single is the main theme for Namco's '' Tales of the Abyss'' video game. It also is used on the anime adaptation of the game as the opening theme. The movie '' Doraemon: Nobita and the New Steel Troops—Winged Angels'' released on March 5, 2011, uses BUMP OF CHICKEN's song "Tomodachi no Uta" as its ending song. All 4 members have loved Doraemon for its unique and loving characters and story and have said that it is an honor to be chosen to sing for the new Doraemon movie. The song "Hello, World!" from their "Hello World! / Colony" single is used as the opening song of the TV anime adaptation of the manga '' Blood Blockade Battlefront''. Their song "Zero" was also featured as the opening song for '' Final Fantasy Type-0''. Their songs are used as the opening and closing themes for episodes 1-11 of the

, '' March Comes in like a Lion'' (３月のライオン). The opening is "Answer", while the closing is "Fighter". Around 2014, before the manga was adapted into an anime, they and the manga's author, Chika Umino, collaborated to make a CGI music video set to their single, "Fighter". The video was made into a stand-alone story promoting the original

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is used ...

, called ''March Comes in like a Lion meets BUMP OF CHICKEN''. In early April 2017 they posted a long form music video for ''Answer'' to YouTube. Their song "GO" was featured as the opening song for the 2017 anime adaptation of the Japanese mobile game, ''

Granblue Fantasy ( Japanese:グランブルーファンタジー, Hepburn: ''Guranburū Fantajī)'' is a Japanese social-network game and role-playing video game developed by Cygames for Android, iOS and web browsers, which first released in Japan in March ...

''. Their songs "Sirius" and "Spica" are the opening and closing theme songs respectively for Satelight's (Shoji Kawamori) anime '' Juushinki Pandora'', released in 2018. Their song "Gekkou" was used as the opening song for the 2018 TV anime adaptation of the manga '' Karakuri Circus''. Their song "Acacia" was used in a music video collaboration with the

franchise. Their song "Chronostasis" was used for Detective Conan: The Bride of Halloween (Meitantei Conan: Halloween no Hanayome), the 25th anime film in the Detective Conan franchise.

Rie Takahashi is a Japanese voice actress and singer affiliated with 81 Produce. She had a leading role in the anime series ''Seiyu's Life!'', where she became part of the musical unit Earphones. She voiced Futaba Ichinose in ''Seiyu's Life!'', Megumin in '' ...

performed a cover of the group's song "Tentai Kansoku" as the second ending

theme music Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at ...

for '' Teasing Master Takagi-san: The Movie'' (2022) during its second week of release. Their song "SOUVENIR" was featured as the opening song for the 2022 anime adaptation of the manga

Spy × Family ''Spy × Family'' (stylized as ''SPY×FAMILY'' and pronounced "Spy Family") is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tatsuya Endo. The story follows a spy who has to "build a family" to execute a mission, not realizing that t ...

. Specifically, it was the opening song for the 2nd cour of the series' first season.

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Other albums

Singles

Digital download only

Videos

Awards and nominations

Space Shower Music Video Awards , - , 2004 , '' Lost Man'' , Best Your Choice , , - , 2005 , '' Sharin no Uta'' , Best Your Choice , , - , rowspan="2", 2008 , rowspan="2", '' Hana no Na'' , Best Your Choice , , - , Best Video of the Year , , - ,

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wa ...

, ''Niji o Matsu Hito'' , Best Your Choice , , - ,

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

, ''Ray'' , Best Your Choice , , - , 2016 , rowspan="4", , rowspan="4", Best Group Artist , , - , 2017 , , - , 2018 , , - , 2019 , , - , 2020 , Aurora , Best Video of the Year ,

MTV Video Music Awards Japan The MTV Video Music Awards Japan (MTV VMAJ for short) are the Japanese version of the MTV Video Music Awards. Like the MTV Video Music Awards in the United States, in this event artists are awarded for their songs and videos through online votin ...

, - ,

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gath ...

, ''

'' (from Always Sanchōme no Yūhi '64 film) ,

Best Video from a Film The MTV Video Music Award for Best Video from a Film was first awarded in 1987, recognizing the best videos whose songs were a part of a movie soundtrack or featured in a film. As time went on, though, music videos taken from movie soundtracks beca ...

, , - ,

, ''Niji o Matsu Hito'' (from Gatchaman film) ,

, , - ,

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

, ''Butterflies'' , Best Album of the Year , , - ,

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experi ...

, ''Aurora'' , Best Rock Video ,

References

External links

Bump of Chicken Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bump Of Chicken Japanese alternative rock groups Musical groups established in 1996 Musical groups from Chiba Prefecture Toy's Factory artists Vocaloid musicians