is a Japanese musician, songwriter and producer who is known for his compositional work and skill at the keyboards.

Early life and career

Asakura's childhood consisted of piano and electronic organ lessons, though he was expected to follow the family trade of

plumbing Plumbing is any system that conveys fluids for a wide range of applications. Plumbing uses pipes, valves, plumbing fixtures, tanks, and other apparatuses to convey fluids. Heating and cooling (HVAC), waste removal, and potable water delivery ...

. He started working with

Yamaha Yamaha may refer to: * Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services, established in 1887. The company is the largest shareholder of Yamaha Motor Company (below). ** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organization estab ...

keyboards and synthesizers in his early teens. Asakura began his career with a job at

right after finishing high school. While at Yamaha, Asakura worked on the EOS synthesiser, and was also featured in the instructional video for the SY77. His talent was discovered by

Tetsuya Komuro is a Japanese musician, songwriter and record producer. He is recognized as the most successful producer in Japanese music history and introduced contemporary electronic dance music to the Japanese mainstream. He was also a former owner of the ...

TM Network TM Network is a Japanese rock/new wave/pop musical band, made up by Tetsuya Komuro (keyboardist), Takashi Utsunomiya (vocalist) and Naoto Kine (guitarist). They became popular in Japan as the "futuristic pop songs with synthesizer" after the r ...

and Asakura was pulled from Yamaha to work under Komuro as his

protégé Mentorship is the influence, guidance, or direction given by a mentor. A mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person. In an organizational setting, a mentor influences the personal and p ...

. Subsequently, Asakura played the bass synthesizer during TM Network's 1990–91 Rhythm Red tour. In 1992, Asakura met the vocalist Hiroyuki Takami and featured him in some of his solo work. The two eventually formed

Access Access may refer to: Companies and organizations * ACCESS (Australia), an Australian youth network * Access (credit card), a former credit card in the United Kingdom * Access Co., a Japanese software company * Access Healthcare, an Indian BPO se ...

(or "AXS") in 1992, after Asakura broke away from TM Network. He and Takami went on to achieve great success before splitting up in 1995. The breakup of

left Asakura open to pursue different projects that included composing and producing songs for new artists; one of the most successful acts he created was J-pop idol

Takanori Nishikawa is a Japanese musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, voice artist, radio personality, and businessman. He performs under the stage name T.M.Revolution (TMR), which stands for , stemming from the famous '80s pop electronic band TM ...

under the title of

T.M.Revolution is a Japanese musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, voice artist, radio personality, and businessman. He performs under the stage name T.M.Revolution (TMR), which stands for , stemming from the famous '80s pop electronic band TM ...

(also known as "TMR"). In the middle of 1996, Asakura started a three-man unit titled Iceman which brought Kenichi Ito (guitar) and

Michihiro Kuroda , or Rin (born June 6, 1972) to his fans, was the lead vocalist in the Japanese group Iceman. The group lasted from about 1996–1999. Since then Michihiro has pursued a solo career. Michihiro has released 10 CDs and videos, along with 6 books. I ...

(vocals) to the spotlight. After a few years, Iceman ended activity.

Other projects

During and after his years with Iceman Asakura built his wealth and reputation as a composer taking after his idol and teacher, Tetsuya Komuro. He produced singles and albums for various J-Pop vocalists. He was also the featured music composer for the anime series

Gravitation In physics, gravity () is a fundamental interaction which causes mutual attraction between all things with mass or energy. Gravity is, by far, the weakest of the four fundamental interactions, approximately 1038 times weaker than the stron ...

. Examples of Asakura's past projects includes vocalists such as Yosuke Sakanoue,

Kinya Kotani , also known as KINYA, is a male singer and actor from Saitama Prefecture, Japan. He sang the theme songs for the anime '' Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle'' and various songs for ''Gravitation''. Discography Albums Singles DVDs * ''LI ...

, Daichi Kuroda,

Akiko Hinagata is a Japanese actress and former gravure idol. Career Television She made her acting debut in 1992 in the TBS drama ''Obenkyō''. In 1994, she was chosen Fuji Television Visual Queen. Two years later, Hinagata received the Golden Arrow Graph p ...

, Yuki Kimura, FayRay,

Takashi Fujii , born March 10, 1972 in Toyonaka, Osaka, Japan) is a Japanese comedian and singer who belongs to the Japanese entertainment conglomerate Yoshimoto Kogyo and is the popular host of '' Matthew's Best Hit TV'' (as the character , and various ot ...

and groups such as, Onapetz,

Pool Bit Boys Pool may refer to: Water pool * Swimming pool, usually an artificial structure containing a large body of water intended for swimming * Reflecting pool, a shallow pool designed to reflect a structure and its surroundings * Tide pool, a rocky poo ...

Lazy Knack Lazy is the adjective for laziness, a lack of desire to expend effort. It may also refer to: Music Groups and musicians * Lazy (band), a Japanese rock band * Lazy Lester, American blues harmonica player Leslie Johnson (1933–2018) * Lazy Bill ...

Run&Gun Run&Gun (stylized as RUN&GUN) is a Japanese boy band and performance troupe associated with Yoshimoto Kogyo. The group was formed in 2001 by Antinos Records. The members consist of Yuya Miyashita, Kosuke Yonehara, and Akira Nagata; Ryuji Kami ...

and The Seeker. He also composed songs for artists such as the visual kei rock band

Shazna Shazna (stylized as SHAZNA) is a Japanese visual kei Rock music, rock band originally active from 1993 to 2000. Originally having a strong gothic rock influence, the band's sound greatly shifted to a more New wave music, new wave direction by 199 ...

. In 1999, Asakura and

formed their own official two-man unit, The End of Genesis T.M.R. evolution Turbo Type D (or "TMR-e", for short). They produced three singles and one album together, with Asakura performing alongside Nishikawa and appearing in their music videos. The project was officially ended in April 2000 when Nishikawa reverted to his original stage name of

. Asakura is still TMR's primary songwriter. In 2001, Asakura produced his first solo album in five years and worked with Iceman guitarist Kenichi Ito in Mad Soldiers; a sort of comedic spin-off from Iceman in which both men's "sinister" alter egos "Scorpion" (Asakura) and "Snake" (Ito) produced music for

, amongst others, and performed officially unrecorded cover versions of famous songs such as "Lemon Tea" by

Sheena & The Rokkets is a Japanese rock band, formed in 1978. They are one of the most popular acts in the Mentai Rock scene. In September 2007, ''Rolling Stone Japan'' rated their album ''Vacuum Pack'' number 44 on its list of the "100 Greatest Japanese Rock Alb ...

and "Hungry Like the Wolf" by

Duran Duran Duran Duran () are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer and bassist Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor (bass guitarist), John Taylor. With the addition of drummer Roger ...

. The name of Asakura's alter ego is a reference to his zodiac sign, Scorpio. In 2002, he reunited with Hiroyuki Takami and reformed

access Access may refer to: Companies and organizations * ACCESS (Australia), an Australian youth network * Access (credit card), a former credit card in the United Kingdom * Access Co., a Japanese software company * Access Healthcare, an Indian BPO se ...

. Asakura went off on a solo project in 2004 titled "Quantum Mechanics Rainbow", in which he released multiple CDs for a year, and each CD title referenced both a color and math property. The project featured multiple live performances and subsequent DVD releases. In 2006–2007, Asakura produced two singles for new J-pop idol

Kimeru Kimeru (most often written either in Romaji (Kimeru) or with Katakana (キメル), but has been written as きめる (Hiragana) and (決める) (Kanji), born June 17, 1980) is a Japanese pop musician, singer, and stage actor. He is most famo ...

, hit the road with

for 2007's TMN Tribute tour and created new songs for the newest version of the popular dance-step game, ''

Dance Dance Revolution (''DDR'') is a music video game series produced by Konami. Introduced in Japan in 1998 as part of the Bemani series, and released in North America and Europe in 1999, ''Dance Dance Revolution'' is the pioneering series of the rhythm and dance V ...

''. In November 2007,

released a memory/discography book, alongside highly coveted access

plushies A stuffed toy is a toy doll with an outer fabric sewn from a textile and stuffed with flexible material. They are known by many names, such as plush toys, plushies, stuffed animals, and stuffies; in Britain and Australia, they may also be cal ...

, to commemorate their 15th anniversary. In 2012, access celebrated their 20th anniversary. In 2008, Asakura started a new solo project entitled "DA Metaverse ~100 Songs for 1000 Days," in which he would release 100 new songs over the course of 1000 days exclusively through

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

. The project was launched on June 25, 2008. In 2009 he composed and produced the soundtrack for the anime adaptation of

Chrome Shelled Regios is a Japanese light novel series by Shūsuke Amagi, with illustrations by Miyū. A short story light novel series was serialized in ''Dragon Magazine''. A manga adaptation drawn by Miyū is serialized in the shōnen manga magazine '' ...

. Also in 2009, Asakura composed and arranged the soundtrack for a musical rendition of

Goodbye Charlie ''Goodbye Charlie'' is a 1964 American comedy film directed by Vincente Minnelli and starring Tony Curtis, Debbie Reynolds and Pat Boone. The film is about a callous womanizer who gets his just reward. It was adapted from George Axelrod's 1959 p ...

in which Hiroyuki Takami played one of the lead roles. Asakura has worked with J-pop artists such as Daisy x Daisy (for the opening theme song to Chrome Shelled Regios), On/Off, and

May'n , better known by her stage name , is a Japanese singer from Nagoya. Aspiring to become a musician since childhood, she began her music activities in 2003 upon passing an audition held by talent agency Horipro International. She made her major d ...

as a composer and/or producer. He was also featured as an MC/performer for the event concert series, "Girl's Factory", alongside

Mayu Watanabe is a Japanese former idol, singer, actress, and former member of the Japanese idol girl group AKB48 under Team B. In the annual AKB48 General Elections event, she had consistently been voted by fans to rank among the group's top members. She has ...

AKB48 AKB48 (pronounced ''A.K.B. Forty-Eight'') is a Japanese idol girl group named after the Akihabara (''Akiba'' for short) area in Tokyo, where the group's theater is located. AKB48's producer, Yasushi Akimoto, wanted to form a girl group with it ...

and various guest artists. Since 2006, Asakura has been a member of the Domoto Bros. Band on the music TV series ''Shin Domoto Kyoudai'' ("New Domoto Brothers"), hosted by the duo of

KinKi Kids is a Japanese duo consisting of Koichi Domoto and Tsuyoshi Domoto under the talent agency Johnny & Associates. KinKi Kids was formed in 1993 and officially debuted on July 21, 1997. With more than 30 million physical copies sold, they are one of ...

, as a keyboardist. Asakura formed a group with other musicians from the show's band in 2009 called "Sugar and the Honey Tones", and they have produced one album. Asakura and

formed the unit PANDORA in 2017, having produced one mini album including a track featuring the artist Beverly, "Be the One" for the Japanese

tokusatsu is a Japanese term for live action film or television drama that makes heavy use of practical special effects. ''Tokusatsu'' entertainment mainly refers to science fiction, War film, war, fantasy, or Horror film, horror media featuring such te ...

show

Kamen Rider Build is a Japanese tokusatsu drama and the 28th entry of Toei Company's ''Kamen Rider'' metaseries. It is the nineteenth series to debut during the Heisei era. The show premiered on September 3, 2017, following the finale of ''Kamen Rider Ex-Aid'', jo ...

. Asakura is featured in his own radio talk show, ''Neo Age Circuit'', which airs every Saturday at 11pm (JST) on FM Nack5 79.5. His official fanclub, "Smile", was temporarily the official fanclub for access until their breakup in 1995. It is still active in relation to Asakura's activities today.

Discography

Singles

* ''Cosmic Runaway'' (February 1, 1995) * ''Siren's Melody'' (May 10, 1995) * ''Black or White?'' (May 25, 1995) * ''Rainy Heart – Doshaburi no Omoide no Naka'' (June 10, 1995)

DA Metaverse

* Dream Ape Metaverse (June 25, 2008) * Repli Eye-Program"d (June 25, 2008) * Nothung Syndrome (June 25, 2008) * Ya･Ti･Ma (July 30, 2008) * Sonic Cruise (September 24, 2008) * So・U・Shu・Tsu – mould (November 12, 2008) * Fall Fear (November 12, 2008) * Leaf Fall (November 12, 2008) * The Transmuters (November 19, 2008) * 創出 (Soushutsu) (November 19, 2008) * Kiss For Salome (November 19, 2008) * Chimera Draft (November 26, 2008) * Star Cascade (November 26, 2008) * Gate I (November 26, 2008) * X-Night (December 17, 2008) * Der Rattenfänger Von Hameln (January 7, 2009) * Fractal Vibe (February 25, 2009) * St. Electric (March 4, 2009) * 'Blanca' (April 29, 2009) * Rip (June 10, 2009) * Prime Diffusion (June 17, 2009) * Sphere Valley (June 24, 2009) * A Midsummer Night's Dream (July 1, 2009) * YaTa-Raven Chronicle (December 2, 2009) * Space Closer (December 16, 2009) * 3x10^8 Lucks (November 5, 2014) * Topology (November 12, 2014) * 0 Game (November 19, 2014) * Ambition Rising (January 21, 2015) * Grid Justice (January 21, 2015) * Remote Space (February 25, 2015) * March Hare (March 25, 2015) * Danteroid (December 11, 2015) * Coda Growth (January 29, 2020) * Meme Crack - Growth20 (February 29, 2020) * Wavelet Petal (March 29, 2020) * Entanglement Capriccio (May 11, 2020) * Olympus (October 2, 2020)

Albums

* '' Landing Timemachine'' (October 25, 1991) * '' D-Trick'' (September 2, 1992) * '' Electromancer'' (July 12, 1995) * '' 21st Fortune CD'' (November 20, 2002) * '' Quantum Mechanics Rainbow I : Violet Meme'' (March 30, 2004) * '' Quantum Mechanics Rainbow II : Indigo Algorithm'' (May 31, 2004) * '' Quantum Mechanics Rainbow III: Blue Resolution'' (July 30, 2004) * '' Quantum Mechanics Rainbow IV : Green Method'' (September 15, 2004) * '' Quantum Mechanics Rainbow V : Yellow Vector'' (November 30, 2004) * '' Quantum Mechanics Rainbow VI : Orange Compile'' (December 31, 2004) * '' Quantum Mechanics Rainbow VII: Red Trigger'' (March 30, 2005) * '' d・file -for TV programs-'' (July 19, 2006)

Compilations

* ''DA's Best Works '91–'95'' (June 24, 1998) * ''DecAde: The Best of Daisuke Asakura'' (November 21, 2001) (July 1, 2002) * ''D・Collection: The Best Works of Daisuke Asakura'' (July 19, 2007) * ''DA METAVERSE I + II'' (March 8, 2013)

Soundtrack albums

* ''Daiva'' (November 4, 1992) * ''

Dance Dance Revolution SuperNOVA 2 , released in Europe as ''Dancing Stage SuperNova'', is an arcade and PlayStation 2 game in the ''Dance Dance Revolution'' (''DDR'') series of music video games. It was produced by Konami and released through Betson Enterprises. The game was rele ...

'' * ''

'' (Anime OST) * ''Koukaku no Regios : Sound Restoration'' * ''Koukaku no Regios : Sound Restoration 2''

Remix albums

* ''Sequence Virus 2003'' (December 20, 2003) * ''Sequence Virus 2004'' (August 14, 2004) * ''Sequence Virus 2005'' (October 17, 2005) * ''Sequence Virus 2006'' (December 23, 2006) * ''Sequence Virus 2007–2008'' (July 25, 2008) * ''Sequence Virus 2009'' (March 31, 2010) * ''Sequence Virus 2015'' (June 29, 2016) * ''Sequence Virus 2017'' (August 29, 2018) * ''Sequence Virus 2019'' (May 13, 2020)

DVD

* ''21st Fortune Complete Box'' (September 19, 2002) * ''21st Fortune DVD'' (November 20, 2002) * ''Daisuke Asakura Live Tour'04 Cultivate Meme: About Quantum Mechanics Rainbow'' (March 4, 2005) * ''Daisuke Asakura Quantum Mechanics Rainbow'' (October 17, 2005) * ''Drive Meme-over Quantum Mechanics Rainbow-'' (March 20, 2006) * ''D-Clips''

Tour

* ''Electric Romance'' (December 14, 1995) to (January 9, 1996) * ''Quantum Mechanics Rainbow'' (2004–2005)