is a Japanese musician. Born in

Hino, Tokyo 250px, Takahata Fudō in Hino is a city located in the western portion of Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 187,048, and a population density of 6800 persons per km². The total area of the city was . Geography ...

, he was raised in

Hachiōji is a city located in the western portion of Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 561,344, and a population density of 3000 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Hachiōji is located in the ...

. He is best known as lead guitarist of the rock band

The Yellow Monkey The Yellow Monkey, sometimes abbreviated as , is a Japanese rock band originally active from 1988 to 2001, before officially disbanding in 2004. They announced their reformation in 2016. The band's name was derived from the ethnic slur that J ...

Career

Hideaki "Emma" Kikuchi graduated from

Nihon University , abbreviated as , is a private university, private research university in Japan. Its predecessor, Nihon Law School (currently the Department of Law), was founded by Yamada Akiyoshi, the Minister of Justice (Japan), Minister of Justice, in 1889. ...

, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Department of Geography. In December 1986, he made his major debut as the lead guitarist of Killer May. The band's drummer, Eiji "Annie" Kikuchi, is his younger brother. Killer May disbanded in March 1989. In 1989, Kikuchi was invited by his younger brother Eiji to join as

lead guitarist Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

and

backing vocalist A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

of the

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

. He officially debuted with the band on December 28, 1989 at Shibuya La.Mama. In 1992, The Yellow Monkey went major and slowly rose to great success until their hiatus in 2001. In July 2004, the band disbanded. From 2004 to 2007, Kikuchi recorded with and live-supported

Kazuya Yoshii is a Japanese musician and singer-songwriter. He is best known as lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the rock band The Yellow Monkey. When they went on hiatus in 2001, before officially disbanding three years later, Yoshii started a solo car ...

, vocalist of The Yellow Monkey. He has provided occasional live support for

Kōji Kikkawa is a Japanese musician. His most recent album is 2016's ''Wild Lips''. Kōji was born in Hiroshima and his music career began on February 1, 1984, with "Monica" (later remade in Cantonese sung by Leslie Cheung) and he won eight music awards ...

since 2007. He participated as a guitarist in Yoshii's second album ''White Room'' released in March 2005 (credited as EMMARSON). He was also in charge of the guitar for the theme song of the movie ''

Taiyō ni Hoero! , literally ''Roar at the Sun!'', was a long-running prime-time television detective series in Japan, which ran from 1972 to 1986 for a total of 718 episodes. The lead star was Yujiro Ishihara. It also helped further the career of actors such a ...

''. His agency is BAJ INC. (Formerly BOWINMAN ARTISTS). Kikuchi established the indie label "Brainchild's Music" in October 2008. It is a loose musical collaboration project. On January 8, 2016, The Yellow Monkey reunited and Kikuchi resumed his position as lead guitarist.

Highlights

* Kikuchi admires Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry, and his style is strongly influenced by Perry. * During The Yellow Monkey era, he composed several songs such as "空の青と本当の気持ち" (Blue Sky and True Mind), "TV Singer," and "Sexless." There are also several songs co-written with Yoshii, such as "This ls For You", "創生児" (Twins), and "クズ社会の赤いバラ" (Red Rose in a Dump) .

Books

Kikuchi wrote the following books: *Hideaki Kikuchi - ''Let The Music Do The Talking'' (2001) Shinko Music (). **This is a compilation of serializations at the New Rudy's Club (renamed from the September 2000 issue, ROCK JET). *Hideaki Kikuchi - ''Let The Music Do The Talking II'' (2013) **It consists of 45 serializations from the winter 2001 issue to the winter 2012 issue of "ROCK JET" magazine, with new interviews (instead of "Conclusion") added to the selection from live interviews.

References

External links

BAJ INC.
- office HP
Brainchild’s Music
- Hideaki Kikuchi's Indie Label {{DEFAULTSORT:Kikuchi, Hideaki Living people Japanese rock guitarists 20th-century Japanese guitarists 21st-century Japanese guitarists Nihon University alumni People from Hino, Tokyo 1964 births