, better known by his stage name J, is a Japanese musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as bassist and co-founder of the rock band

Luna Sea Luna Sea (stylized as LUNA SEA) is a Japanese rock band formed in Kanagawa Prefecture in 1986. Due to the use of make-up and costumes early in their career and their widespread popularity, they are considered one of the most successful and inf ...

since 1986. After they disbanded in 2000 he focused on his solo career, for which he performs lead vocals and bass. He rejoined Luna Sea when they reunited in August 2010. Since 1997, J has had prominent names in the music industry playing either on his albums, as his backing band, or showing up as guests at some of his concerts including Raymond Watts (

PIG The pig (''Sus domesticus''), often called swine, hog, or domestic pig when distinguishing from other members of the genus '' Sus'', is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is variously considered a subspecies of ''Sus ...

), Ray McVeigh (

Zilch Zilch means "nothing" or "zero". Zilch may also refer to: * Zilch (software), a compiler used by Infocom to create Z-machine games * Zilch (electromagnetism), a group of conserved quantities of the electromagnetic field * Zilch (game), an alter ...

), Takashi Fujita (

Doom Doom is another name for damnation. Doom may also refer to: People * Doom (professional wrestling), the tag team of Ron Simmons and Butch Reed * Daniel Doom (born 1934), Belgian cyclist * Debbie Doom (born 1963), American softball pitcher * ...

Scott Garrett Ernest Scott Garrett (born July 9, 1959) is an American politician who was the U.S. representative for , serving from 2003 to 2017. He is a member of the Republican Party. He previously served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 1990 to 200 ...

Billy Duffy William Henry Duffy (born 12 May 1961) is an English rock musician, best known as the guitarist of the band The Cult. Early life Duffy was born and grew up in Manchester. He has Irish and Jewish heritage and ancestry. He began playing the g ...

and

Ian Astbury Ian Robert Astbury (born 14 May 1962) is an English singer, best known as a founding member, lead vocalist and frontman of the rock band the Cult. During various hiatuses from the Cult, Astbury has fronted the short-lived Holy Barbarians in 1 ...

(all three from

The Cult The Cult are an English rock band formed in 1983 in Bradford, West Yorkshire. Before settling on their current name in January 1984, the band performed under the name Death Cult, which was an evolution of the name of lead singer Ian Astbury' ...

), Steve Jones (

The Sex Pistols ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

Duff McKagan Michael Andrew "Duff" McKagan (born February 5, 1964), sometimes credited as Duff "Rose" McKagan, is an American musician. He played bass for twelve years in the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late ...

and

Slash Slash may refer to: * Slash (punctuation), the "/" character Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Slash (Marvel Comics) * Slash (''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'') Music * Harry Slash & The Slashtones, an American rock band * Nash ...

(both from

Velvet Revolver Velvet Revolver was an American hard rock supergroup consisting of Guns N' Roses members Slash (lead guitar), Duff McKagan (bass, backing vocals) and Matt Sorum (drums, backing vocals), alongside Dave Kushner (rhythm guitar) formerly of pun ...

Franz Stahl Franz Kenneth Stahl (born October 30, 1961) is an American guitarist, best known for being a member of both the Washington, D.C. hardcore punk band Scream with his brother Pete Stahl, and the alternative rock band Foo Fighters. Life and caree ...

(

Scream Scream may refer to: *Screaming, a loud vocalization Amusement rides * Scream (Heide Park), a gyro drop tower in Soltau, Germany * Scream! (ride), a tower ride at Six Flags Fiesta Texas and Six Flags New England * Scream! (roller coaster), at ...

, Foo Fighters) and

Youjeen Cherry Filter (체리 필터) is a South Korean rock group formed in 1997. Their unique sound - consisting of emotional ballads, punk rock, rave and trance - prevalent in their last two albums has given them fame across South Korea. The song ...

( Cherry Filter).

Career

1986–2009: Luna Sea and solo debut

During middle school through high school J became good friends with

Inoran , better known exclusively by his stage name Inoran, is a Japanese musician, singer and songwriter. He is best known as the rhythm guitarist and co-founder of the rock band Luna Sea since 1986. He started his solo career in 1997. Luna Sea disba ...

, and in 1986 they formed a band called Lunacy. In 1991, Lunacy changed their name to

and released their first album. They went on to become very successful, having sold more than 10 million certified units in Japan, and are considered one of the most influential bands in the

visual kei is a movement among Japanese musicians that is characterized by the use of varying levels of make-up, elaborate hair styles and flamboyant costumes, often, but not always, coupled with androgynous aesthetics, similar to Western glam rock. Some ...

movement. As a teenager, J was a roadie for thrash metal band Aion for about two years. The members of Luna Sea later provided backing vocals on Aion's 1991 album ''

Aionism Aion is a Japanese metal band from Osaka, formed in 1983 by guitarist Izumi. Aion are considered to be important to the formation of visual kei, credited as being one of the bands to start the movement in the early '80s. They were also one of t ...

''. In 2008, J played bass on five songs for the self-titled debut album of Aion leader Izumi's death metal band, The Braincase. In 1993, J teamed up with Inoran and

X Japan was a Japanese rock band from Chiba, formed in 1982 by drummer and pianist Yoshiki and lead vocalist Toshi. Starting as a predominantly power/speed metal band with heavy symphonic elements, they later gravitated towards a progressive soun ...

guitarist hide to form the group M*A*S*S. Their only material released was the song "Frozen Bug" on the sampler ''Dance 2 Noise 004'' (the song would later be remixed by hide and put on his debut solo album ''

Hide Your Face ''Hide Your Face'' is the debut album by Japanese musician hide, released on February 23, 1994. It reached number 1 on the Oricon Albums Chart and was certified Double Platinum by the RIAJ for sales over 500,000 copies. It was named one of the ...

''). J signed with

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

in 1997 and put out his first single called "Burn Out" on June 25, which contained a cover of the Blondie hit song " Call Me". His debut album ''Pyromania'' was released on July 24 and reached number 9 on the

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in ...

chart. In 1999, he remixed

's song "Electric Cucumber" for their remix album, ''

Bastard Eyes ''Bastard Eyes'' is a remix album from the band Zilch, released on March 3, 1999. The tracks on this album are remixes, done by numerous different bands and artists, of the songs from their debut album '' 3.2.1.''. The limited edition reached nu ...

''. J later performed and toured with Zilch in 2001. J did some arranging, writing and composing work on

's albums and singles released 2001–2002, together with

. In 2002, he played bass on the track "I Hate You" for

Tomoyasu Hotei , also known simply as Hotei ( ), is a Japanese musician, singer-songwriter, composer, record producer and actor. With a career spanning more than 35 years, Hotei claims record sales of over 40 million copies and has collaborated with acclaimed a ...

's album ''Scorpio Rising''. Hotei later remixed J's song "Perfect World" for the "Go Crazy" single. J participated in the making of South Korean musician

Seo Taiji Jeong Hyeon-cheol (Korean: 정현철; born February 21, 1972), better known as Seo Taiji or Seo Tae-ji (서태지), is a South Korean singer, musician, songwriter and record producer. After dropping out of high school to pursue a music career, ...

's 2004 album '' 7th Issue'', by playing bass. Since November 9, 2005, starting with the "Break" single, J has been signed to Blowgrow a division of

Avex Group is a Japanese entertainment conglomerate led by founder Max Matsuura and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1988, the company manages J-pop talents like Ayumi Hamasaki and internet sensation PikoTaro. It has also shifted into other busi ...

. J covered Buck-Tick's song "Iconoclasm" for their tribute album, ''

Parade -Respective Tracks of Buck-Tick- ''Parade -Respective Tracks of Buck-Tick-'' is the first tribute album to Japanese rock band Buck-Tick, released on December 21, 2005. It collects cover versions of their songs by various artists. It reflected the influence Buck-Tick had on yo ...

'', which was released on December 21, 2005. Later on September 8, 2007, he performed at "Buck-Tick Fest 2007 on Parade", the finale of the tour for the album. In 2006, he played bass in a collaboration with other musicians the song "Pursuit", under the name Aggressive Dogs Death Note Allstars "N-Crew", on the Death Note manga's tribute album, '' Death Note Tribute''. On December 24, 2007, J reunited with Luna Sea for their concert God Bless You ~One Night Dejavu~ at the

Tokyo Dome is an indoor stadium in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan. It was designed as a baseball stadium following its predecessor, Korakuen Stadium. Construction on the stadium began on May 16, 1985, and it opened on March 17, 1988. It was built on the site of th ...

. The band would reunite and perform again at the

hide memorial summit , known professionally as hide, was a Japanese musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. He achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the rock band X Japan from 1987 to 1997 and a solo artist from 1993 onward. He also formed ...

on May 4, 2008, along with

Oblivion Dust Oblivion Dust is a Japanese rock band first active from 1996 to 2001; they reunited in 2007. Although they were originally largely influenced by early 1990s American grunge bands,

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 ...

, and many more. In April 2009, J made the announcement, in his fan club issued ''Pyro Magazine'' Vol.21, that he had gotten married.

2010–present: Luna Sea reunion

In August 2010, he appeared with the other members of

at a press conference in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

, where they officially announced their reunion and their 20th Anniversary World Tour Reboot -to the New Moon-. Ryuichi & J 2013

To celebrate his 14-year anniversary as a solo artist, J released the self cover album ''Fourteen -The Best of Ignitions-'' in January 2011. March 8, was the debut of ''Pink Spider'', a musical based on and featuring hide's music, which J performed a supporting role in. The production ran from March 8 to the 27 at the Tokyo Globe Theater and was then brought to Fukuoka, Kobe, Nagoya, Niigata, Sendai, and Sapporo in April. From May 5 to 9, J held five consecutive concerts at Shibuya-AX titled J 14th Anniversary Special Live Set Fire Get Higher -Fire Higher 2011-, each day with different bands such as

Mass of the Fermenting Dregs is a post-hardcore/shoegaze trio formed in Kobe, Japan in 2002. They are also popularly known by a shortened form of their name, ''Masu Dore'' (マスドレ). They are known for a tightly arranged, guitar-driven style, melodic pop vocals and a ...

Nothing's Carved in Stone Nothing's Carved in Stone is a Japanese rock band formed in January 2009. After Ellegarden decided to go into hiatus in 2008, the group's guitarist Shinichi Ubukata created Nothing's Carved in Stone as his solo project. Their debut album ''Paral ...

Avengers in Sci-Fi is a Japanese rock band, signed to Victor Entertainment. Their multi-genre sound has been described as such things as "a spaceship of rock" and "spacey dance rock." Biography The band members were all classmates at a high school in Kanagawa. ...

Pay Money to My Pain Pay Money to My Pain (stylized as Pay money To my Pain and abbreviated as P.T.P.) was a Japanese alternative rock/metal band. All of the band's lyrics are in English.

and

The Hiatus The Hiatus is a Japanese rock supergroup formed by Takeshi Hosomi, lead vocalist of Ellegarden. Members * – vocals, guitar (Ellegarden, MONOEYES) * Masasucks – guitar (Fullscratch) * – bass (Radio Caroline, ex-Thee Michelle Gun Elephant ...

. On August 10, 2013, J began a series of concerts titled Tokyo 10 Days!! - 5 Months a Blaze -, which had him performing two consecutive nights in five locations, in five months. This is in addition to his nationwide tour J Live Tour 2013 - Believe in Yourself - from August 24 to October 27, 2013, which included 11 shows in 10 different cities. The band also participated at the year's

Rock in Japan Festival The Rock in Japan Festival is an annual three-day rock festival held during early August at the Hitachi Seaside Park, in Hitachinaka, Ibaraki, Japan, organized by ''Rockin'on ''Rockin'On Japan'', often stylized in all caps, is a monthly magazin ...

and Monster Bash. J released his ninth studio album, ''Freedom No.9''. on October 23. His former support guitarist masasucks appears on the album, as does drummer Masuo Arimatsu from Back Drop Bomb. The album was released on vinyl on April 19, 2014 for

Record Store Day Record Store Day is an annual event inaugurated in 2007 and held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". The day brings together fa ...

. Takashi Fujita, J's backing guitarist since he launched his solo career in 1997, retired at the end of the year and masasucks officially returned in his place. In spring 2015, J held a short tour and announced a new album was nearly completed. ''Eternal Flames'' was released on September 2, 2015. J's eleventh studio album, ''Limitless'', was released on July 24, 2019. He collaborated with

on the songs "Real×Eyez", the theme song he composed for the ''

Kamen Rider Zero-One is a Japanese tokusatsu drama series produced by Toei Company and TV Asahi. It is the 30th series in the '' Kamen Rider'' franchise and the first series in the Reiwa period. The show premiered on September 1, 2019, following the finale of ''Kame ...

'' TV series, and "Another Daybreak", the theme song he composed for the '' Kamen Rider Reiwa: The First Generation'' film. Both tracks were released as a single on January 22, 2020. The two musicians collaborated again on "A.I. ∴ All Imagination" for 2020's '' Kamen Rider Zero-One the Movie: Real×Time''.

Equipment

J was endorsed by

ESP Guitars is a Japanese guitar manufacturer, primarily focused on the production of electric guitars and basses. They are based in both Tokyo and Los Angeles, with distinct product lines for each market. ESP Company manufactures instruments under severa ...

for 28 years until May 2019. His many signature model bass guitars with the brand, most of which had his trademark phrase "WAKE UP! MOTHER FUCKER" painted on them, have sold over 50,000 copies. Before the contract expired, the special event "J × ESP 28 Years Trajectory ~28 Toshi no Kiseki~" followed his spring tour displaying his signature models and other goods. At the end of May 2019, it was announced that he had signed an endorsement contract with Fender. They gave him a custom model based on the Fender Precision Bass. Based on that specific custom model that he had been using, J's signature model was released on August 12, 2020. Regardless of endorsements, J uses various different brands when recording.

Support band

* –

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 strin ...

2009–present (Nunchaku, Superhype) * masasucks – guitar 2005–2008, 2015–present (

, Fullscratch) * – drums 2016–present (

Kemuri Kemuri (Japanese for ''smoke'') is a Japanese-American ska punk band formed in Oxnard, California in 1995. They have an upbeat sound with positive lyrics which they refer to as PMA (positive mental attitude). While the majority of their songs a ...

, Back Drop Bomb, Pontiacs) ;Former members *

– guitar 1997, 1999–2005 (

Wool Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool. ...

, Foo Fighters) * – guitar 1997–2014 (

) *

– drums 1997–2016 (

Dag Nasty Dag Nasty is an American punk rockGreenwald, p. 14. " Ian Mackaye was such a huge Rites of Spring fan that he not only recorded what was to be the band's only album in 1985 and served as a roadie for them while on tour, but his own new band, ...

Wired All Wrong Wired All Wrong is a nu metal band formed by musician/producers Matt Mahaffey of Self and Jeff Turzo previously of God Lives Underwater. The two have been longtime friends since a mix-up of their bands on MTV. Partly due to the unfortunate death ...

)

Discography

;Albums * ''Pyromania'' (July 24, 1997), Oricon Albums Chart Peak Position: #9 * ''Blood Muzik'' (December 27, 2001) #34 * ''Unstoppable Drive'' (November 27, 2002) #18 * ''Red Room'' (May 19, 2004) #24 * ''Glaring Sun'' (December 7, 2005) #39 * ''Urge'' (March 14, 2007) #39 * ''Ride'' (April 23, 2008) #36 * ''On Fire'' (March 21, 2012) #24 * ''Freedom No.9'' (October 23, 2013) #31 * ''Eternal Flames'' (September 2, 2015) #15 * ''Limitless'' (July 24, 2019) #33 * ''Lightning'' (November 3, 2021) #17 ;EPs * ''Igniter #081'' (July 18, 2002) * ''Crack Tracks'' (August 21, 2002) #28 * ''Go with the Devil -Crack Tracks II-'' (July 9, 2003) #26 * ''Stars From The Broken Night'' (August 5, 2009) #20 * ''Here Comes Nameless Sunrise'' (December 16, 2009) #36 ;Live albums * ''The Live -All of Urge-'' (December 19, 2007) #62 ;Compilation albums * ''Blast List -The Best of-'' (December 22, 2004) #43 * ''Fourteen -The Best of Ignitions-'' (January 26, 2011, self-cover) #28 * ''J 20th Anniversary Best Album ＜1997-2017＞ W.U.M.F.'' (March 22, 2017) #41 ;Singles * "Burn Out" (June 25, 1997), Oricon Singles Chart Peak Position: #6 * "But You Said I'm Useless" (October 22, 1997) #31 * "Perfect World" (July 25, 2001) #19 * "Go Crazy" (March 20, 2002) #23 * "Feel Your Blaze" (October 30, 2002) #17 * "Nowhere" (April 14, 2004) #18 * "Get Ready" (July 6, 2005) #32 * "Break" (November 9, 2005) #22 * "Fly Away/Squall" (July 12, 2006) #43 * "Twister" (February 7, 2007) #24 * "Walk Along ~Infinite Mix~" (August 22, 2007) #42 * "Reckless" (March 19, 2008) #31 * "Now and Forever" (June 30, 2018, limited single) * "Real×Eyez" (January 22, 2020, credited to J×

) #8 * "My Heaven/A Thousand Dreams" (August 12, 2020) ;Home videos * ''Pyromania Tour'97 ~Crime Scene~'' (VHS: October 22, 1997, DVD: December 18, 2002) * ''Film The Blood Muzik 80min. Riot'' (June 26, 2002), Oricon DVDs Chart Peak Position: #34 * ''The Judgment Day -2003.1.4. Live at Budokan-'' (March 26, 2003) #51 * ''Blast List -The Clips-'' (December 22, 2004) #158 * ''Crazy Crazy ~Live & Document~'' (March 26, 2006) #59 * ''Crazy Crazy II ~Road on Flames~'' (December 6, 2006) #48 * ''Live And Let Ride'' (April 2009) * ''Crazy Crazy III -With The Unfading Fire-'' (March 17, 2010) #49 * ''-Complete Clips-'' (November 13, 2012) #220, Oricon Blu-rays Chart Peak Position: #84 * ''Crazy Crazy IV -The Flaming Freedom-'' (March 26, 2014) #147, #121 * ''Crazy Crazy V -The Eternal Flames-'' (March 16, 2016) #99, #57 * ''J 20th Anniversary Live Film .U.M.F.-Tour Final at EX Theater Roppongi 2017.6.25-'' (November 15, 2017) #45, #17 * ''J Live Streaming Akasaka Blitz 5 Days Final -Thank You to All Mother Fuckers- '' (February 10, 2021) #38, #16

With Luna Sea

Other work

* M*A*S*S; ''Dance 2 Noise'' (1993) - "Frozen Bug" * Nav Katze; ''Out'' (1994) - bass on * hide; ''

'' (1994) - composer (as part of M*A*S*S) on "Frozen Bug '93 (Diggers Version)" *

; ''

'' (1999) - remixed * Zilch; "Charlie's Children" (2001) - bass on track 3 * Zilch; ''Skyjin'' (2001) - bass on tracks 1–3, 5, 8, 11 & 13 * Youjeen; "Hey Jerks" (2001) - arrangement & bass on all tracks; lyricist on tracks #1 & 3; composer on track #2 * Youjeen; "Someday" (2001) - arrangement, bass, guitar, lyricist and composer on all tracks * Youjeen; ''The Doll'' (2001) - arrangement & bass on all tracks except #12; guitar on tracks #1, 4, 6, 8-11; lyricist on all tracks except #4, 10, & 12; composer on all tracks except #2, 3, 5, 7 & 12 * Youjeen; "Beautiful Days" (2001) - arrangement & bass on all tracks; lyricist on tracks #1 & 2; composer & guitar on tracks # 1 & 3 *

; ''Scorpio Rising'' (2002) - bass on "I Hate You" * Dice; ''One'' (2003) - producer *

; '' 7th Issue'' (2004) - bass * Various artists; ''

'' (2005) - "Iconoclasm" * Various artists; '' Death Note Tribute'' (2006) - "Pursuit" * The Braincase; ''The Braincase'' (2008) - bass on tracks #3, 4, 7, 9 & 11 * Aggressive Dogs; (2009) - bass on "Seize the Day" * Various artists; (2009) - bass on * Various artists; ''Jack Rocks'' (2010) - "Miss Dizzy" *

Tokyo Girls' Style (stylized as TOKYO GIRLS' STYLE) is a Japanese girl group formed in 2009, and was the first idol group created under Avex Trax after SweetS. The idol group originally consisted of five members: Miyu Yamabe, Hitomi Arai, Yuri Nakae, Konishi Aya ...

; "Get The Star / Last Forever" (2013) - composer on tracks 1 & 2 * Various artists; ''hide Tribute VII -Rock Spirits-'' (2013) - "Flame" * minus(-); ''G'' (2015) - guest vocals on "Peepshow" *

lynch. Lynch (stylized as lynch.) is a Japanese visual-kei metal band formed in 2004. The band's concept is "uniting heavy music with beautiful melodies." As of 2021, the group has released three EPs, eleven albums, and 25 singles. History Lynch was ...

; ''Sinners'' (2017) - bass on "Trigger"

References

External links

Official website

Official YouTube

{{DEFAULTSORT:J 1970 births Living people Luna Sea members Visual kei musicians Japanese male singer-songwriters Japanese male rock singers Japanese alternative rock musicians Japanese rock bass guitarists Japanese punk rock musicians People from Hadano, Kanagawa Musicians from Kanagawa Prefecture Avex Group artists Male bass guitarists 21st-century bass guitarists