, known by his stage name , was a Japanese musician known as guitarist and lead songwriter of 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. Som ...

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

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of works by Raphael, His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of ...

. The group became quite popular, with all their releases entering the top 40 of 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 Nov ...

chart, before disbanding after Kazuki died at the age of 19.

Life

Kazuki Watanabe was born on April 7, 1981 in

Shibuya, Tokyo Shibuya (渋谷区 ''Shibuya-ku'') is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. As a major commercial and finance center, it houses two of the busiest railway stations in the world, Shinjuku Station (southern half) and Shibuya Station. As of April 1, ...

. After playing some roles in a few TV programs and a film,Kazuki Profile
/ref> he went on to have a musical career. In 1995, he and bassist Yukito formed a punk cover band which covered songs by bands such as

The Blue Hearts was a Japanese punk rock band active from 1985 to 1995. They have been compared to such bands as the Sex Pistols, The Clash and the Ramones.Ramones The Ramones were an American punk rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first true punk rock group. Despite achieving a limited commercial appeal in the United ...

. In 1996, Kazuki and Yukito both soon began writing original material, and later formed

in 1997, whose members were all just 15 years old. In only three years time they were popular enough to headline the

Nippon Budokan The , often shortened to simply Budokan, is an indoor arena located in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It was originally built for the inaugural Olympic judo competition in the 1964 Summer Olympics. While its primary purpose is to host martial arts con ...

. He also had a side-project called , a band consisted of Kazuki (vocals), Kuruto (ex-Pleur) on bass and Mask on guitar. All of their songs are instrumental because Kazuki died before he could record his voice. On October 31, 2000, he was found dead in his room located in

Ebisu, Shibuya is major district of Shibuya-ku in Tokyo, Japan. It was developed on the site of a Ebisu, Shibuya#History, former brewery and is now home to Ebisu, Shibuya#Yebisu Garden Place, Yebisu Garden Place. It has a high concentration of Ebisu, Shib ...

. He was 19 years old. The cause of death was reported as a

sedative A sedative or tranquilliser is a substance that induces sedation by reducing irritability or excitement. They are CNS depressants and interact with brain activity causing its deceleration. Various kinds of sedatives can be distinguished, but t ...

overdose, according to the Shibuya Police in Tokyo. After his death, Raphael disbanded in January 2001. In 2012, they reunited for two concerts on October 31 (Kazuki's 12th death anniversary) and November 1, and released a re-recording of their hit 1999 song "Eternal Wish (Todokanu Kimi e)" as a single.

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Watanabe, Kazuki Visual kei musicians Japanese rock guitarists Japanese songwriters Drug-related suicides in Japan Musicians from Shibuya 1981 births 2000 suicides 20th-century Japanese musicians 20th-century guitarists