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 Popular culture, mainstre ...

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...

Ichiro Yamaguchi , is a Japanese musician. He is the vocalist, guitarist and songwriter for the Hokkaido rock band Sakanaction. Biography Ichiro Yamaguchi was born in Otaru, Hokkaido in 1980. He grew up listening to a wide variety of music, as his father ran a ...

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsOfficial Site Profile
retrieved 2009-01-03 Their records consistently reach the top 10 positions on Japan's

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 ...

charts.

Members

* ** Born in

Otaru, Hokkaidō is a city and port in Shiribeshi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan, northwest of Sapporo. The city faces Ishikari Bay and the Sea of Japan, and has long served as the main port of the bay. With its many historical buildings, Otaru is a popular tou ...

, September 8, 1980 ** Vocalist and guitarist ** Responsible for writing the band's lyrics and music * ** Born in

Sapporo ( ain, サッ・ポロ・ペッ, Satporopet, lit=Dry, Great River) is a city in Japan. It is the largest city north of Tokyo and the largest city on Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of the country. It ranks as the fifth most populous cit ...

,

Hokkaidō is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The la ...

, March 11, 1981 ** Guitarist ** Nicknamed ''Mocchi'' * ** Born in

Tokyo 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 ...

, April 30, 1980 ** Bassist and keyboardist ** Nicknamed ''Neesan'' * ** Born in

Otaru, Hokkaidō is a city and port in Shiribeshi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan, northwest of Sapporo. The city faces Ishikari Bay and the Sea of Japan, and has long served as the main port of the bay. With its many historical buildings, Otaru is a popular tou ...

, October 5, 1983 ** Keyboardist ** Nicknamed ''Zakki'' or ''Zakioka'' * ** Born in

Sapporo ( ain, サッ・ポロ・ペッ, Satporopet, lit=Dry, Great River) is a city in Japan. It is the largest city north of Tokyo and the largest city on Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of the country. It ranks as the fifth most populous cit ...

, Hokkaidō, July 8, 1981 ** Drummer ** Nicknamed ''Ejii''

History

Formation

Ichirō Yamaguchi, Sakanaction's frontman, originally started a band called Dutchman, in 1998 with his fellow high school mates, including Motoharu Iwadera. It was an indie rock band that was heavily inspired by British indie bands. From 2000 to 2003, they released one maxi single titled ''Fly'', one album titled ''demonstration'', and a single titled "

Mikazuki Sunset () is a song written by Japanese musician Ichiro Yamaguchi. Originally released as a concert-exclusive single in 2003 by his high school band Dutchman, it was the leading promotional song from Yamaguchi's major label band Sakanaction's debut stu ...

" that was only sold at live performances. The band did not gain much recognition. In 2004, the members disbanded, leaving Yamaguchi to continue on alone as Dutchman. Yamaguchi began performing as a DJ at night clubs.Lights, camera, Sakanaction!
''

The Japan Times Online ''The Japan Times'' is Japan's largest and oldest English-language daily newspaper. It is published by , a subsidiary of News2u Holdings, Inc.. It is headquartered in the in Kioicho, Chiyoda, Tokyo. History ''The Japan Times'' was launched by ...

''. Retrieved 2011-10-05 Sakanaction was finally created in 2005. When Yamaguchi was working in a record store, he heard the song "Owari no Kisetsu" by

Rei Harakami was a Japanese record producer from Hiroshima. He was based in Kyoto. He was one half of the duo Yanokami Yanokami (stylized as yanokami) was a Japanese music duo consisting of Akiko Yano and Rei Harakami. History Yanokami was formed by Akiko ...

and it became a great motivation for him to create Sakanaction.御礼。
Retrieved 2011-10-05. Yamaguchi founded the band together with Iwadera. In the spring of 2006, the rest of the members joined. Kusakari had just left another band then and was asked to join Sakanaction, Ejima was introduced by a mutual friend, and Okazaki was Yamaguchi's colleague from the record store. The name "Sakanaction" was created by Yamaguchi and was met with initial resistance from Iwadera. When Yamaguchi asked him what he thought of the name Sakanaction, Iwadera said he hated it but Yamaguchi forced it.
Shift Japan. Retrieved 2013-09-10.

Rise to popularity

Sakanaction first attracted attention at the 2006

Rising Sun Rock Festival Rising Sun Rock Festival is an annual rock festival held in Ishikari, Hokkaido, Japan. The two-day event is organized by WESS. It chiefly features Japanese rock and indie Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: ...

.北海道発の新種バンド、サカナクションがデビュー・アルバム『GO TO THE FUTURE』をリリース
bounce.com, Retrieved 2009-01-03. The band's first physical release was ''

Go to the Future ''Go to the Future'' () is the debut studio album by Japanese band Sakanaction. It was released on May 9, 2007 through Victor Entertainment sub-label BabeStar. Recorded and produced in the band's native Hokkaido in a month, the album compiled th ...

'' in 2007. Three songs originally from Dutchman were rereleased as Sakanaction releases - ''Mikazuki Sunset'' and ''Inner World'' were included in ''Go to the Future'' while ''Word'' was part of a digital download release, and later made it to '' Night Fishing''. Some time after the release of '' Night Fishing'', the band made a decision to move from Hokkaido to Tokyo where they could reach out to more people.2011 山口一郎、サカナクションのアルバム5作品をすべて語る！特集
, ''

Rockin'On Japan ''Rockin'On Japan'', often stylized in all caps, is a monthly magazine that covers the Japanese music scene and various cultural events in Japan, such as art venues and culinary expos. History The magazine was founded in 1972, and focused on pr ...

''. Retrieved 2011-10-05. They were also moved from Victor Entertainment's BabeStar label to the main label. On August 9, 2008, Sakanaction performed as one of the main acts on one of Japan's top music stations, ''Music On!'' in the event called

Summer Sonic The , also known as Supersonic, is an annual two- or three-day rock festival held at the same time in Osaka and Chiba, Japan. The majority of the bands playing in Osaka the first day go to Chiba the following day and vice versa. The line-up co ...

'08. Sakanaction performed alongside

Paul Weller Paul John Weller (born John William Weller; 25 May 1958) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Weller achieved fame with the punk rock/ new wave/mod revival band the Jam (1972–1982). He had further success with the blue-eyed soul mu ...

,

The Fratellis The Fratellis are a Scottish rock band from Glasgow, formed in 2005. The band consists of three unrelated members, who perform under pseudonyms: lead vocalist and guitarist Jon Fratelli, bassist Barry Fratelli, and drummer Mince Fratelli. Thei ...

,

Death Cab for Cutie Death Cab for Cutie is an American rock band formed in Bellingham, Washington, in 1997. The band is currently composed of Ben Gibbard (vocals, guitar, piano), Nick Harmer (bass), Dave Depper (guitar, keyboards, backing vocals), Zac Rae (keyboar ...

,

Cajun Dance Party Cajun Dance Party were a five-piece band based in London, England. They originally consisted of Robbie Stern, Max Bloom, Daniel Blumberg, Will Vignoles, and Vicky Freund. Blumberg and Bloom left the band in 2009 to form the band Yuck, while o ...

,

Band of Horses Band of Horses is an American rock band formed in 2004 in Seattle, Washington. Led by singer-songwriter Ben Bridwell, who has served as the band's sole constant member throughout numerous line-up changes, the band's current line-up also inclu ...

,

Blood Red Shoes Blood Red Shoes are an English alternative rock duo from Brighton consisting of Laura-Mary Carter and Steven Ansell. They have released six full-length albums, '' Box of Secrets'' (2008), '' Fire Like This'' (2010), '' In Time to Voices'' (2012) ...

, and

These New Puritans These New Puritans are an English music group/band from Southend-on-Sea, England. It consists mainly of Jack Barnett (principal songwriter, vocalist, producer, multi-instrumentalist) and his twin brother George Barnett (drums, electronics, prod ...

. The show aired just three days before the New Year, on December 29, 2008. On December 26, 2008, they made it to #9 on Billboard's

Japan Hot 100 The ''Billboard Japan'' Hot 100 is a record chart in Japan for songs. It has been compiled by ''Billboard Japan'' and '' Hanshin Contents Link'' since February 2008. The chart is updated every Wednesday at Billboard-japan.com ( JST) and every Thur ...

list with their single " Sen to Rei" beating out MAYS's "Kiss (Koi ni Ochite... Fuyu)" and coming in just after

Greeeen Greeeen (stylized as GReeeeN) is a Japanese vocal group from Kōriyama in Fukushima Prefecture, comprising the all-male four members: HIDE, navi, 92 (read as "kuni"), and SOH. They made their debut with Universal Music in 2007. Their logo image i ...

's "Tobira". Over a course of 4 weeks the single moved from #91 to #9. This was a big accomplishment for Sakanaction as they moved forward in the Japanese music industry.

Mainstream success

In December 2008, the band announced their third album, '' Shin-shiro'', which was released in January, 2009. The album includes their debut single, "Sen to Rei", The album debuted at #8 on

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 ...

weekly charts, the first time they got into the Top 10. The band held a national promotional tour, ''Sakanaquarium 2009'', in February and March 2009.RO69 News
/ref> On January 13, 2010, the band released the single " Aruku Around", which hit #3 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 Nov ...

weekly charts. On August 8, 2010 they made appearances at both the Summer Sonic and the World Happiness 2010 rock festivals in Tokyo. Sakanaction next released on March 16, 2011, a new single titled "Rookie". Almost seven months since their last single "Identity", "Rookie" centered on club music, pop, and rock. It peaked at #6 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 Nov ...

weekly charts, although sales were affected by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. On March 22, the music video for "Aruku Around" picked up awards for Best Rock Video and Best Video of the Year from the 2011

Space Shower Music Video Awards Space Shower Music Awards (old name: SPACE SHOWER Music Video Awards, abbr. to SPACE SHOWER MVA) are an annual set of music awards sponsored by Japanese Space Shower TV. The prizes have been awarded since 1996. Winners in main categories Best ...

, earning the band more recognition. On July 20, 2011, Sakanaction released their second single of the year, "

Bach no Senritsu o Yoru ni Kiita Sei Desu. is a song by Japanese band Sakanaction. It was released as a single in July 2011, one month before the band's fifth album ''Documentaly''. A pop and electro song inspired by the band's vocalist Ichiro Yamaguchi experience of listening to the mus ...

". This release helped them to gain even more popularity through Sakanaction's first ever live performance on the popular music variety show,

Music Station is a Japanese music television program. Broadcasting live weekly on TV Asahi since October 24, 1986, it currently airs from 9PM-10PM on Fridays. The program is also colloquially known as , , and . The show is currently syndicated throughout th ...

. Their fifth album, ''

Documentaly ''Documentaly'' (stylized as ''DocumentaLy'', ) is the fifth studio album by Japanese band Sakanaction, released on September 28, 2011. Written around a documentary theme, the band were inspired by personal and world events in 2011 to create mat ...

'', was released on September 28, 2011, reaching a peak of #2 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 Nov ...

weekly charts, the highest the band has ever charted. The band also embarked on the ''Sakanaquarium 2011 DocumentaLy'' tour beginning October 1. The Makuhari Messe leg of the tour was later documented on a live DVD and Blu-ray released on March 28, 2012. In February, the band played live overseas for the second time, in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

, together with rock bands

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. ...

and

Lite Lite may refer to: Food and drugs *Diet food, food or beverage that is part of a weight loss program or diet *Diet soda, a version of soda pop *Low-alcohol beer, beer with little or no alcohol content **Miller Lite, a brand of light beer *Lights ...

under the same artist management Hip Land Music Corp. On March 20, 2012, Sakanaction took home awards for Best Rock Video and Best Video of the Year at the 2012

Space Shower Music Video Awards Space Shower Music Awards (old name: SPACE SHOWER Music Video Awards, abbr. to SPACE SHOWER MVA) are an annual set of music awards sponsored by Japanese Space Shower TV. The prizes have been awarded since 1996. Winners in main categories Best ...

for "Bach no Senritsu o Yoru ni Kiita Sei Desu." This was the band's second consecutive year winning the coveted Best Video of the Year award. Starting April, the band also started to host their own regular radio show, ''Sakana Locks!!'' on popular radio station Tokyo FM.

Continued national success

Their sixth single, "

Boku to Hana () is a song by Japanese band Sakanaction. The theme song for the Tsuyoshi Kusanagi-starring medical drama ''37-sai de Isha ni Natta Boku: Kenshui Junjō Monogatari'', it was released as a single by the band in May 2012, the first from their six ...

", was released on May 30. The title track was used as the theme song of primetime medical drama ''37-sai de Isha ni Natta Boku: Kenshui Junjō Monogatari'', the first time the band has collaborated with a drama, thus giving them more exposure. Sakanaction continued to garner more attention as vocalist Yamaguchi composed and wrote the song " Moment" for the popular veteran boyband

SMAP SMAP was a Japanese boy band, composed of Masahiro Nakai, Takuya Kimura, Goro Inagaki, Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, and Shingo Katori. The group was created in 1988 by music producer Johnny Kitagawa, founder of Johnny & Associates, originally as a six-pi ...

, who were label mates. The song was used as the theme for

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

broadcasts on television channel TBS, and was released in a single on 8 August 2012. On 29 August 2012, their seventh single "Yoru no Odoriko" was released. The song was used in Mode School commercials as well as a station ID for Space Shower Television. In addition, Sakanaction was allowed to perform again for the second time on Music Station. Their eighth single "Music" was tied up with

Fuji TV JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Owned and operated by the it is the key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network S ...

primetime drama, ''dinner'', with the title track as its theme song, making it the second time the band's music was used for a drama. The single was released on 23 January 2013, for the first time selling at 500 yen, compared to their usual singles being priced at 1000 yen and above. Again, for the third year running, Sakanaction managed to grab an award at the 2013

Space Shower Music Video Awards Space Shower Music Awards (old name: SPACE SHOWER Music Video Awards, abbr. to SPACE SHOWER MVA) are an annual set of music awards sponsored by Japanese Space Shower TV. The prizes have been awarded since 1996. Winners in main categories Best ...

. They were awarded Best Artist, with their representative works being the music videos for "Boku to Hana" and "Yoru no Odoriko". The band released on 13 March 2013 their self-titled sixth album, which clinched the top spot on Oricon Weekly Charts, their first release to do so. For the album, Sakanaction went on a sold-out nationwide tour starting 30 March. They also included a supplementary tour in Taiwan to play there for 2 days. The band released their first vinyl record, titled ''Inori EP'' on 26 June 2013, containing remixes of two songs from the album. With their sixth album and accompanying tour's success in 2013, they were invited to perform for the first time on NHK's prestigious music show ''

Kōhaku Uta Gassen , more commonly known simply as ''Kōhaku'', is an annual New Year's Eve television special produced by Japanese public broadcaster NHK. It is broadcast live simultaneously on television and radio, nationally and internationally by the NHK net ...

'' on 31 December. Sakanaction went on tour in early 2014. They have also announced the release of a new single, "Goodbye" / "Eureka", for 15 January 2014. "Eureka" is tied-up with the film "Judge!" as its ending theme song. Singles from their album entitled

834.194 ''834.194'' is the seventh studio album by Japanese rock band Sakanaction. The album is a double album. It was released on June 19, 2019, through their own label NF Records, which is a Victor Entertainment subsidiary. Release Prior to the albu ...

have also found success on Youtube. For example, the single "

Shin Takarajima ''Shin Takarajima'' ( ja, 新宝島, label=Shinjitai, ja, 新寶島, label= Kyūjitai; ; "New Treasure Island") is a Japanese manga by Sakai Shichima and Osamu Tezuka that was serialized in 1947. It is the first of Tezuka's manga to be publ ...

" has 147,000,000 views, and "Wasurerarenaino", released on June 21, 2019, has enjoyed over 23 million views. In videos, many of the albums' serious topics are offset by vivid and playful situations such as cheerleading, retro celebrity appearances, and people who transform into other objects. In late 2021, they announced their eighth and ninth studio albums, アダプト (''Adapt''), and アプライ (''Apply''). Adapt was released on March 30, 2022. It was preceded by two singles, プラトー (''Plateau''), and ショック! (''Shock!'').

Discography

*''

Go to the Future ''Go to the Future'' () is the debut studio album by Japanese band Sakanaction. It was released on May 9, 2007 through Victor Entertainment sub-label BabeStar. Recorded and produced in the band's native Hokkaido in a month, the album compiled th ...

'' (2007) *'' Night Fishing'' (2008) *'' Shin-shiro'' (2009) *'' kikUUiki'' (2010) *''

DocumentaLy ''Documentaly'' (stylized as ''DocumentaLy'', ) is the fifth studio album by Japanese band Sakanaction, released on September 28, 2011. Written around a documentary theme, the band were inspired by personal and world events in 2011 to create mat ...

'' (2011) *''

Sakanaction , stylised as sakanaction, are a Japanese rock band from Sapporo, Hokkaido. Their music is a fusion of alternative rock, electronic music, electronic, Pop music, pop, and New wave music, new wave styles. The band consists of five members: Ichiro ...

'' (2013) *''

834.194 ''834.194'' is the seventh studio album by Japanese rock band Sakanaction. The album is a double album. It was released on June 19, 2019, through their own label NF Records, which is a Victor Entertainment subsidiary. Release Prior to the albu ...

'' (2019) *''

Adapt ADAPT (formerly American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today) is a United States grassroots disability rights organization with chapters in 30 states and Washington, D.C. They use nonviolent direct action in order to bring about disability just ...

'' (2022)

Tours

References

External links

*
Sakanaction
@

Victor Entertainment , also known as in Japan, is a subsidiary of JVCKenwood that produces and distributes music, movies and other entertainment products such as anime and television shows in Japan. It is known as JVC Entertainment in countries where Sony Music Ente ...

Yamaguchi Ichiro Official Blog "Sakana to Ongaku"

Ejima Keiichi Official Blog "Sahanji Antenna"
* * {{Authority control Dance-rock musical groups Japanese rock music groups Musical groups established in 2005 Musical groups from Hokkaido Victor Entertainment artists