is a Japanese musician and songwriter. He is known as lead guitarist of the rock band

Buck-Tick Buck-Tick (stylized as BUCK-TICK) is a Japanese Rock music, rock band, formed in Fujioka, Gunma in 1983. The group has consisted of lead vocalist Atsushi Sakurai, lead guitarist Hisashi Imai, rhythm guitarist Hidehiko Hoshino, bassist Yutaka Hig ...

since 1983. He has also performed in musical side-projects such as Schaft (1991–1994, 2015),

Schwein Schwein (German for ''pig'' as well as ''pork'') is a music group comprising members of Buck-Tick, KMFDM, and PIG. Members Raymond Watts (vocals, programming, guitar) and Hisashi Imai (Buck-Tick; guitar and noise), both having worked together in ...

(2001), and more recently Lucy (2004).

Career

In 1984, when Imai and his friend and then

singer Araki graduated high school, they moved to

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 ...

together, where Imai entered design school.''Love Me'', Yasue Matsuura, Takao Nakagawa; Shinko Music Publishing Company, Ltd. 1989. . He has been the guitarist and main composer of Buck-Tick since 1983. In 1989, he was arrested for

LSD Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), also known colloquially as acid, is a potent psychedelic drug. Effects typically include intensified thoughts, emotions, and sensory perception. At sufficiently high dosages LSD manifests primarily mental, vi ...

possession. In 2008, he announced on his blog that he got married. He announced the birth of his first child in August 2013. He has also appeared on/composed for Mika Kaneko's ''Kick'', Naoko Nozawa's ''Tonkichi Chinpei Kanta'',

Der Zibet Der Zibet is a Japanese visual kei rock band formed in 1984, which made its debut in 1985. They went on an indefinite hiatus in 1996, but resumed activities in 2007. History Der Zibet was formed in 1984 by vocalist Issay and bassist Hal, wh ...

's ''Shishunki II'',

Soft Ballet Soft Ballet was a Japanese electronic group formed in 1987. The group consisted of three members, Maki Fujii, Ken Morioka, and Ryoichi Endo, though they employed extra support members for live shows. While Soft Ballet weren't necessarily chart topp ...

's ''Million Mirrors'',

The Stalin were a Japanese punk rock band formed in June 1980, by leader and vocalist Michiro Endo. After numerous member changes, he disbanded the group in February 1985. In May 1987 Michiro formed a group called Video Stalin, which mostly made vid ...

's ''Shinda Mono Hodo Aishite Yaru Sa'',

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 s ...

's ''

Sinsation ''Sinsation'' is an album by PIG released in Japan in 1995. It was later released in the United States on Nothing Records on 17 September 1996. A music video for the song 'Painiac (Nothing Touches Me)' was filmed and scarcely aired on MTV in 1996 ...

'' and '' Wrecked'',

Yukinojo Mori , better known by his stage name , is a Japanese lyricist, composer and poet who is affiliated with Amuse, Inc. He has written over 2,000 songs for numerous artists such as Kyosuke Himuro, Takuro Yoshida and Junichi Inagaki and theme songs for ...

's ''Tenshi no Ita Wakusei'' and ''Poetic Evolution ~With Eleven Guitarists~'',

Guniw Tools are a Japanese visual kei rock band. The band's theme is "Integrated Art Direction featuring visual images that come forth from sound."Acid Android Acid Android (stylized as ACID ANDROID and formerly as acid android) is the solo project of yukihiro, drummer of the Japanese rock band L'Arc-en-Ciel. While yukihiro provides the vocals and many of the instruments himself, he also utilizes many su ...

's ''Code'', the compilation ''Tribute to The Star Club featuring Hikage'', and

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 ''All Time Super Guest''. Together with Yukinojo Mori, Imai covered the song "

Eyes Love You "Eyes Love You" is the debut single by Japanese musician hide, released on August 5, 1993. It reached number 3 on the Oricon chart. His second single " 50% & 50%" was released on the same day. Both singles' covers are identical except; "Eyes Love ...

" for the 2013 hide tribute album ''Tribute VII -Rock Spirits-''. Lucy is another side-project where he is guitarist and vocalist. Formed in 2004 it includes guitarist and vocalist Kiyoshi (ex.

Spread Beaver , 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 ...

, Machine) and drummer Katsushige Okazaki (Age of Punk). Both Imai and Kiyoshi play guitars and sing, and write music and lyrics for the group. Lucy has released 2 albums; ''Rockarollica'' and ''Rockarollica II'', 3 DVDs; ''Lucy Show - Shout, Speed, Shake Your Rockarollica'', ''Lucy Show 002 Live at Unit'' and ''Lucy Show 002 Live at Studio Coast'', and 1 single; "Bullets -Shooting Super Star-". However, they have been inactive since 2008.

Discography

;With Buck-Tick ;With Lucy *''Rockarollica'' (June 9, 2004)

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 ...

peak position: #16 *''Lucy Show - Shout, Speed, Shake Your Rockarollica'' (November 17, 2004) #35 *"Bullets -Shooting Super Star-" (March 29, 2006) #28 *''Rockarollica II'' (April 26, 2006) #42 *''Lucy Show 002 Live at Unit'' (November 1, 2006) #52 *''Lucy Show 002 Live at Studio Coast'' (November 1, 2006) #46

References

External links

Official blog

Lucy Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Imai, Hisashi 1965 births Living people Buck-Tick members Visual kei musicians Japanese rock guitarists Japanese male rock singers People from Gunma Prefecture Musicians from Gunma Prefecture Schwein members Japanese songwriters 20th-century Japanese guitarists 21st-century Japanese guitarists