, born and better known by his stage name Sugizo, is a Japanese musician, songwriter, composer and record producer. He is best known as the lead guitarist and violinist 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 Wale ...

band

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

since 1989. Sugizo started his solo career in 1997 and has since collaborated with a variety of different artists. He formed the

psychedelic Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary mental states (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips") and a perceived "expansion of consciousness". Also referred to as classic halluci ...

jam band A jam band is a musical group whose concerts and live albums substantially feature improvisational "jam session, jamming". Typically, jam bands will play variations of pre-existing songs, extending them to musical improvisation, improvise ove ...

Shag in 2002, the rock duo The Flare in 2004, and the

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that came to prominence in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mos ...

duo S.T.K (Sensual Technology Kooks) in 2005. In 2007 he became a member of the international

trance Trance is a state of semi-consciousness in which a person is not self-aware and is either altogether unresponsive to external stimuli (but nevertheless capable of pursuing and realizing an aim) or is selectively responsive in following the dir ...

world music "World music" is an English phrase for styles of music from non-English speaking countries, including quasi-traditional, Cross-cultural communication, intercultural, and traditional music. World music's broad nature and elasticity as a musical ...

act

Juno Reactor Juno Reactor is a multi-national musical and performing group, primarily based in Brighton, UK. Known for their cinematic fusion of electronic, global influences, and orchestral symphonic approach, collaborating with composer Don Davis (composer) ...

, and of the Japanese rock supergroup S.K.I.N. Sugizo officially joined the rock band

X Japan is a Japanese Rock music, rock band from Chiba Prefecture, Chiba, formed in 1982 by drummer and pianist Yoshiki (musician), Yoshiki and lead vocalist Toshi (musician), Toshi. Starting as a predominantly power metal, power/speed metal band with ...

in 2009, and became a member of the supergroup

The Last Rockstars The Last Rockstars is a Japanese rock supergroup formed in 2022 by Yoshiki (X Japan), Hyde (L'Arc-en-Ciel, Vamps), Sugizo (X Japan, Luna Sea), and Miyavi (ex- Dué le Quartz). The four members announced their collaboration in November 2022, ...

in 2022. In addition to being known for experimenting with many musical genres, mostly rock, psychedelic and electronica, he is known for his political views and for being an

anti-war An anti-war movement is a social movement in opposition to one or more nations' decision to start or carry on an armed conflict. The term ''anti-war'' can also refer to pacifism, which is the opposition to all use of military force during conf ...

anti-nuclear The Anti-nuclear war movement is a social movement that opposes various nuclear technologies. Some direct action groups, environmental movements, and professional organisations have identified themselves with the movement at the local, n ...

, and

environmental Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, referring respectively to all living and non-living things occurring naturally and the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism ...

activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...

Early life and musical education

Yasuhiro Sugihara was born on July 8, 1969, in

Hadano is a Cities of Japan, city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 163,787 and a population density of 1600 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Hadano is located in the foothills of the ...

Kanagawa is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the List of Japanese prefectures by population, second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-dens ...

, in Japan. His

Manchukuo Manchukuo, officially known as the State of Manchuria prior to 1934 and the Empire of Great Manchuria thereafter, was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in Northeast China that existed from 1932 until its dissolution in 1945. It was ostens ...

-born father played

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

in the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, and his mother played

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

in the same orchestra. He has a younger sister, who was the drummer in a band with Sugizo's future Luna Sea bandmates J and

Inoran , better known exclusively by his stage name Inoran, is a Japanese musician and singer-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 ...

. From a young age, Sugizo was brought up on

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

and studied classical

music theory Music theory is the study of theoretical frameworks for understanding the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory": The first is the "Elements of music, ...

. At the age of three, by his father's initiative, he started to learn to play the

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

. He practiced it for 3 hours per day, but without the right type of music or

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

, began to hate playing music, and coercion from his parents aggravated his feeling of repulsion. The situation persisted until the age of ten. His early favorite composers included

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

, Bartók,

Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic period. With a diverse body of work spanning more than six decades, he is considered to be one of the most pro ...

and J.S. Bach. When Sugizo was eleven or twelve years old, he began to play the trumpet. He preferred the trumpet's "dirty" image from the 1950s through the 1970s over playing the violin, which was seen as something for higher-class people. During his junior high school days, he became exposed to non-classical music types, such as the Japanese

synthpop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s ...

group

Yellow Magic Orchestra Yellow Magic Orchestra (abbreviated to YMO) was a Japanese electronic music band formed in Tokyo in 1978 by Haruomi Hosono (bass, keyboards, vocals), Yukihiro Takahashi (drums, lead vocals, occasional keyboards) and Ryuichi Sakamoto (keyboards, ...

, the British new wave group

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

glam rock Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was primarily defined by the flamboyant clothing, makeup, and hairstyles of its musicians, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists d ...

, and the London

punk scene The punk subculture includes a diverse and widely known array of music, ideologies, fashion, and other forms of expression, visual art, dance, literature, and film. Largely characterised by anti-establishment views, the promotion of individual ...

, forming his attraction to

rock'n'roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African American music such as jazz, rhythm and ...

. Sugizo's parents divorced when he was in high school, and his father moved out. He has a good relationship with his mother and has since reconciled with his father, who has another family.

Career

1986–1996: Early bands and Luna Sea

Despite his father's disapproval, Sugizo acquired a bass guitar and an electric guitar and began to teach himself how to play. He has cited three Japanese guitarists as influences;

Masami Tsuchiya Masami Tsuchiya may refer to: * Masami Tsuchiya (Aum Shinrikyo) (1965–2018), member of the Aum Shinrikyo movement *Masami Tsuchiya (singer) is a Japanese singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. He rose to prominence in the late 1970 ...

Kazumi Watanabe is a Japanese guitarist. Other guitarists such as Luke Takamura and Sugizo have cited him as an influence. Career Watanabe learned guitar at the age of 12 from Sadanori Nakamure at the Yamaha Music School in Tokyo. He released his first album ...

and

You In Modern English, the word "''you''" is the second-person pronoun. It is grammatically plural, and was historically used only for the dative case, but in most modern dialects is used for all cases and numbers. History ''You'' comes from ...

. When he was around the age of 17, then in high school, Sugizo with Shinya on drums and Tezya on vocals formed a

power metal Power metal is a subgenre of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional heavy metal with speed metal, often within a symphonic context. Generally, power metal is characterized by a faster, lighter, and more uplifting sound, in co ...

band called Pinocchio, where he played as the bassist. Since the internal structure of Pinocchio was not cohesive, Sugizo and Shinya left and briefly joined Kashmir in 1988. On January 16, 1989, they both joined another band which performed at the same live houses, called Lunacy, formed by J and

. With the addition of

Ryuichi Kawamura is a Japanese singer, songwriter, record producer, actor and author. He is best known as lead singer of the rock band Luna Sea since 1989. They are regarded as one of the most influential bands in the visual kei scene. After they disbanded in ...

, vocalist from the band Slaughter, the five formed the

visual kei , abbreviated , is a category of Japanese musicians that have a strong focus on extravagant stage costumes that originated in Japan during the early 1980s. Koji Dejima of '' Bounce'' wrote that visual kei is not a specific sound, but rather it " ...

rock unit Lunacy. Since J was already the bass player and Inoran preferred to play rhythm guitar, Sugizo became the lead guitarist and took on his stage name, which he believes Shinya came up with. Soon they were discovered by hide (then lead guitarist of

), who got them signed by X Japan co-founder Yoshiki, to his

independent label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represente ...

Extasy Records Extasy Records is a Japanese record label founded in April 1986 by Yoshiki Hayashi, co-founder of the heavy metal band X Japan. The label's first release was X's 1986 single "Orgasm". Over the next few years, the label signed several then-li ...

, on which they released their debut album in 1991. Upon their first album release, the band changed their name from Lunacy to

. They became one of the most famous rock bands in Japan, selling more than ten million records, as well as performing in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

. Sugizo's first solo activity came in 1993, when he wrote his first solo song "Revive" for the album ''Dance 2 Noise 004'' featuring many musicians, including the group M*A*S*S, which consisted of hide, J and Inoran. In the upcoming three years, a variety of lesser-known musical collaborations and contributions took place.

1997–2001: Solo career, ''Truth?''

After Luna Sea went on break in 1997, Sugizo started his own solo career and opened the independent label "Cross" to produce other artists and release his own records. He points out that the opening of his record label was one of his very important projects at the time, but not anymore. On July 9, his debut single "Lucifer" was released and reached number 8 on the

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that ...

singles chart. It was followed by his first solo tour Abstract Day which lasted until the final performance in August at Akasaka Blitz, where he was joined by

DJ Krush , better known by his stage name DJ Krush, is a Japanese record producer and DJ. He is known for his atmospheric instrumental production which incorporates sound elements from nature, and extensive use of jazz and soul samples. Early life Ishi ...

and members of

. Then on September 10 he released his second single, "A Prayer", which reached number 7 on the charts. On November 19, his first solo album ''Truth?'' was released, and reached number 12 on the album charts. It was met with mixed reviews, largely because of the unexpected musical style which mixed different genres with electronica beats. A variety of artists participated in the album, from

Ryuichi Sakamoto was a Music of Japan, Japanese musician, composer, keyboardist, record producer, singer and actor. He pursued a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the Synthesizer, synth-based band Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO). With his ...

and

Mick Karn Andonis Michaelides (Greek: Αντώνης Μιχαηλίδης; 24 July 1958 – 4 January 2011), better known as Mick Karn, was a British musician who rose to fame as the bassist for the art rock/ new wave band Japan. His distinctive fretles ...

, to

Lou Rhodes Lou Rhodes is an English singer and songwriter from Manchester, now living in Wiltshire. In addition to providing vocals and lyrics for the band Lamb, Rhodes has released four solo albums: '' Beloved One'', '' Bloom'' and '' One Good Thing'' a ...

and Valerie Etienne. Towards the end of the year, remix editions of his two maxi singles and album were released. As Luna Sea resumed activities, until the band's disbandment, Sugizo collaborated in the studio with actress

Miki Nakatani is a Japanese actress and singer who began her professional career as a member of the girl group Sakurakko Club. Nakatani focused on acting after her departure from the band, making her debut on the popular television drama '' Under the Same R ...

and singers Miu Sakamoto and

Vivian Hsu Vivian Hsu (; ; born March 19, 1975) is a Taiwanese actress, model, and singer. In 1990, at 15, she won first place in a talent show in Taiwan and formed Girl's Team (1991–1993). At 19, she moved her career to Japan, where she became active ...

, among others. On August 11, 1999, a compilation album titled ''Grand Cross 1999'', sponsored by Sugizo's record label Cross, was released, featuring many musicians with whom he had worked with before and many for the first time. He starred in Ken Nikai's movie ''Soundtrack'' and composed the music for the film. On November 14, a compilation album inspired by the film, titled ''Parallel Side of Soundtrack'' was released, and the following year he released the single "Rest in Peace & Fly Away" featuring Bice on vocals. That same year he produced the music for, as well as danced in, ''Suichoku no Yume'', a production by the popular contemporary dance company H. Art Chaos.

2002–2007: ''C:Lear'', joining Juno Reactor

Around late 2001 he formed the solo project Sugizo & the Spank Your Juice, with whom he toured with until 2004 and released three singles; "Super Love", "Dear Life" and "No More Machineguns Play the Guitar", which entered top 50 on the charts. In 2002, he formed the

Shag. His acting career also continued in 2002, when he starred in

Isao Yukisada is a Japanese film director from Kumamoto. He served as assistant director on Shunji Iwai's ''Love Letter'', ''April Story'', and '' Swallowtail Butterfly''. Filmography Director * ''Open House'' (1998) * (Sunflower) (2000) * ''A Closing Day' ...

's film ''Rock'n'roll Mishin'', and the television series ''RedЯum'', directed by Ken Nikai. In 2003, following the release of "No More Machineguns Play the Guitar", Sugizo released his second album ''C:Lear''. It peaked at the number 56 on the album charts. In March 2004, Sugizo formed the rock band The Flare with vocalist Yuna Katsuki. He also created a new record label called "Embryo", which received major distribution from

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

for the music of The Flare. They performed at

Earth Day Earth Day is an annual event on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection. First held on April 22, 1970, it now includes a wide range of events coordinated globally through earthday.org (formerly Earth Day Network) includin ...

in Tokyo, Japan's largest event devoted to environmental and peaceful causes. The band would last until 2006, releasing four singles and one album. In May 2005, Sugizo organized the event Neo Ascension Groove, with his jam act Shag. In the band he plays guitar, violin and percussion, while the music is avant-garde with concentration on rhythm. Also in 2005, he formed the electro-acoustic duo S.T.K (Sensual Technology Kooks) with author and music producer Tetra Tanizaki. In April 2006, collaborated with trumpeter

Toshinori Kondo was a Japanese avant-garde jazz and jazz fusion trumpeter. Career Kondo was born in Ehime Prefecture. He attended Kyoto university in 1967, and became close friends with percussionist Tsuchitori Toshiyuki. In 1972 the pair left university, and ...

and celebrated Earth Day by participating in three shows held on April 9, 22 and 23 at the Yoyogi Koen in Tokyo. He later had his first performance with

at the Tokyo Techno Festival, after starting talks with the band in 2005 about a possible collaboration. In April, he played at the Nagisa Music Festival with Shag. On June 29, 2007, Anime Expo convention in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

, hosted the debut performance of S.K.I.N, a supergroup consisting of Sugizo, Yoshiki,

Gackt , better known as Gackt (stylized in all caps), is a Japanese singer-songwriter, musician, record producer and actor. Born in Okinawa Prefecture, Okinawa to a Ryukyuan people, Ryukyuan family, Gackt learned the piano at a young age and was rai ...

, and

Miyavi , better known by his stage name MIYAVI (雅, ''Miyabi'', stylized in all caps), is a Japanese guitarist, singer-songwriter, record producer, and actor known for his finger- slapping style of playing a guitar. He has been active since 1999, f ...

. In July, Juno Reactor performed as the White Stage's main act on the final day of the

Fuji Rock Festival is an annual music festival, rock festival held in Naeba Ski Resort, in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. The three-day event, organized by Smash (Music promoters), Smash Japan, features more than 200 Japanese and international musicians, making it th ...

. On December 5, he released the remix album ''Spirituarise'', in which artists from both Japan and overseas remixed his original tracks. On December 24, 2007,

reunited for a one-night only concert at the

Tokyo Dome is an indoor stadium in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. It was designed as a baseball stadium following its predecessor, Korakuen Stadium (whose former site is now occupied by the Tokyo Dome Hotel and a plaza for this stadium). In Japan, it is often us ...

2008–2009: ''Cosmoscape'', joining X Japan

On March 28 and 29, 2008, Sugizo played at

's two reunion concerts as a stand-in along

Wes Borland Wesley Louden Borland (born February 7, 1975) is an American rock musician. He is the guitarist and backing vocalist of the nu metal band Limp Bizkit, the lead vocalist and guitarist of the alternative and industrial rock band Black Light Burn ...

and

Richard Fortus Richard Fortus (born November 17, 1966) is an American guitarist. He is a member of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he has recorded one studio album, since 2002. Fortus has also collaborated extensively with The Psychedelic Furs fron ...

for the deceased hide. In April, he took part in Juno Reactor's European tour. On May 2, he reunited with Luna Sea again at the "hide memorial summit", a two-day concert in memory of hide, at the

Ajinomoto Stadium The , currently known as for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in Chōfu, Tokyo, Japan. The stadium was founded at Kantō Mura, the redevelopment area formerly used by United States Forces Japan, in March 2001. It was the first s ...

. On July 23, Sugizo released a greatest hits compilation album titled ''Cosmoscape''. The album featured various music genres, such as rock, trance, jazz, classic, bossa nova, among others, and spans his ten years of solo work. During the year, Sugizo wrote a song titled "Enola Gay", named after the

Boeing B-29 The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is a retired American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the Bo ...

bomber that dropped the

atomic bomb A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission or atomic bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear weapon), producing a nuclear expl ...

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui has b ...

. He wrote the song to convey his feelings and thoughts toward the people who suffered from the aftermath of nuclear war, and to the cities of Hiroshima and

Nagasaki , officially , is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Founded by the Portuguese, the port of Portuguese_Nagasaki, Nagasaki became the sole Nanban trade, port used for tr ...

. As well, that the bomb never must be dropped again, and as his live supporting drummer Greg Ellis is American, singer

Origa Olga Vitalevna Yakovleva (, October 12, 1970 – January 17, 2015), better known as Origa, was a Russian singer who rose to prominence for her musical collaborations in Japan, especially her work for the Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. franchise. ...

Russian, and him Japanese, that people from former enemy states can be friends. In September joined Juno Reactor on the USA leg of their tour. On December 19, at the 1,500-seat

Shibuya-AX Shibuya-AX (stylized as SHIBUYA- AX) was a concert hall in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan, near the Yoyogi National Gymnasium. Layout Shibuya-AX was the only purpose-built concert hall or "live house" in the Tokyo metropolitan area that could accommod ...

concert hall, he held the solo concert "Rise to Cosmic Dance" playing songs from ''Cosmoscape'', and including the new song "Enola Gay". On December 31, Sugizo played with X Japan at their New Years countdown gig at Akasaka Blitz. On May 1, 2009, Sugizo officially joined X Japan as lead guitarist, violinist and backing vocalist. In December, Sugizo with Juno Reactor performed in the Netherlands, twice in Germany, the Czech Republic and Poland. Upon returning to Japan, he released two new digital singles, "Messiah" and "Tell Me Why You Hide the Truth?", via iTunes on December 16. They topped iTunes electronic music charts with first and second place. On December 24 and 25, he held the concert "Next Phase of Cosmic Dance" in

Taipei, Taiwan , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...

2010–2011: ''Flower of Life'', Luna Sea reunion

Upon returning to Japan, on January 27 Sugizo released two digital singles, "Fatima" and "Do-Funk Dance", another on February 24 entitled "Prana", which also topped the iTunes electronic charts, and one more on March 31 named "Dear Spiritual Life". Sugizo was the music director and composer of the soundtrack for

jidaigeki is a genre of film, television, and theatre in Japan. Literally meaning "historical drama, period dramas", it refers to stories that take place before the Meiji Restoration of 1868. ''Jidaigeki'' show the lives of the samurai, farmers, crafts ...

theatre stage play '' Nemuri Kyoshiro Buraihikae'', featuring

in the main role, which ran for 120 performances across Japan. In April he performed at the Nagisa Music Festival. On July 8, Sugizo announced that he would help his friend

, who was diagnosed with cancer, by remixing his song "Missing". The song was renamed "Missing Link" and was available for download in return for a donation on Mick's official website to help fund the expensive medical treatment. Mick Karn died on January 4, 2011. On August 29, he held a fan club only event called Soul's Mate Day IV. The show featured an acoustic set which was given the name "Soul's Mate Quintet". On August 31, he and

attended a press conference in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

, where they announced that they would be touring worldwide after 10 years of inactivity. From November 5 to 8, Sugizo teamed up with drummers Budgie, Leonard Eto and Mabi, and multi-instrumentalist

Knox Chandler Knox Chandler (born July 20, 1958) is an American musician. He is primarily a guitarist, but he also plays, cello, bass, and other instruments. He has also worked as a session musician. Education Chandler attended the Hammonasset School in M ...

in Hong Kong, to participate in a project called "The Butterfly Effect: East-West Percussive Parade", as part of the New Vision Arts Festival. On April 13, 2011, Sugizo released two singles, "No More Nukes Play the Guitar" and "The Edge". On June 29, he released the single "Miranda", followed by "Neo Cosmoscape" on July 27, which was remixed by

System 7 System 7 (later named Mac OS 7) is the seventh major release of the classic Mac OS operating system for Macintosh computers, made by Apple Computer. It was launched on May 13, 1991, to succeed System 6 with virtual memory, personal file shari ...

, "Enola Gay" on August 15, and "Pray for Mother Earth" on September 9, a song he wrote with

for Earth Day 2006. On December 14, Sugizo released two albums, ''Flower of Life'' and ''Tree of Life''. The first is completely instrumental with

and

songs, while the second includes remixed songs and those done in collaboration with other artists. In December, a four-date tour titled Stairway to the Flower of Life was held, with a concert in Taipei and Hong Kong.

2012–2015: Luna Sea, X Japan

In 2012, besides being vastly involved with Luna Sea, two digital songs were released, titled "Final of the Messiah" and "Super Love 2012", followed by concerts. The final concert of the small Ascension to the Consientia tour was on September 17, at Akasaka Blitz. On May 30, the original soundtrack composed and produced by Sugizo for the theatre stage play ''7 Doors'' was released, and he also starred in the play, a staging of Bartók's opera ''

Bluebeard's Castle ''Duke Bluebeard's Castle'' (, literally ''The Blue-Bearded Duke's Castle'') is a one-act Symbolism (movement), Symbolist opera by composer Béla Bartók to a Hungarian libretto by his friend and poet Béla Balázs. Based on the French folk legen ...

''. On March 6, 2013, his remix album ''Vesica Pisces'' was released, including remixes by Juno Reactor, System 7, and

The Orb The Orb are an English electronic music group founded in 1988 by Alex Paterson and Jimmy Cauty. Known for their psychedelic sound, the Orb developed a cult following among clubbers "coming down" from drug-induced highs. Their influential ...

. ''The Golden Sun of the Great East'', the second Juno Reactor studio album featuring Sugizo, followed on April 23. Sugizo collaborated with a number of musicians on Dead End's tribute album, specifically on the song "Serafine". Sugizo was the musical director and composer for the new staging of

Mary Shelley Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley ( , ; ; 30 August 1797 – 1 February 1851) was an English novelist who wrote the Gothic novel ''Frankenstein, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' (1818), which is considered an History of science fiction# ...

's ''

Frankenstein ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 Gothic novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a Sapience, sapient Frankenstein's monster, crea ...

'', staged by the same producer of the earlier ''7 Doors'' play. On December 11, ''

A Will ''A Will'' is the eighth studio album by Japanese rock band Luna Sea, released on December 11, 2013. It is their first album of new material in over thirteen years, as they reunited in 2010 after disbanding in 2000. The album reached number 3 on ...

'', Luna Sea's new studio album was released after thirteen years. On December 23, the solo tour Thrive to Realize started in

Kobe Kobe ( ; , ), officially , is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. With a population of around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's List of Japanese cities by population, seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Port of Toky ...

, and ended on December 29 at

in Tokyo.

In 2014, in March joined and performed on 50th anniversary concert of his long-time friend Morrie, the frontman of band Dead End. In April a multi-media project, "Art of Parties" was announced, a live installation incorporating art, video, music and dance, featuring other artists, as well. In September, he appeared and performed at the event The Solar Budokan. On September 24, a compilation of classical music selected by Sugizo was released, some of the tracks re-arranged by him. In January, Sugizo was a guest at film score composer

Ikurō Fujiwara is a Japanese pianist, composer, conductor and musical producer signed under Being Inc. He is Pops Executive Producer in the Pacific Philharmonia Tokyo orchestra. Biography Ikurō started learning piano and composing from an early age. He stu ...

's solo piano concert. On March 11, he took part in the Peace on Earth event in

Yoyogi Park is a park in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. It is located adjacent to Harajuku Station and Meiji Shrine in Yoyogikamizonochō. The park is a popular Tokyo destination, especially on Sundays when it is used as a gathering place for Japanese rock music ...

for a memorial ceremony of the

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami On 11 March 2011, at 14:46:24 Japan Standard Time, JST (05:46:24 UTC), a 9.0–9.1 Submarine earthquake, undersea megathrust earthquake occurred in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region. It lasted approx ...

. In April, he covered the track ''Bike'', for

Maaya Sakamoto is a Japanese actress and singer. She made her debut as a Voice acting in Japan, voice actress in 1992 as the voice of Chifuru in the anime ''Little Twins'', and became known as the voice of Hitomi Kanzaki in ''The Vision of Escaflowne''. Other ...

's 20th anniversary tribute album, and was scheduled to appear at the Tanz Too Noise Muzik Festival in

, but the event was eventually cancelled. In May, he participated in

's short Japanese tour, performing in

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is the list of cities in Japan, fourth-most populous city in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020, and the principal city of the Chūkyō metropolitan area, which is the List of ...

and

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. On May 3, he joined fellow Luna Sea member Ryuichi and conductor Ikuro Fujiwara for a 'Symphonic Luna Sea Reboot' concert. In June, he toured extensively with

, performing in 32 concerts in 16 cities across Japan. He performed at

Makuhari Messe is a convention center in Chiba (city), Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, located just outside of Tokyo. Designed by Fumihiko Maki, it is accessible by Transportation in Greater Tokyo#Railway and subway, Tokyo's commuter rail system. ''Makuha ...

at Luna Sea's Lunatic Fest, also with

. On July 8, his ''Spiritual Classic Sugizo Selection II'' compilation album was released. In the same month he performed at the In Order To Dance Vol.1 event, along with

Takkyu Ishino , better known by his stage name , is a Japanese musician, DJ, record producer, and singer from Shizuoka, Shizuoka Prefecture. He is a member of Denki Groove is a Japanese music group founded in 1989. It consists of Takkyu Ishino and Pierre Ta ...

and others. X Japan's first domestic tour of Japan in 20 years began with three consecutive dates at Yokohama Arena on December 2, continued with Osaka-jō Hall on December 7,

Marine Messe Fukuoka in Hakata-ku, Fukuoka, Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk i ...

on December 9,

Hiroshima Green Arena is an indoor arena located in Hiroshima, Japan. The original arena was built sometime shortly after World War II. The arena was rebuilt for the 1994 Asian Games. It hosted some of the group games for the 2006 FIVB Men's World Championship and t ...

on December 11, and finished on December 14 at the

Nippon Gaishi Hall , formerly Nagoya Rainbow Hall, is an indoor sports arena located in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan. From April 1, 2007, its name was changed to Nippon Gaishi Hall, to reflect the sponsorship of the NGK Insulators. The capacity of the arena is 10,000 peop ...

. They also performed on ''

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 ...

'' for the first time in 18 years.

2016–present

On March 11, 2016, he again participated in the free Peace on Earth event, then appeared on

's ''Guitar is Beautiful KW45'' 45th anniversary album with the tracks "Round Midnight" and "Island Hop". In April, he performed at Earth Day Tokyo, In June, he held a concert with fellow Luna Sea member

, titled Sugizo vs Inoran Presents Best Bout. In August, a cover of " Life on Mars?" was released as a digital single in tribute to

. It was followed up by "Lux Aeterna" in September and "Raummusik" in October. X Japan headlined all three nights of the Visual Japan Summit on October 14–16, 2016 at

. As a celebration of the 20th anniversary of his solo debut, Sugizo set out on a national tour, with his new album, ''Oto'' released in November. At the end of December, he performed with Luna Sea at

Saitama Super Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in Chūō-ku, Saitama, Chūō-ku, Saitama (city), Saitama, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. It opened preliminarily on May 5, 2000, and then was officially opened on September 1 of the same year. Its maximum capa ...

for a two-day concert. On March 4, 2017, Sugizo took the stage at

Wembley Arena Wembley Arena () (originally the Empire Pool, currently known as OVO Energy, OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, Greater London, England. The 12,500-seat facility is Greater Lond ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

with X Japan. On May 24 it was revealed that Sugizo has been experimenting with alternative energy sources to power his guitar system, testing the

Toyota Mirai The (from , Japanese for 'future') is a mid-size hydrogen fuel cell vehicle (FCV) manufactured by Toyota, and is the first FCV to be mass-produced and sold commercially. The Mirai was unveiled at the November 2014 Los Angeles Auto Show. , glob ...

and

Honda Clarity The Honda Clarity is a nameplate used by Honda on alternative fuel vehicles. It was initially used only on hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicles such as the 2008 Honda FCX Clarity, but in 2017 the nameplate was expanded to include the battery-ele ...

fuel cell A fuel cell is an electrochemical cell that converts the chemical energy of a fuel (often hydrogen fuel, hydrogen) and an oxidizing agent (often oxygen) into electricity through a pair of redox reactions. Fuel cells are different from most bat ...

s and the system would be put to live test during

's May 29

Budokan The , often shortened to simply Budokan, is an indoor arena in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It was originally built for the inaugural Olympic judo competition in the 1964 Summer Olympics. The Budokan was a popular venue for Japanese professional wres ...

show. At the end of 2017, Sugizo released a solo album titled '' Oneness M'', featuring a different vocalist on each song, including for example Toshi of X Japan and Teru from

Glay Glay (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese Rock music, rock band formed in Hakodate in 1988. The core four members, vocalist Teru (singer), Teru, guitarists Takuro (musician), Takuro and Hisashi (musician), Hisashi, and bassist Jiro (musician), ...

. He also asked the vocalists to contribute to the lyrics. Sugizo produced the theme songs for the 2019 '' Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin - Advent of the Red Comet''

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

. Luna Sea provided the opening themes, but for the ending themes he decided to collaborate with female singers. The first is Sugizo feat. Glim Spanky covering Daisuke Inoue's , and the second is a cover of

Hiroko Moriguchi (born June 13, 1968, in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan), better known by her stage name is a female Japanese singer and tarento. Moriguchi is affiliated with the talent agency NoReason Inc., where she also serves as Second Production Departm ...

's by Sugizo feat. KOM_I (

Wednesday Campanella is a Music of Japan, Japanese music group formed in 2012 combining musical genres such as Electronic dance music, EDM, J-pop, and hip hop music, hip hop into a unique stylistic blend. The lyrics generally follow a theme of famous or mythical pe ...

). The third is the new song "A Red Ray" by Sugizo feat. miwa, which he composed and arranged while she wrote the lyrics. The last is Sugizo feat. Aina the End (

BiSH Bish, stylized as BiSH, was a Japanese alternative idol girl group who was founded in 2015 by their manager Junnosuke Watanabe. The group was conceived as a successor to Bis, an idol group managed by Watanabe that disbanded in 2014. They dis ...

) covering , which was originally on his album ''Oneness M'' with lyrics and vocals provided by Morrie. Also in 2019, Sugizo helped produce the Chinese pop rock band VOGUE5. He provided the theme songs for the July 2020 ''

Gibiate is an original Japanese anime television series produced by Yoshitaka Amano, directed by Masahiko Komino at studios Lunch Box and Studio Elle and written by Ryō Aoki. The series aired from July 15 to September 30, 2020. A special PR program ...

'' anime; "Gibiate" with the

Yoshida Brothers The are Japanese shamisenist musicians who have released several albums on the Domo Records label. The two brothers are performers of the traditional Japanese music style of Tsugaru-jamisen which originated in northern Japan. They debuted in 19 ...

and "Endless" with

Maki Ohguro is a Japanese pop singer and songwriter from Sapporo, Hokkaido under B-Gram Records label. Biography In 1989, she passed Being Inc.'s singers audition, the "3rd BAD". In 1992, she debuted with the single "Stop Motion" released under B-Gr ...

. After 12 years, Sugizo announced the revival of his jam band Shag in November 2020. The group, which includes bassist KenKen (

Rize Rize (; ; ; ka, რიზე}; ) is a coastal city in the eastern part of the Black Sea Region of Turkey. It is the seat of Rize Province and Rize District.You In Modern English, the word "''you''" is the second-person pronoun. It is grammatically plural, and was historically used only for the dative case, but in most modern dialects is used for all cases and numbers. History ''You'' comes from ...

, who died earlier in the year. In 2022, he released an

ambient music Ambient music is a genre of music that emphasizes Musical tone, tone and atmosphere over traditional Musical form, musical structure or rhythm. Often "peaceful" sounding and lacking Musical composition, composition, beat, and/or structured melod ...

EP with Hataken, titled ''The Voyage to The Higher Self''. On July 1, Shag released its first album titled ''The Protest Jam'', edited from live performances and studio recordings. In November 2022, Sugizo was announced as a member of the supergroup

, along with fellow musicians Yoshiki, Hyde, and Miyavi. The group released their first single, "The Last Rockstars (Paris Mix)", in December of the same year. In 2023, Sugizo collaborated with Yoshiki to perform an instrumental version of the X Japan song "La Venus" in the documentary film '' Yoshiki: Under the Sky''.

Personal life

Divorced, Sugizo has a daughter named Luna Artemis Sugihara, who was born on April 27, 1996, in Tokyo, Japan. In an interview he said that her birth has transformed him the most and "when you love your daughter, you begin to love all children. Although this might sound grandiose, nothing will make me happier than seeing all children around the world lead joyous lives. I'll be more than satisfied if I can become a tool towards that goal". He briefly dated Taiwanese actress

. Sugizo finds all religions interesting and reads many books about them. Since his father was a

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

, while his mother was a

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

, from the young age he has often been in contact with things related to church and Protestantism. Currently, he's more into Buddhism, or more specifically,

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),* * * was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist legends, he was ...

himself. Ever since he was little he was curious about

occult The occult () is a category of esoteric or supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of organized religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving a 'hidden' or 'secret' agency, such as magic and mysti ...

subjects. While in Elementary School, he became obsessed with the ancient civilizations of

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

, the Maya's

Easter Island Easter Island (, ; , ) is an island and special territory of Chile in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle in Oceania. The island is renowned for its nearly 1,000 extant monumental statues, ...

s and the

Inca The Inca Empire, officially known as the Realm of the Four Parts (, ), was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political, and military center of the empire was in the city of Cusco. The History of the Incas, Inca ...

. One of the very important moments were when he was around 18 or 19 years old, after reading

Shirley MacLaine Shirley MacLaine (born Shirley MacLean Beaty; April 24, 1934) is an American actress and author. With a career spanning over 70 years, she has received List of awards and nominations received by Shirley MacLaine, numerous accolades, including a ...

's book '' Out on a Limb'', he became even more intrigued about the spiritual world. Noting "As I grew older, I was able to better understand the things that caught my attention when I was young". Sugizo in the interview said that "there are secrets held by a small elite who control the world... We spend our lives without ever being aware of the truth that is hidden from us", and so through the song "Tell Me Why You Hide The Truth?" meant "We have to liberate freedom and rebuild it by ourselves. I think the world is in need of a revolution. To know what to believe, to know what's really going on in this world we have to take the initiative. That's the sort of signal I'm trying to send". However, he tries to avoid mixing ideology with music because it changes music as such.

Activism

In 2001, Sugizo participated in

's N.M.L. ("No More Landmines"), a campaign to promote awareness of the problems of

land mine A land mine, or landmine, is an explosive weapon often concealed under or camouflaged on the ground, and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets as they pass over or near it. Land mines are divided into two types: anti-tank mines, wh ...

s and promote a ban on them, and helped in the making of the album '' Zero Landmine''. In 2007, he participated in the project

Stop Rokkasho The is a nuclear reprocessing plant with an annual capacity of 800 tons of uranium or 8 tons of plutonium. It is owned by Japan Nuclear Fuel Limited (JNFL) and is part of the Rokkasho complex located in the village of Rokkasho, Aomori, Rokkasho ...

, run by the Japanese NGO Boomerang Net and headed up by Sakamoto, created to bring attention to the

Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant The is a nuclear reprocessing plant with an annual capacity of 800 tons of uranium or 8 tons of plutonium. It is owned by Japan Nuclear Fuel Limited (JNFL) and is part of the Rokkasho complex located in the village of Rokkasho, Aomori, Rokkasho ...

Aomori Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan in the Tōhoku region. The prefecture's capital, largest city, and namesake is the city of Aomori (city), Aomori. Aomori is the northernmost prefecture on Japan's main island, Honshu, and is border ...

. His interest in environmental issues led to attend many environmental events. In 2007, Sugizo became involved with

Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by a group of Environmental movement, environmental activists. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth to nurture life in all its biod ...

, specifically regarding the

whaling in Japan Japanese whaling, in terms of active hunting of whales, is estimated by the Japan Whaling Association to have begun around the 12th century. However, Japanese whaling on an industrial scale began around the 1890s when Japan started to participat ...

. He gave a name to one humpback whale (Lyra) and followed the Great Whale Trail. After the

, Sugizo continued to yearly volunteer and offer educational assistance to the locals of

Ishinomaki is a city located in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 138,538, and a population density of 250 persons per km2 in 61,919 households. The total area of the city is . Geography Ishinomaki is in northeastern Miya ...

and

Minamisōma is a city located in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 53,462 in 26,355 households, and a population density of 130 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Minamisōma is located in northea ...

among others. In 2016, Sugizo made a live performance at a Syrian refugee camps of Zaatari and

Azraq Azraq ( meaning "blue") is a small town in Zarqa Governorate in central-eastern Jordan, east of Amman. The population of Azraq was 9,021 in 2004. The Muwaffaq Salti Air Base is located in Azraq. History Prehistory archaeology, Archaeologic ...

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

. Since then one of his guitars has a sticker titled "Save Syria". In 2018, as part of an event promoting cultural exchanges held jointly by Japanese companies and Palestinian NGOs, he made a live performance at an

Aida Camp Aida (), also spelled 'Ayda, is a Palestinian refugee camp situated north of the historic centre of Bethlehem and north of Beit Jala, in the central West Bank, State of Palestine. According to the UNRWA, the camp had a population of approximat ...

which audience mostly included children of Palestinian refugees in

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

Equipment

Sugizo almost exclusively uses

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 sever ...

and has around sixteen signature models with them, mostly with the Eclipse body style or other Gibson-style shapes like the RD and

Flying V The Gibson Flying V is an electric guitar model introduced by Gibson (guitar company), Gibson in 1958. The Flying V offered a radical, "futuristic" body design, much like its siblings: the Gibson Explorer, Explorer, which was released the same ...

. But their specs are more similar to the

Fender Stratocaster The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of double- cutaway electric guitar designed between 1952 and 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corpora ...

than any Gibson, using single coil pickups, alder bodies and maple necks, 25.5" scale length and tremolo arms. He later favored a P-90 in the bridge position and vintage-style trems, as opposed to the 3 single coils and Floyd Rose trems he used for most of his career. His signature models with the company feature the ESP logo written in the same font as Luna Sea's logo, a feature also found on J's and Inoran's signature models. In 2021, Sugizo bought a 1961

Gibson ES-330 The Gibson ES-330 is a thinline hollow-body electric guitar model produced by the Gibson Guitar Corporation. It was first introduced in 1959 and the guitar had the same dimensions as the ES-335. History Sales of Gibson’s Electric Spanish (ES) ...

which has since become his main guitar. He had always wanted an

archtop guitar An archtop guitar is a hollow acoustic guitar, acoustic or semi-acoustic guitar, semi-acoustic guitar with a full body and a distinctive arched top, whose sound is particularly popular with jazz guitar, jazz, blues, and rockabilly players. Typic ...

from the ES Series because of its association with jazz. The first one he acquired in the 1990s, a 1959 ES-175, did not "fit" him, so his search continued. He also owns an

ES-225 The Gibson ES-225 is a thinline hollowbody electric guitar model produced by the Gibson Guitar Corporation between 1955 and 1959. It is notable as the first thinline hollowbody guitar produced by Gibson. History The ES-225 was originally introdu ...

and a 1956

Les Paul Custom The Gibson Les Paul Custom is a higher-end variation of the Gibson Les Paul guitar. It was developed in 1953 after Gibson had introduced the Les Paul model in 1952. History The 1952 Gibson Les Paul was originally made with a mahogany body, a ma ...

. He acquired the latter around 1997 and used it on Luna Sea's '' Shine'', including its singles "

Storm A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere of an astronomical body. It may be marked by significant disruptions to normal conditions such as strong wind, tornadoes, hail, thunder and lightning (a thunderstor ...

" and "

I for You "I for You" is the eleventh single by Japanese rock band Luna Sea, released by Universal on July 1, 1998. It reached number 2 on the Oricon Singles Chart and was the 49th best-selling single of the year. It was the third and last in a serial rele ...

". Sugizo also often uses Stratocaster-type guitars from Navigator, a high-end custom shop related to ESP. His acoustic guitars of choice are usually C.F. Martin Dreadnoughts. He also plays signature electric violins made by Kranz, and his bows are made by Codabow. His amps have changed often throughout his career but are generally high-end and boutique brands, including Fender, Marshall, Mesa/Boogie, Matchless, Bogner, Custom Audio Electronics, Divided by 13 and Koch. Most recently he's been using EVH5150's and EVH 4x12" cabs with some additional heads like a Diezel Vh4. He's also performed using an Axe-Fx II. His effects are numerous and spanning several pedalboards and racks, but important staples are his DigiTech Whammy pedal for pitch effects, and delays and reverbs from various Eventide pedals and the

TC Electronic TC Electronic (sometimes stylized as t.c. electronic) is a Danish audio equipment company that designs and imports guitar effects, bass amplification, computer audio interfaces, audio plug-in software, live sound equalisers, studio and post-pro ...

2290 Digital Delay.

Concerts and tours

*1997: Abstract Day *2001: Sugizo & The Spank Your Juice Abstract Day 2001 *2008–09: Rise to Cosmic Dance **Support band:

on vocals, Takumi Samejima on guitar, Fire on bass, Greg Ellis on drums, d-kiku on keyboards and programming, K-Ta and Kenji Yoshiura on percussion, Shinpei Ruike on trumpet. *2009–10: Next Phase of Cosmic Dance *2011: Stairway to the Flower of Life **Support band: Origa on vocals, Takumi Samejima on guitar, Tokie on bass,

Motokatsu Miyagami is a Japanese musician, best known as drummer of the band The Mad Capsule Markets from 1990 until their disbandment in 2006. He is currently the drummer for Ace of Spades and Gastunk. Career Motokatsu replaced former Berrie drummer Seto in Th ...

on drums, d-kiku on keyboards and programming, Kenji Yoshiura on percussion, Shinpei Ruike on trumpet.

Discography

Studio albums

* '' Truth?'' (November 19, 1997),

Peak Position: #12 * ''C:Lear'' (October 1, 2003) #56 * ''Flower of Life'' (December 14, 2011) #62 * ''Tree of Life'' (December 14, 2011) #69 * #132 * '' Oneness M'' (November 29, 2017) #23 * #87 * ''The Voyage to The Higher Self'' (February 16, 2022) #125 ** Sugizo x Hataken

Bibliography

* ''A Prayer I'' (June 26, 1997) * ''A Prayer II'' (July 8, 1997) * ''Can I Fly?'' (February 13, 1998) * ''Piano Solo Instruments ~Truth? Sugizo~'' (June 30, 1998) * ''Ecton x Sugizo Rise to Heaven on Earth'' (March 25, 2009) *

Filmography

References

External links

Official website

Sugizo
on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

Sugizo
on

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 sever ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sugizo 1969 births 20th-century Japanese guitarists 20th-century violinists 21st-century Japanese guitarists 21st-century Japanese violinists Japanese activists Japanese electronic musicians Japanese experimental musicians Japanese film score composers Japanese heavy metal guitarists Japanese male film score composers 20th-century Japanese songwriters Japanese male writers Japanese rock guitarists Japanese psychedelic trance musicians Japanese record producers Juno Reactor members Japanese lead guitarists Living people Luna Sea members Male violinists Musicians from Hadano, Kanagawa Rock violinists Visual kei musicians X Japan members 21st-century Japanese songwriters Activists from Kanagawa Prefecture