Tokyo Jihen

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Tokyo Jihen

Tokyo Jihen (東京事変, Tokyo Jihen^? The Tokyo Incidents) is a Japanese band created by Shiina Ringo (椎名林檎, Shiina Ringo^?), after leaving her solo career. The band's debut single was Gunjō Biyori, released in September 2004.

1 Origins
2 Information
3 Members
- 3.1 Current
- 3.2 Former
4 Discography
- 4.1 Albums
5 External links

[edit] Origins

Shiina had always wished to work with a band and selected her band members while working on her last album, Karuki Zamen Kuri no Hana. The tour band was first introduced as Tokyo Jihen during her Sugoroku Ecstasy tour, featuring guitarist Hirama, PE'Z keyboardist HZM, drummer Hata, and familiar bassist Kameda.

Being part of a band allowed Shiina to both spread the work of creating music as well as tone down her public image. She says that many people thought she always dressed up as a nurse or had whips.

In July 2005, keyboardist H zed M and guitarist Hirama Mikio left Tokyo Jihen. HZM returned to his duties as pianist for PE'Z and Hirama returned to his solo career.

In September 2005, keyboardist Izawa Ichiyō and guitarist Ukigumo joined Tokyo Jihen.

As hinted by its name, the band has a running theme modeled on '60s Japanese pulp fiction.

[edit] Information

On May 29, 2004, after announcing that Shiina Ringo would be ceasing to release solo singles/albums anymore, it was revealed that she would in turn become the leading vocalist of a band she had formulated, called Tokyo Jihen. The band consisted of five members: herself, bassist Kameda Seiji (who previously worked a lot in arranging music in Shiina's solo career), drummer Hata Toshiki (who had similarly worked with Shiina as a live session drummer), guitarist Hirama Mikio and the pianist for the band PE'Z, Hiizumi Masayuki (who went under the stage names "H Zeddo M" and "HZM" during Tokyo Jihen). These band members were previously the band for Shiina's last live tour, her Sugoroku Ecstasy Tour (in fact, you are able to see the members play during Shiina's Electric Mole DVD concert).

Gunjō Biyori was then released as the band's debut single in September. The song was used for the KDDI CDMA 1X WIN W21SA cellphone commercial song, and managed to reach #2 on Oricon charts (just below the mega-hit single by Gorie with Jasmine and Joann, Mickey). The band's sophomore single, Sōnan (released just one month after their first), received similar rankings (by reaching #2 on Oricon charts) though it did not exceed the record sales of their first.

The band would then release their debut album, Kyōiku, one month after the release of Sōnan. The album reached the same position as both singles (#2), below Hirai Ken's SENTIMENTALovers. Ironically, band member Kameda Seiji had arranged many of the songs on Hirai's album.

In the first quarter of 2005, Tokyo Jihen's first major tour entitled Dynamite! spanned the nation, with over 14 different concerts. It was announced at these venues that the band would release a follow-up single to their debut, entitled Himitsu. However, the single was postponed and finally cancelled.

In July 2005, it was officially announced that two members of the band, guitarist Hirama Mikio and keyboardist Hiizumi Masayuki were to leave the band. Reputedly, Hirama left to start his solo project, and Hiizumi Masayuki left in order to become part of PE'Z once more. It was not until two months later in September that two new replacement members were announced, guitarist Ukigumo and keyboardist Izawa Ichiyō. The band's crane logo also changed with this announcement.

Shiina was asked to sing the theme song to the drama Ōoku ~Hana no Ran~. While Shiina already had a song in mind - Shuraba - she noted that she had to tweak the song to fit the drama. While this single was not as successful as the band's previous two singles, it still reached #5 on Oricon charts and sold a total of over 100,000 copies.

This single would be followed by the band's second full length album, Adult. The album would contain the aforesaid planned first single as its first track. Adult would become the band's first #1 release in their two years of activity. Following the success of Tokyo Jihen's second album, the band went on the largest tour in any of the member's careers. The tour entitled DOMESTIC! Just can't help it. spanned over 21 different concerts in over 17 different areas in Japan.