Capsule (band)

Capsule (カプセル, Kapuseru, stylized as CAPSULE since autumn 2013) is a Japanese electronica duo consisting of vocalist Toshiko Koshijima and producer Yasutaka Nakata.

Music

Capsule formed in November 1997, after Nakata Yasutaka and Koshijima Toshiko met at the Teens' Music Festival in the Hokuriku area convention when they were 17 years old. Their first single was "Sakura", released in March 2001 on Yamaha Music Communications. Their first album, High Collar Girl, was significantly different from their later works in that it did not involve nearly as much use of synthesizers or contain futuristic/electronic sounds.

Capsule's style in albums up to L.D.K. Lounge Designers Killer (2005) was frequently referred to as "neo-Shibuya-kei" due to their stylistic similarities, both aesthetically and musically, to acts from the Shibuya-kei movement of the 1990s, most notably Pizzicato Five. It contained elements of bossa nova, lounge and breakbeat. From Fruits Clipper (2006) on their style was increasingly electro house.

Sakura Sakura

"Sakura Sakura" (さくら さくら, "Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms"), also known as "Sakura", is a traditional Japanese folk song depicting spring, the season of cherry blossoms. Contrary to popular belief, the song did not originate in ancient times; it was a popular, urban melody of the Edo period and was adopted as a piece for beginning koto students in the Tokyo Academy of Music Collection of Japanese Koto Music issued in 1888 (in English) by the Department of Education. The song has been popular since the Meiji period, and the lyrics in their present form were attached then. It is often sung in international settings as a song representative of Japan, and many electronic crosswalks in Japan play the melody as "guidance music".

In 2007, it was selected for Nihon no Uta Hyakusen, a collection of songs and nursery rhymes widely beloved in Japan.

In early 2010's, Japanese singer Kiyoshi Hikawa performed the second of the 2 verses of Sakura Sakura - the first and only Enka singer to do so.

Sakura (musician)

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Yasunori Sakurazawa (櫻澤 泰徳, Sakurazawa Yasunori, born on November 20, 1969), known by his stage name Sakura, is a Japanese musician. He is probably best known as former drummer of the rock band L'Arc-en-Ciel. After leaving them in 1997, he formed the supergroup Zigzo, the trio Sons of All Pussys with his former L'Arc-en-Ciel bandmate Ken, and his solo project Lion Heads.

Currently he performs with the bands Rayflower, Circuit9 and The Madcap Laughs, the reformed Zigzo and By-Sex, and supports Dead End frontman Morrie in his solo project Creature Creature.

History

Sakura was born in Nerima, Tokyo, the youngest of three children. He started taking piano lessons when he was a child. When he was in junior high school he became very interested in rock music, later taking formal music training. Initially he wanted to play guitar but soon changed his mind and devoted himself to percussion.

When Sakura was in high school, he was already playing in the percussion and brass sections for three different school bands. He started working as a roadie for well-known metal band Dead End when he was nineteen. Soon he began playing drums professionally and joined the bands Die+Kusse and the Harem Q, the latter released an album entitled Opium in 1991.

Kazu Naoki

Kazu Naoki (直木 和) is a former Japanese football player. He has played for Japan national team.

International career statistics

References