Tokio: История японской рок-группы

Japanese rock/pop band

Tokio is a Japanese rock/pop band formed by Johnny & Associates that debuted in 1994. It is made up of three men who were signed with Sony Music Entertainment from 1994 to 2001, with Universal Music Japan from 2001 to 2008, and are now signed under J Storm, a label owned by Johnny & Associates. In addition to their activities as a band, the members of Tokio also act in dozens of dramas and host variety programmes, both as a group and individually. The group's name "Tokio" was the old English romanization for Japan's capital Tokyo, and remains the current transliteration in several European languages. Unlike most other bands under Johnny & Associates, where all of the band members are usually only vocalists, Tokio only has one main vocalist, a drummer, a guitarist, a bassist, and a keyboardist. Bassist Tatsuya Yamaguchi was kicked out of the band in May 2018 following a sexual harassment scandal involving a high school aged girl. Subsequently, less choreography is used in concerts and promotional videos, and their music is often more rock centric. At one point, they also called themselves 'JURIA', combining their names using Joshima's "J", "URI" from the melon shape of Yamaguchi's face, and rhythm guitarist member Takehito Asakura's "A". Eventually, Johnny accepted them as a band, giving them the name "Tokio Band". At this point, members included Joshima, Yamaguchi, and new support member, rhythm guitarist Kazuhisa Watanabe. In 1990, the original Tokio was formed when Joshima was put together with drummer Masahiro Matsuoka and keyboardist Taichi Kokubun, both of whom had also joined Joshima and Yamaguchi in a few of their practices in the past. Rhythm guitarist and vocalist Hiromu Kojima joined the group soon after this. During this time, Joshima underwent negotiations with Johnny Kitagawa himself into allowing Yamaguchi to join the band, and soon he became an official member as well. Tomoya Nagase, another Junior vocalist who had been making more and more headlines, began appearing with the newly formed Tokio on occasion as a support member, which created a bit of odd tension as the group appeared in magazines and on the radio with five members, but on TV and live performances with six members. One of their first live tours included one with the band SAY・S and included all six members.

In 1994, just before the release of the band's debut single, "Love You Only", founding member Hiromu Kojima was succeeded by Nagase following Kojima's departure.

In February 2005, the tenth full length album (not including compilation albums), Act II was released. They released the single "Ashita o Mezashite!" on December 7, 2005. Tomoya Nagase composed and co arranged the single with his lyrics, making it their first single composed by a member of the group. In 2005, Tokio was selected to be the host for the Johnny's Countdown 2005 2006 concert, a yearly event that counts down to the New Year. In 2006, Tokio released the single "Sorafune", which sold over 400,000 copies and charted for over four months, making it their most successful single. Their first release under the new label was the four track single "Amagasa/Akireru Kurai Bokura wa Negaō" on September 3, 2008. "Amagasa" was composed by Ringo Shiina with her lyrics and was arranged by Tokyo Jihen. Tokio released another four track single titled "Taiyō to Sabaku no Bara/Subeki Koto" on August 19, 2009. After releasing the single "Advance/Mata Asa ga Kuru" on February 3, 2010, they released the single "Haruka" on June 16, 2010. "Haruka" went on to become their first number one since December 2007. On 11 August 2010, they released the single "NaNaNa (Taiyo Nante Irane)", written by Kōji Tamaki and arranged by Anzen Chitai. Next they released the single "Miageta Ryūsei", which was used as the theme song for Kōkōsei Restaurant, a drama starring Matsuoka. Ahead of the Plus tour, which ran from March to May 2011, Tokio released their first digital single, "Plus", on dwango. jp for a limited time. On 22 August 2012, Tokio released their twelfth studio album titled 17, their first full length album in six years. To support the album, the band embarked on the 1718 tour, which ran until September. Tokio's third compilation album, Heart, was released in July 2014. It included two new songs, "Heart" and "Kokoro", written by Nagase and Joshima. Heart went on to become the band's second number one album.

On 25 April 2018, news broke that Yamaguchi had been referred to prosecutors for allegedly kissing a girl against her will at his home in February 2018. On 6 May 2018, Johnny & Associates announced that they had terminated their contract with Yamaguchi. As a result of the scandal, Tokio indefinitely suspended all music activities. In July 2020, Nagase announced that he was to leave the band to pursue his own endeavors. On 31 March 2021, he withdrew from Tokio and retired from the entertainment industry. On 1 April 2021, the 3 remaining members established a new company called Tokio Co., Ltd., an affiliate to Johnny & Associates. Joshima was made the president of the company, while Kokubun and Matsuoka became the vice presidents. On 2 October 2023, it was informed that Joshima would become plenipotentiary president and CEO of the company, taking over the role held by Julie K. Fujishima. This was informed in the company's official site. Kokubun and Matsuoka remain as vicepresidents.

As of November 2013, Tokio is involved in a nationwide advertising campaign promoting rice from Fukushima Prefecture.