Yoshiki News: X Japan Drummer Composes Theme for New Buddha Film, Launches SiriusXM Show

By Liz Ohanesian, Fri., May 27 2011 at 8:50 AM

On May 28 Tezuka Osamu no Buddha: Akai Sabaku Yo! Utsukushiku, the long-anticipated big screen adaptation of Osamu Tezuka’s manga Buddha, will be released in Japan. This is a big deal for a lot of reasons, primarily that Buddha is an acclaimed work (it even won Eisner Awards in the U.S. on two different occasions) from late artist Osamu Tezuka, who revolutionized manga and anime. However, we have another reason for looking forward to this film as well. X Japan founder Yoshiki, who was featured in our “Best of L.A. People” issue just last week, composed the film’s theme, “Scarlet Love Song,” which is performed by X Japan.

In a recent press release, Yoshiki stated, “I am honored and blessed that I was given the amazing opportunity to write the theme song for such an influential Japanese manga writer.”

​That’s not all Yoshiki has been doing lately. After we interviewed him for LA Weekly, he headed back to Japan, where he held the Asia Girl’s Explosion fashion event and working on X Japan’s first U.S. full-length. The the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami hit. The musician immediately began raising funds through Yoshiki Foundation. The efforts went on to inspire others. In Los Angeles, the Addicted to Manga fan group donated proceeds from their Tomo Neko Maid Cafe event to Yoshiki’s charity.

And, yes, there’s still more.

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X Japan’s Yoshiki to launch Sirius radio show, greets fans in New York

May 24th, 2011 4:06 pm ET

By Elliot Levin

Lucky music lovers got the thrill of a lifetime last night at Sirius radio headquarters, as X Japan‘s Yoshiki debuted a new song and spent an hour mingling with awestruck fans in advance of his upcoming Sirius radio show.

X Japan is easily the biggest rock band ever to come out of the island nation, selling millions upon millions of records and selling out stadiums across the country before the suicide of a member broke the group apart. In recent years, however, the band has regrouped and resurged, playing a stunning sold out show right here in New York at the Roseland Ballroom last October – read my review of that concert here.

With the band back together and touring once more, Yoshiki – drummer, pianist, and visionary behind X Japan, will soon be launching his own Sirius radio show, and the satellite radio broadcaster hosted the artist and his fans in their gleaming studios on 6th Avenue last night for a meet and greet with the rock star.

While waiters offered saki and sushi, Yoshiki debuted a brand new song entitled “Jade,” and then took the time to meet and take pictures with fans from around the world, from native New Yorkers to those from as far away as Italy.  The soft-spoken musician was very gracious, taking the time to chat and joke with adoring fans in the intimate setting even after the official meet and greet had ended.

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Yoshiki: The Kei Master

By Liz Ohanesian Thursday, May 19 2011

Not too many people in L.A., no matter how famous they are, can say there is a Hello Kitty doll patterned after their likeness.

Yoshiki can.

Yoshikitty, as the plush character is called, was a bit of an accident. As drummer and spokesman for the world-renowned Japanese rock band X Japan, Yoshiki was doing a press tour in Asia. Just to liven up the press conferences, he put an X Japan T-shirt on a Hello Kitty doll as a “half-joke,” he says. Sanrio, the toy company, caught wind of the incident and a proper collaboration developed.

In Japan, Yoshiki is a major rock star, the leader of the band that’s often credited with launching the dramatic hard-rock movement known as visual kei. Here, though, X Japan is still very much a cult phenomenon. And for the past decade, Yoshiki has been living in L.A., anonymously. “I can go to the grocery store without thinking that someone is going to recognize me,” he says.

Like the Yoshikitty, the musician’s move to L.A. was an accident. “All the X Japan members came here. We were recording,” Yoshiki explains. “We were booking so many different studios, like, four or five different studios, to finish our second album for Sony Records.”

They were looking for a single studio that would suit all of their needs. Yoshiki stumbled across one that, he says, is the best in the world for drums. He tried to book session time but couldn’t. So he bought the place.

“After we finished the album, everybody went [back] to Japan. I was, like, what am I going to do with this studio?” Yoshiki recalls. “Since I had a recording studio, I came back and started recording more. Then, obviously, I’m here, maybe I should buy a house. So I bought a house.”

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X Japan’s Yoshiki to Host ‘Yoshiki Radio’ Show on SiriusXM (Exclusive)

The hourlong monthly show will feature his favorite music, including Japanese acts, and spotlight elements of Japanese pop culture — from sushi and anime to Hello Kitty and Wii.

SiriusXM’s next musician-hosted show will have a decidedly Eastern flavor.

Yoshiki, co-founder of X Japan, a power metal band that’s hugely popular in its native country and is making a stateside push, will launch Yoshiki Radio on May 27. The hourlong monthly show will feature his favorite music, including Japanese acts, and spotlight elements of Japanese pop culture — from sushi and anime to Hello Kitty and Wii.

“I’d like to help tear down the wall between East and West,” Yoshiki says. “I want to show people that there is no one language, no real boundaries when it comes to music and art and that we are all more alike than not.”

X Japan has been among the biggest bands in its homeland since breaking out with its sophomore album Blue Blood in 1989. The group made its U.S. concert debut at Lollapalooza last year and followed with a seven-date American tour of theaters. X Japan signed with EMI in January, and its English-language debut album is due this year.

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Video Interview: X Japan’s Yoshiki

X Japan are bigger than, you know, God, in their native Japan. They’re about to make a name for themselves in the US so ARTISTdirect.com sat down with X Japan leader Yoshiki, who is both a drummer and a pianist for this exclusive video interview. We want to introduce our readers to the phenom that is X Japan now!

Yoshiki talks about “Jade,” which will be the band’s first single in the US. It’s a new song and it is really heavy, according to Yoshiki. He also reveals that the song has more positive energy, which is a bit of a creative left turn for X Japan, since they have addressed weighty topics like death and suicide on past efforts.

Get to know X Japan and Yoshiki by watching out exclusive video interview.

To watch the video, click here.