Kiwami

Kiwami (極) is a Yamataian rock band from Niihama. Formed in 2002 by Kuroda Kazuma, Ugaki Goro, and Nishikiyama Kazuhiro, the band has achieved great success domestically and abroad, and was considered a major influence on the modern Ya-pop scene. Kiwami has sold over 12 million copies in physical and digital sales since their debut in 2004, and are popular throughout Escar.

The group is signed to GREEN UP Promotion, a subsidiary of Shinomiya Entertainment.

History
Childhood friends Kuroda Kazuma and Nishikiyama Kazuhiro from Kanazawa had already been playing music as amateurs since 1998, often playing gigs in s around Kanazawa. Both men harboured a dream to eventually become a legitimate band from a young age. The two met Ugaki Goro during an audition for the famous band Dragon Men in 2000, and they formed the Satsuma Bay Boys. In late 2003, an encounter with music producer and former Zettai Kyōjin frontman Kashiwagi Shunsuke in a Satsuma bar led to him agreeing to produce them and sign them to a label if they could sell 50,000 copies of a single within five days. Their first single, Bubble, managed to achieve this goal and they signed to GREEN UP Promotion in 2004, forming the band Kiwami.

The group met with great success following their debut, releasing three singles in 2004. In 2005, Kugimiya Haruka joined the band, and in the same year they released their first album, the self-titled Kiwami. In 2006, the band went on tour around Yamatai and Hinomoto, becoming popular even amongst mainland Chiseians. Their 2006 album Kiwami II reached the top of the GENJI (元自信) charts and maintaining the position for over three months. The band subsequently went on an Escaric tour in 2007, performing in Chisei, Yeongseon, Chanha, Shojin, and Dai Hoa, being one of the first Yamataian music acts to perform in Dai Hoa. During the tour, Ugaki Goro's girlfriend Makimura Makoto joined the band, sparking some tensions between Ugaki and Nishikiyama.

Kiwami moved in a new direction with 2009's Kintakeshima, trying a more experimental sound that included elements of electronic music. This was not well received by fans, and the album only remained at the top of the GENJI charts for 5 days before being upstaged by Fukumusume's 2nd Best Album. The sudden death of Kashiwagi Shunsuke in a traffic accident in late 2009 led the band members to create the 2010 album Successor of the Legend, a tribute album to Kashiwagi featuring covers of Zettai Kyōjin songs.

In 2011, Kiwami embarked on their first world tour, playing in countries in Valeya and Amphia, during which tensions between Ugaki and Nishikiyama heightened. After recording for the 2012 album Dream Fulfiller was completed, Nishikiyama left the group, forming another band for a brief period of time before ending his musical career. The Shenxian musician Lao Gui replaced Nishikiyama, though his poor Yashiman made it difficult for him to integrate with the band and he left shortly after. In early 2013, Kugimiya Haruka also got pregnant and left the band, returning to her hometown of Onomichi. Fans term this period after their world tour as the "Dark Years", during which there was very little activity from the band.

Kiwami released one single in January 2015, Like a Diamond, which was promoted by a music video featuring Kuroda Kazuma on a boat and numerous cryptic references to the number 6, fuelling speculation that a new album was in the works. In July 2015, the group's sixth album, The Song of Life, was released to wide critical and audience acclaim, reaching and securing the top spot on the GENJI charts as well as the Chiseian music charts for the first time. Following the release of the album, Ugaki Goro and Makimura Makoto announced their marriage, with Makimura retiring from the music industry shortly after due to the birth of the couple's first child.

The group carried out another Escaric tour in 2017, but would not produce new music for some years. Speculation arose that the band would disband soon, after Kuroda Kazuma announced his marriage to a certain YaHoKyo newscaster, and the birth of his first child in 2018. In 2019, former SNLF marine Saejima Taiga joined the group, and later in the year newcomer to the industry Nakaya Ichiban also joined, with an explosive entrance during the group's July performance in the Niihama Budokan. In November 2019, the group members began sharing cryptic numbers across their Kimimono (きみの物語) social media pages, which were quickly deciphered by Futaba users to be a countdown to a specific date and the coordinates of a location in Niihama, found to be the square outside Natsuhabara Station in Nemoto.

On 10th December, the anniversary of the release of their first single Bubble, Kiwami made a surprise live performance at Natsuhabara Station, playing Bubble, Shinpan and 24 Hour Kotohime, followed by making the official announcement of a comeback album to be on sale on in January 2020. Over 2,500 people turned up for this live performance, blocking the nearby roads, and resulting in the activation of riot police. The band was forced to give a public apology on 23rd December for the incident, which only increased anticipation for the upcoming album.

Kiwami's comeback album, Light and Dark, was released on 16 January 2020. In the first four days, it sold over 156,993 copies and became the best selling CD in Yamatai. By February, over 600,000 copies had been sold in Escar and Yamatai.

Members

 * Kuroda Kazuma
 * Ugaki Goro
 * Saejima Taiga
 * Nakaya Ichiban

Albums

 * Kiwami (2005)
 * Kiwami II (2006)
 * Kintakeshima (2009)
 * Successor of the Legend (2010)
 * Dream Fulfiller (2012)
 * The Song of Life (2015)
 * Kiwami Remastered (Best of compilation) (2016)
 * Light and Dark (2020)

Singles

 * Bubble (2004)
 * Shinpan (2004)
 * 24 Hour Kotohime (2004)
 * Bakamitai (2005)
 * Like a Butterfly (2006)
 * Saturday Night Lover (2007)
 * Morning Miso Soup (2007) (Lyrical cover of Fukumusume song)
 * Get to the Top (2008)
 * Machine Gun Kiss (2008)
 * Pure Love in Sotenbori (2009)
 * Today is a Diamond (2014)