D'espairsRay (formerly stylized as DéspairsRay, D'ESPAIRSRAY or +DéspairsRay+) is a Japanese visual kei heavy metal…
D'espairsRay (formerly stylized as DéspairsRay, D'ESPAIRSRAY or +DéspairsRay+) is a Japanese visual kei heavy metal band active from 1999 to 2011. The lineup of Hizumi on vocals, Karyu on guitar, Zero on bass and Tsukasa on drums remained the same, with the group having released four full-length records, three EPs and thirteen singles. Outside Japan, D'espairsRay have toured Europe and North America and had domestic releases in those territories. They performed at the Wacken Open Air festival in 2006, to several thousand people, and a second album, titled Mirror was released on April 11, 2007. They also performed during Jrock Revolution 2007 held on Memorial Weekend in Los Angeles, California. In 2008 they performed at the Taste of Chaos tour in the United States. On March 11, 2009, their third album Redeemer was released. In the summer of 2010, the band had a world tour entitled Human-Clad Monsters in which they performed in Japan, the US, Canada and Europe. After the last show of the tour, on December 30, the band went on an indefinite hiatus so Hizumi could recover from a rare throat condition. However, on June 15, 2011, D'espairsRay announced that they had no choice but to disband, due to Hizumi's health having no recovery in sight. D'espairsRay reunited for a one-night performance on July 29, 2014.
Famous People from Yamaguchi Prefecture
Yamaguchi Prefecture: 4 people
Yasunori Mitsuda (光田 康典, Mitsuda Yasunori; born January 21, 1972) is a Japanese composer. He is best known for his work…
Yasunori Mitsuda (光田 康典, Mitsuda Yasunori; born January 21, 1972) is a Japanese composer. He is best known for his work in video games, primarily for the Chrono, Xeno, Shadow Hearts, and Inazuma Eleven franchises, among various others. Mitsuda founded a music production studio and record company, Procyon Studio and Sleigh Bells, in 2001. Mitsuda joined Square upon graduation in 1992. He worked there designing sound effects for two years before being assigned his debut project in Chrono Trigger (1995). Mitsuda went on to compose for several other games at Square, including Xenogears (1998) and Chrono Cross (1999). He left the company and became independent in 1998. Mitsuda has also worked on anime series, films, and television programs. His music in Chrono Trigger, Xenogears, and Chrono Cross has since been cited as among the best in video games.
Isao Hayashi (林伊佐緒, Hayashi Isao; May 11, 1912 – September 29, 1995) was a Japanese popular music and military music…
Isao Hayashi (林伊佐緒, Hayashi Isao; May 11, 1912 – September 29, 1995) was a Japanese popular music and military music singer and composer. He took part in the Japan's famous year-end show Kōhaku Uta Gassen eleven times. One of the well-known songs composed by him is the military song "Shussei Heishi o Okuru Uta" (出征兵士を送る歌; "Song for Giving Warriors a Send-off").
Hijiri Kuwano (桑野聖, Kuwano Hijiri; born February 12) is a Japanese violinist, composer and arranger. Kuwano began…
Hijiri Kuwano (桑野聖, Kuwano Hijiri; born February 12) is a Japanese violinist, composer and arranger. Kuwano began taking violin lessons at age six and studied under Yonosuke Ishii, Shizuko Ishii and Chikashi Tanaka. While attending Tokyo University of the Arts, he performed as a guest concertmaster at Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra and Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra. Before graduating from the university, he became interested in playing non-classical music and started performing with Toshihito Nakanishi, who inspired him in many ways. Kuwano also started a career as composer, when he produced an album published together with a photobook by Kenji Ishikawa, Moonlight Blue. Kuwano handled string arrangements for albums and movies for Kome Kome Club and began his career as arranger as well. Kuwano worked on recordings, concerts with various artists, movies and video games as a soloist and as the "Hijiri Kuwano strings group". He is credited in Whisper of the Heart, Shall We Dance, Nobody Knows, Kind of Love, Melody of Oblivion, Good Luck Girl!, Final Fantasy XIII and numerous other productions as a performer, composer and arranger. He is also known as the violin player in the battle theme "Blinded by Light" in Square Enix's Final Fantasy XIII (composed by Masashi Hamauzu). He works closely with Hamauzu and Imeruat (Masashi Hamauzu and Mina) as a supporting artist. He toured with Imeruat to Europe and Hong Kong and performed several pieces on "α" Clock: World Time, Sony Global website (composed by Masashi Hamauzu).