Ichiro Yamaguchi

, is a Japanese musician. He is the vocalist, guitarist and songwriter for the Hokkaido rock band Sakanaction.

Biography Ichiro Yamaguchi was born in Otaru, Hokkaido in 1980. He grew up listening to a wide variety of music, as his father ran a business that acted as a cafe during the daytime and as a bar at night. His father had lived in Europe for many years, so often played music such as the German electronic band Kraftwerk. The business would occasionally hold performances for musicians, such as Japanese folk singer Masato Tomobe. Yamaguchi acted as the band's vocalist and primary songwriter. Yamaguchi and the band were scouted and trained by Victor Entertainment, however the group never formally debuted with Victor. In 2002, the band released Demonstration, an album compiled of seven demos the band recorded between 2000 and 2002.

Yamaguchi kept the name Dutchman for his solo project as a DJ, where he created techno and club music. He thought it would be interesting to mix electronic music with Japanese-style "folky melodies," and were moved to the main Victor Entertainment artist roster. moving from Hokkaido to Tokyo in the spring of 2008. In 2010, the band had their break-out hit "Aruku Around", debuting at number three on Oricon's single charts.

Since "Aruku Around", the band has seen greater commercial success, with their albums Documentaly (2011) and Sakanaction (2013) both certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of Japan. In 2012, Yamaguchi began writing music for dramatic productions, such as the band's single "Boku to Hana", which was written specifically for the drama Sanjūnana-sai de Isha ni Natta Boku: Kenshūi Junjō Monogatari. Increasingly, songs Yamaguchi has written for Sakanaction have been used in dramatic works, including "Music" (2013), used as the theme song for the Fuji Television drama Dinner, "Eureka" used as the ending theme for the film Judge!, "Hasu no Hana" (2014), written for the film Close Range Love and "Shin Takarajima" (2015), written for the live action adaptation film version of the manga Bakuman.

Aside from Sakanaction, Yamaguchi has collaborated with several musicians. In 2010 he wrote the song "Magic Time" from Johnny & Associates veteran boyband SMAP's 20th album We Are SMAP!. He collaborated with them again in 2012 to write their single "Moment", which was used to promote the Tokyo Broadcasting System broadcast of the 2012 Summer Olympics, and debuted at number one on the Oricon single chart.

Since 2012, Yamaguchi has served as a host for a segment on the Tokyo FM radio show School of Lock!, called Sakana Locks!.

Personal life In 2010 right before the tour for the band's album Kikuuiki, Sakanaquarium 2010 Kikuuiki, Yamaguchi suffered sensorineural hearing loss, and permanently lost hearing in his right ear.

Discography

Extended plays Title Album details ReflectsAoki Takamasa x Ichiro Yamaguchi Released: January 20, 2016 Label: NF Records Formats: Digital download

Production discography + List of songs that feature songwriting, production or vocals by Ichiro Yamaguchi outside of his work with Sakanaction Title Year Album Notes "Magic Time"(SMAP) 2010 We Are SMAP! Lyrics and composition. Charted at number 100 on the Billboard Japan Radio Songs sub-chart. "Kimino-Me" ("Your Eyes")(Base Ball Bear + Ichiro Yamaguchi from Sakanaction) 2010 Cypress Girls Featured artist. Released digitally three months before Cypress Girls, on June 23, 2010. (Shiho Nanba) 2011 Mizuiro Generation Composition. Collaboration with Yūsuke Koide of Base Ball Bear. Released as a single, reached number 28 on the Oricon single charts. "Moment"(SMAP) 2012 Non-album single Lyrics and composition. Released as a single, reached number 1 on the Oricon single charts, certified gold by the RIAJ.