Kazuyoshi Saitō

is a Japanese singer-songwriter. After he made his professional debut in 1993, his popularity exploded in 2007 after 15 years in the music industry. He is also one-half of the rock duo Mannish Boys with Tatsuya Nakamura, a member of the supergroup the , and one-half of the duo with Yasuyuki Okamura. In 2013, Saito became the first Japanese musician to have a signature model acoustic guitar with Gibson. As of 2020, he had six signature models with them and one with Epiphone.

Early life Saito was born to parents who worked for a toy maker in Mibu, Tochigi. He has two sisters, one older and one younger. Due to his elder sister's influence, in junior high and high school he became addicted to hard rock acts like the Michael Schenker Group, Kiss, Aerosmith, Van Halen and AC/DC. His first album, Aoi Sora no Shita..., followed on September 26, 1993. Saito's 1994 song "Aruite Kaerō" was used in the Fuji TV children's show Hirake! Ponkikki. His fourth album Fire Dog was released in February 1996. 15 years later, its song "Sora ni Hoshi ga Kirei" was chosen to be the theme of the 2009 film Kichijōji no Asahina-kun.

After 15 years in the music business, Saito's popularity exploded between 2007 and 2008. In 2007, his songs "Wedding Song" and "Ai ni Kite" were hits after being featured in popular TV commercials. The same thing happened with "Ya Mujō" and "Otsukare-sama no Kuni" the following year, with the former going on to win an Excellent Work Award at the 50th Japan Record Awards. Saito's March 2007 album Kurenai-ban is officially labelled a "concept album" because the songs are all about love. With few exceptions, it is mainly composed of covers of songs by other artists. His 12th studio album I Love Me was released in October 2007. The August 2008 compilation Utautai 15 Singles Best 1993–2007 reached fourth place on the Oricon Albums Chart.

Saito covered "Hells Bells" for the March 2008 AC/DC tribute album Thunder Tracks. He has made guest appearances with the rock band Lazy since 2008. He is a featured artist on the 2009 version of their 1980 song "Kanjite Knight" for the TV show Shin Mazinger Shōgeki! Z Hen!. Saito composed the music to "Niji ga Kieru Made", which Kyōko Koizumi sang as the theme of the 2009 film Honokaa Boy. His song "Don't Worry Be Happy" was a theme song of the variety show Mezanyu~, while "Ai no Akari" was the theme of the TV drama Limit -Keiji no Genba 2-. At Nishikido's request, Saito wrote the title track for his band Kanjani Eight's album Puzzle. He also wrote "Hare Onna" for Puffy's 2009 album Bring It!. Saito's album Tsuki ga Noboreba was released in September 2009, and includes "Phoenix" which he wrote in memoriam Kiyoshiro Imawano. For Fumiya Fujii's 2009 album F's Cinema, Saito wrote the song "Tsumihoroboshi".

Saito provided vocals to "Kimi to Boku 2010" for Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra's 2010 album World Ska Symphony. His own album, Are You Ready?, was released in October 2010 and won an Excellent Work Award at the 52nd Japan Record Awards. His music video for "Zutto Suki Datta", which recreated The Beatles' rooftop concert, later won Best Male Video at the 2011 Space Shower Music Video Awards.

Saito teamed up with Tatsuya Nakamura to form the duo Mannish Boys in 2013. Saito covered "Uguisu" for the 2011 Reichi Nakaido tribute album OK!!! C'mon Chabo!!!, and recorded a duet version of his own 1994 song "Aruite Kaerō" in French with Clémentine for her album Zoku Animentine. Saito's October 2011 album 45 Stones includes two songs written with Nakamura and his own version of "Niji ga Kieru Made". Saito wrote and performed "Yasashiku Naritai" to be the ending theme of the 2011 TV drama Kaseifu no Mita. It has sold over 2.5 million physical and digital copies, making it one of the best-selling singles in Japan. That year he also wrote the number one single "Boku no Hanbun" for the boy band SMAP. He wrote his May 2012 single "Gekkō" to be the theme of the TV drama Kazoku no Uta, and composed the music to "(500) Nichi no Magic" for Halcali's album Halcali no Okawari. Saito recorded his own version of "Hare Onna" for the July Puffy tribute album Puffy Covers. Mannish Boys released their first album, Ma! Ma! Ma! Mannish Boys!!!, on September 19, 2012. That same day Saito released the special album One Night Acoustic Recording Session at NHK CR-509 Studio, which as the title suggests is a studio live album recorded in a single night. "Yasashiku Naritai" won an Excellent Work Award at the 54th Japan Record Awards, and Saito performed it at the 63rd NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen at the end of the year.

2013–2018: Continued success and anniversaries Saito marked his 20th anniversary as a professional musician in 2013 and held his first arena tour to 35,000 people. He wrote "One More Time" to be the theme of the anime film Detective Conan: Private Eye in the Distant Sea, and "Kagerō" for the live-action film adaptation of Kiyoku Yawaku. He released two studio albums that year, Saito and Kazuyoshi. The former collects the singles he released since 45 Stones and his own versions of two songs he wrote for other artists, "Puzzle" and "Tsumihoroboshi", while the latter album is all new material. They reached numbers 2 and 3 on the Oricon, respectively. The albums' tour featured 62 performances in 55 cities and mobilized 140,000 people.

Mannish Boys released their second album, Mu? Mu? Mu? Mannish Boys!!!, in September 2014 and went on their first one-man tour. Saito wrote, produced and performed all the instruments on "Player" for Mari Natsuki to sing as the ending theme of the anime Ronja, the Robber's Daughter. He also collaborated with Shinobu Otake on a cover of Miyuki Nakajima's "Kitsune Kari no Uta" for Otake's December 2014 album Utagokoro Koigokoro.

Saito wrote "Jun Ai" for Masayuki Suzuki to be included on his March 2015 compilation All Time Best ~Martini Dictionary~. He also composed, produced, co-wrote and is featured on Kavka Shishido's 2015 song "Don't Be Love". Saito covered "Shiroi Parasol" by Seiko Matsuda for the Takashi Matsumoto tribute album Kazemachi de Aimashō. He is a featured musician on "(Just Like) Starting Over" and "Mō Ichido Sekai o Kaeru no Sa (Album Ver.)" from Theatre Brook's July 2015 album Love Changes the World. Saito's October 2015 album To the End of the Wind was recorded in Los Angeles with musicians such as Darryl Jones, Money Mark and Charley Drayton, and reached number two on the charts. He held a 62-date national tour from November 2015 to May 2016.

Saito appears on two songs from Ohashi Trio's February 2016 album 10 (Ten), providing guitar on "Ai de Kimi wa Kirei ni Naru" and featured vocals on "Koisuru Rider". He wrote and is featured on "Don't Cry Baby" from Toko Furuuchi's March 2016 album Toko Furuuchi with 10 Legends. After 10 years, Roots66 was revived with many more participating musicians for three performances in March and April 2016. In October 2016, Mannish Boys released their third album Uruwashi no Furasuka.

Saito wrote, co-composed and features on "Zatchunōza" for Special Others' March 2017 album Special Others II. His 1997 song "Utautai no Ballad" was chosen to be the theme song of the May 2017 anime film Lu over the Wall. He wrote "Iden" for the TV drama Gekokujō Juken and "I'm a Dreamer" for the drama Izakaya Fuji, which is about an actual izakaya that he knew. As Roots66, Saito and 26 other musicians recorded the song "Let's Go! Muttsugo! ~Rokushoku no Niji~" to be an ending theme of Mr. Osomatsu in October.

Saito's March 2018 album Toys Blood Music, which he recorded almost entirely by himself, became his first number one record. Its national tour featured 47 performances in 41 cities. To celebrate his 25th anniversary, he held a nine-date anniversary tour and released the compilation album Utautai 25 Singles Best 2008–2017 in July. On July 11, 2018, Saito, Yohito Teraoka (Jun Sky Walkers), Tamio Okuda, Takashi Hamazaki (Flying Kids), Yo-King (Magokoro Brothers) and Tortoise Matsumoto announced the formation of a supergroup called the Curling Sitones. Each member is a multi-instrumentalist with all of them at-least being able to provide vocals and guitar and, like the Traveling Wilburys, each uses a pseudonym featuring "Sitone"; Saito goes by . They formed for a concert on September 23, 2018, at Zepp Tokyo celebrating Teraoka's 25th anniversary as a musician. On November 8, Saito organized a concert at Zepp Diver City featuring numerous other musicians such as his Curling Sitones bandmates, Chara, Yōko Oginome, Yasuyuki Okamura and Sakura Fujiwara where the proceeds went to reconstruction from the 2018 Japan floods. Saito wrote "Color" for the 2018 film Kazokuiro -Railways Watashi-tachi no Shuppatsu-.

Mannish Boys released an EP titled Naked in January 2019. He also played guitar on "Okusoko no Uta" from Takehara Pistol's September album It's My Life. Using lyrics that Momoko Sakura wrote about him before she died, Saito composed "Itsumo no Fūkei" to be an ending theme of the anime adaptation of Sakura's Chibi Maruko-chan. Saito wrote nine songs for the musical Rockabilly Jack by Yukinojo Mori. The Curling Sitones' first album Hyojo no Rogue was released in November 2019. Their song "Suberi Shirazu Shirazu" was named the theme song of the 2020 Japan Curling Championships, the first ever in the competition's history. That year, he wrote "Junpu" to be the theme song of Junji Takada's TV show Jun Sanpo. Saito's next album, 55 Stones, was released in March 2021. Pineapple followed in April 2023, with its English-language title track that features Sakura Fujiwara. On December 25, 2023, it was announced that Saito had formed the duo Okamura Kazuyoshi with Yasuyuki Okamura. One of impetuses for the group was when Saito appeared on Okamura's NHK Radio 1 show Okamura Yasuyuki no Come On Everybody in January 2020 and the two improvised a song together on the spot. "I Miss Your Fire" was released digitally on January 17, 2024, and was followed by "Haru, Hakudaku" on February 14, which is based on the improvised song from 2020. Their first album, Wakaba, was released on May 16. Their first tour began on the same day and saw them play 12 shows in eight cities.

Personal life Saito married a woman of the same age, who works as a writer, in 1995.

Saito has collaborated several times with author Kōtarō Isaka. Isaka quit his company job and focused on writing after hearing Saito's 1997 song "Kōfuku na Chōshoku Taikutsu na Yūshoku". The author wrote the 2007 short story "Eine Kleine" after receiving a request for song lyrics from Saito, and a character in it is named after the musician. Saito wrote the song "Very Very Strong -Eine Kleine-" based on the story, and Isaka then wrote a story titled "Light Heavy" in response that was included with the limited edition of the single.

Discography Studio albums Year Album details Peak chart positions JPNOricon JPNBillboardTop JPNBillboardHot 1993 Released: September 26, 1993 — — — 1994 Released: March 24, 1994 60 — — 1995 Wonderful Fish Released: February 1, 1995 28 — — 1996 Fire Dog Released: February 28, 1996 14 — — 1997 Released: February 26, 1997 8 — — Because Released: December 26, 1997 19 — — 2000 Cold Tube Released: March 23, 2000 18 — — 2002 35 Stones Released: January 17, 2002 12 — — 2003 Nowhere Land Released: March 26, 2003 41 — — 2004 Released: April 21, 2004 18 — — 2006 Released: June 21, 2006 13 — — 2007 I Love Me (stylized as I ♥ ME) Released: October 17, 2007 7 — — 2009 Released: September 16, 2009 7 9 — 2010 Are You Ready? Released: October 27, 2010 7 8 — 2011 45 Stones Released: October 19, 2011 2 2 — 2013 Released: October 23, 2013 2 3 — Released: October 23, 2013 3 5 — 2015 Released: October 28, 2015 2 2 2 2018 Toys Blood Music Released: March 14, 2018 1 1 3 2020 202020 Released: January 29, 2020 4 5 6 2021 55 Stones Released: March 24, 2021 5 4 4 2023 Pineapple Released: April 12, 2023 6 5 5 "—" denotes a recording released before the creation of the Billboard chart, or that did not chart.

Mini-albums Year Album details Peak chart positions JPNOricon JPNBillboardHot 100 1993 Released: August 25, 1993 — —"Rain Rain Rain" Released: November 26, 1993 — — 1994 Released: February 2, 1994 — — Released: June 1, 1994 60 — Released: September 24, 1994 — —"Déjà Vu" Released: November 23, 1994 67 — 1995 Released: March 1, 1995 — — Released: June 25, 1995 — — Released: October 4, 1995 48 — 1996 Released: January 1, 1996 78 — Released: February 1, 1996 90 —"Baby, I Love You" Released: August 21, 1996 87 — 1997 Released: January 22, 1997 47 — Released: April 9, 1997 — — Released: November 21, 1997 91 — 1998"Hey! Mr. Angryman" Released: February 1, 1998 — — Released: December 2, 1998 34 — 2000 Released: February 23, 2000 44 — 2001 Released: July 25, 2001 40 — Released: October 24, 2001 49 — Released: December 5, 2001 50 — 2002 Released: November 20, 2002 43 — 2003 Released: March 5, 2003 72 — 2004 Released: March 24, 2004 82 — Released: August 25, 2004 42 — Released: November 17, 2004 48 — 2005 Released: January 29, 2005 (limited release at Ski Jam Katsuyama) — — Released: October 19, 2005 37 — 2006 Released: May 24, 2006 55 — Released: October 20, 2006 — — 2007 Released: January 24, 2007 16 —"Kimi wa Boku no Nani wo Suki ni Nattandarou/Very Very Strong -Eine Kleine-" Released: June 20, 2007 20 — Released: September 5, 2007 44 — 2008 Released: September 17, 2008 10 9 Released: December 3, 2008 13 10 2009 Released: May 6, 2009 19 12"Come On!" Released: August 5, 2009 16 16 2010 Released: April 21, 2010 8 5 2011 Released: November 2, 2011 6 4 2012 Released: May 2, 2012 10 3 2013 Released: April 17, 2013 9 5"Always" Released: September 18, 2013 10 7 Released: October 16, 2013 12 14 2015 Released: September 2, 2015 16 22 2016 Released: June 8, 2016 11 13 2017 Released: February 22, 2017 15 14 2018 Released: November 28, 2018 17 46 2019 Released: February 20, 2019 17 46 Released: November 20, 2019 29 — "—" denotes a recording released before the creation of the Billboard chart, or that did not chart.

Compilation albums Year Album details Peak chart positions JPNOricon JPNBillboardHot 1998 Golden Delicious Released: December 2, 1998 11 — — 2000 Collection "B" Released: May 24, 2000 38 — — 2005 Released: December 7, 2005 27 — — Released: December 7, 2005 40 — — 2008 Released: August 6, 2008 4 4 — Collection "B" 1993–2007 Released: September 17, 2008 21 23 — 2018 Released: July 25, 2018 4 3 5 "—" denotes a recording released before the creation of the Billboard chart.

Live albums Year Album details Peak chart positions JPNOricon JPNBillboardHot 1999 Released: June 2, 1999 26 — — Golden Delicious Hour Released: June 2, 1999 30 — — 2002 Released: March 20, 2002 46 — — 2005 Released: March 16, 2005 64 — — 2010 Saito "Hikigatari" Kazuyoshi Live Tour 2009 ≫ 2010 Juuni Gatsu in Osaka-jo Hall ~Tsuki ga Noboreba Hikigataru~ Released: March 24, 2010 23 54 — 2013 Kazuyoshi Saito 20th Anniversary Live 1993–2013 "20<21" ~Korekara mo Yorochikubi~ at Kobe World Kinen Hall 2013.8.25 Released: December 25, 2013 18 17 — 2015 Kazuyoshi Saito Tour 2014 "Rumble Horses" Live at Zepp Tokyo 2014.12.12 Released: March 18, 2015 23 23 — 2016 Kazuyoshi Saito Live Tour 2015–2016 "To the End of the Wind" Live at Nippon Budokan 2016.5.22 Released: September 21, 2016 16 14 33 2017 Kazuyoshi Saito Hikigatari Tour 2017 "Singing in the Rain" Live at Nakano Sunplaza 2017.06.21 Released: October 25, 2017 19 19 31 2018 Kazuyoshi Saito Live Tour 2018 Toys Blood Music Live at Yamanashi Collany Bunka Hall 2018.06.02 Released: November 28, 2018 33 28 46 2019 Kazuyoshi Saito 25th Anniversary Live 1993–2018 25＜26 ~Korekara mo Yorochiku Bīchiku~ Live at Nippon Budokan 2018.09.07 Released: March 20, 2019 28 27 54 Kazuyoshi Saito Hikigatari Tour 2019 "Time in the Garage" Live at Nakano Sun Plaza 2019.06.13 Released: November 20, 2019 24 19 39 2021 Released: October 27, 2021 41 40 49 2022 Kazuyoshi Saito Live Tour 2021 "202020 & 55 Stones" Live at Tokyo International Forum 2021.10.31 Released: October 5, 2022 21 19 31 2023 Released: August 30, 2023 31 26 27 Released: December 20, 2023 41 39 42 2024 Released: March 27, 2024 22 21 25 2025 Released: March 26, 2025 42 42 — "—" denotes a recording released before the creation of the Billboard chart, or that did not chart.

Other albums Year Album details Peak chart positions JPNOricon 1995 Wonderful Mix Released: March 15, 1995 Note: Remix album — — 2007 Released: March 21, 2007 Note: Concept album 13 — 2012 One Night Acoustic Recording Session at NHK CR-509 Studio Released: September 19, 2012 Note: Concept album 16 17 2023 Rock'n Roll Recording Session at Victor Studio 301 Released: July 26, 2023 Note: Concept album 12 11 "—" denotes a recording released before the creation of the Billboard chart, or that did not chart.

Videography Year Album details Peak chart positions JPNOriconDVDs JPNOriconBlu-rays 1995 Released: September 1, 1995 — — 1996 Released: March 15, 1996 — — 1997 Released: September 26, 1997 — — 1998 Released: December 2, 1998 — — 2002 Kazuyoshi Saito Live Tour 2002 35 Stones Released: November 20, 2002 — — 2004 Released: May 19, 2004 — — 2005 Hikigatari Juuni Gatsu in Budokan ~Seishun Blues Kanketsu-hen~ Released: March 16, 2005 — — Video Clips '93–'98 Released: June 29, 2005 — — 2008 Clips Best 1993–2007 Released: September 17, 2008 32 — 2009 Released: March 25, 2009 45 — 2010 Saito "Hikigatari" Kazuyoshi Live Tour 2009 ≫ 2010 Juuni Gatsu in Osaka-jo Hall ~Tsuki ga Noboreba Hikigataru~ Released: March 24, 2010 23 — Released: May 26, 2010 13 — 2011 Kazuyoshi Saito Live Tour 2010 Stupid Spirit Live at Zepp Tokyo 2010.12.12 Released: April 20, 2011 23 — 2012 Kazuyoshi Saito Live Tour 2011–2012 "45 Stones" at Nippon Budokan 2012.2.11 Released: June 27, 2012 7 — 2013 Kazuyoshi Saito 20th Anniversary Live 1993–2013 "20<21" ~Korekara mo Yorochikubi~ at Kobe World Kinen Hall 2013.8.25 Released: December 25, 2013 19 36 2014 Released: June 18, 2014 12 10 2015 Kazuyoshi Saito Tour 2014 "Rumble Horses" Live at Zepp Tokyo 2014.12.12 Released: March 18, 2015 23 21 2016 Kazuyoshi Saito Live Tour 2015–2016 "To the End of the Wind" Live at Nippon Budokan 2016.5.22 Released: September 21, 2016 6 9 2017 Kazuyoshi Saito Hikigatari Tour 2017 "Singing in the Rain" Live at Nakano Sunplaza 2017.06.21 Released: October 25, 2017 7 19 2018 Kazuyoshi Saito Live Tour 2018 Toys Blood Music Live at Yamanashi Collany Bunka Hall 2018.06.02 Released: November 28, 2018 10 17 2019 Kazuyoshi Saito 25th Anniversary Live 1993–2018 25＜26 ~Korekara mo Yorochiku Bīchiku~ Live at Nippon Budokan 2018.09.07 Released: March 20, 2019 13 15 Kazuyoshi Saito Hikigatari Tour 2019 "Time in the Garage" Live at Nakano Sun Plaza 2019.06.13 Released: November 20, 2019 9 13 2021 Kazuyoshi Saito Live Tour 2020 "202020" Maboroshi no Setlist de 2-kakan Kaisai! ~Banjikyūsu mo Kishikaisei~ Live at Nakano Sunplaza Hall 2021.4.28 Released: October 27, 2021 7 20 2022 Kazuyoshi Saito Live Tour 2021 "202020 & 55 Stones" Live at Tokyo International Forum 2021.10.31 Released: October 5, 2022 6 12 2023 Kazuyoshi Saito Hikigatari Tour "Juuni Gatsu~2022" Live at Nippon Budokan 2022.12.21 Released: August 30, 2023 8 16 Kazuyoshi Saito Live Tour 2023 Pineapple Express ~Ashita Daisuki na Rock 'n Roll Band ga Kono Machi ni Yattekuru nda~ Released: December 20, 2023 — — 2024 Kazuyoshi Saito 30th Anniversary Live 1993–2023 30<31 ~Korekara mo Yorochiku Beam~ Live at Tokyo International Forum 2023.09.22 Released: March 27, 2024 8 — 2025 Kazuyoshi Saito Live Tour 2024 "Seishun 58 Kippu" ~Trio de Pon~ Live at Zepp Haneda 2024.11.09 Released: March 26, 2025 14 — "—" denotes a recording released before the creation of the chart, or that did not chart.