Tatsuro

is a Japanese singer and songwriter. He is best known as lead vocalist of the visual kei rock band Mucc since 1997. Tatsuro began a solo career in December 2021 and simultaneously released the albums = (Equal) and Hikagaku Hoteishiki the following year. Both reached the top 35 on the Oricon chart. His third album, Colors, became his highest-charting solo release to date when it reached number 29.

Early life Tatsuro was born in Mito, Ibaraki on August 21, 1979, as the youngest of three kids. His family home doubled as a hair salon, and each of his family members is a hairdresser. One of his older brothers owns a salon named Magnolia in Aoyama, Tokyo. As a child, Tatsuro was really passionate about drawing and would draw on his elementary school notebooks everyday during class. Although he lost this passion as an adult, the singer said he always draws when recording an album. In 2022, he described his art style as simple, raw, and monochrome. He said he is bad at coloring and wants to keep people's attention on the lines, like manga artists. He then moved on to Luna Sea and L'Arc-en-Ciel, and eventually to Buck-Tick when he wanted something more underground. Tatsuro said he started a band at 17 because he wanted to be popular at school festivals. He decided to shave his head at the time because he wanted to stand out from other visual kei acts.

Career In high school, Tatsuro (then known as "Tattoo") formed Mucc in 1997 with guitarist Miya, drummer Satochi, and bassist Hiro, whom he had been friends with since primary school. While the other three members moved to Tokyo after graduating high school, Tatsuro began attending a two-year vocational school to become a hairdresser. On June 8, 2000, Tatsuro adopted his current stage name. Mucc later signed to Danger Crue Records and established their own sublabel, Shu, for the 2002 release of their second album Hōmura Uta. However, the band made their major label debut on Universal with Zekū the following year. In 2009, they returned to being an indie band on Danger Crue, before signing to Sony for 2012's Shangri-La. In August 2012, the video game was released on the App Store. The band members took part it its creation, with Tatsuro drawing the characters. With the end of 2017, Mucc returned to being an independent band on Danger Crue yet again.

In 2009, Tatsuro formed the visual kei supergroup with Hiroto (Alice Nine), Mizuki (Sadie), Dunch (Jealkb) and Kenzo (Ayabie). They performed at the Jack in the Box 2009 Summer event at Makuhari Messe on August 15. After releasing their first single "Lastica" on January 27, 2010, the band performed at the 2010 edition of the same festival on August 21. Second single "Free" was released on October 27 and used as the opening theme song of the Battle Spirits: Brave anime. Tatsuro wrote and composed "Koigokoro" for Jealkb's 2011 album Invade, and also sings on the recording. When former Kagerou vocalist Daisuke died, Tatsuro was recruited by his solo project, Daisuke to Kuro no Injatachi, to sing "Dokusai-sha no Namida" for their only album. In 2012, he was one of many artists featured on the song "Halloween Party", which was credited to the supergroup Halloween Junky Orchestra. The members of Karasu performed together at the Tokyo Chaos 2015 event at Yoyogi National Gymnasium's 2nd Gymnasium on December 31, 2015. The following year, Tatsuro, Hiroto and Kenzo were joined by Kei (Baroque) and Aki (Sid) to perform as at Ken's Party Zoo ~Ken Entwines Naughty Stars~ event at the Dojima River Forum on September 25, 2016.

Tatsuro announced he was starting a solo career in December 2021. With time off due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan and with Satochi leaving Mucc, he said the timing of various things just worked out. An article on his website elaborated stating, that with Mucc losing a member, "more individuality and assertiveness from each member will now be required. Therefore, through his solo activities, Tatsuro wants to become a stronger individual as a member of Mucc." His first solo tour, titled , was scheduled to be held at five venues between January 15 to February 4, 2022, with two performances a day for a total of 10 concerts. However, two of the dates were rescheduled to April 11 and 19, where R-Shitei drummer Hirotaka replaced Sora. In-between, Tatsuro played two acoustic concerts on April 12 and 20 where he was backed only by Adachi and violinist Hiromi Gotoh. The music to the songs on Hikagaku Hoteishiki was written by Tatsuro's friends and he commented that it was entirely up to them, "I couldn't say no no matter what kind of song it was because I asked for it (laughs)". Nano Kitaoka, music producer for the franchise, called the track "a fusion of old-fashioned visual kei and modern goodness".

The singer celebrated the first anniversary of his solo career with a concert titled Kitchen Guys 1st Kitchen Party at Club Citta on January 8, 2023. "Zankoku", his second single, was released on March 15 and includes a self-cover of "Koigokoro". His third single, "Sora no Katachi", followed on December 6 and includes a self-cover of "Lastica". Featuring covers of songs by artists such as RC Succession, Glay and Kuroyume, it was sold only at concerts or via mail order. On September 28 and 29, Tatsuro held the concert with Plastic Tree vocalist Ryutaro Arimura.

Tatsuro released the mini-album Monochrome on January 15, 2025. It was supported by the four-date Dead Rainbow tour that same month, and an acoustic version of the Arimatsu Ryu-Tatsuro event followed on February 4 and 6. Tatsuro will release his first extended play, Kidoairaku, on September 9, 2026, and will support it with the tour.

Musical style Although Mucc is known for switching between music genres and styles frequently, Tatsuro said they always try to keep their musical identity intact. "Even though our music has evolved, our foundation, our basis, has remained the same," but at the same time clarified that "Nobody in the band has ever forced himself to create music that doesn't match his personality." He does so by listening to the track, "Music is a great source of emotions. Whatever the emotion, I try to put words on it, describe it, lay it down on paper." In Mucc, he related how the band usually does not know who will write the lyrics even after the recording sessions have begun; "I keep some ideas in my head in case they come to me and ask me to write the lyrics. [...] But if they say they're going to write it, then that's fine." Tatsuro never imposes a theme or subject on himself when writing music, but does think about how it would sound live. One reason being that he prefers the ambiguity of the Japanese language. Like the other members of Mucc, Tatsuro often performs barefoot. He said he got the idea after seeing Cocco's April 20, 2001 performance on Music Station, where the barefooted singer abruptly left the studio after finishing her song. Tatsuro named Sophia and Hide as influences on his stage productions, specifically citing an early 1997 concert by the former that was the first professional concert he ever paid to attend.

Discography

Studio albums Title Album details Peak chart positions JPNOricon JPNBillboardHot JPNBillboardTop = (Equal) Released: February 2, 2022 Label: Maverick 34 60 40 Hikagaku Hoteishiki Released: February 2, 2022 Label: Maverick 33 62 39 Colors Released: April 3, 2024 Label: Danger Crue 29 33 22

Mini-albums and extended plays Title Mini-album details Peak chart positions JPNOricon Monochrome Released: January 8, 2025 Label: Danger Crue 44 — 39 Kidoairaku Released: September 9, 2026 Label: Danger Crue "—" denotes a recording that did not chart.

Singles Title Single details Peak chart positions JPNOricon JPNBillboardHot100 JPNBillboardTop "Endroll" Released: September 21, 2022 Label: Maverick 36 — 51 "Zankoku" Released: March 15, 2023 Label: Maverick — — 38 "Sora no Katachi" Released: December 6, 2023 Label: Danger Crue 44 — 44 "Ao no Setsuna" Released: September 28, 2024 Label: Danger Crue Note: Sold on tour or through Tatsuro's online store — — — "Villains" Released: September 10, 2025 Label: Danger Crue Note: Digital-only — — — "Checkmate" Released: March 11, 2026 Label: Danger Crue Note: Digital-only — — — "—" denotes a recording that did not chart.

Cover albums Title Album details Peak chart positions JPNOricon JPNBillboardHot JPNBillboardTop Pandora Juke Vox Released: March 13, 2024 Label: Danger Crue Note: Sold on tour or by mail order — — — "—" denotes a recording that did not chart.

Video albums Title Video details Peak chart positions JPNOriconBlu-ray Hajimemashite Tatsuro Desu. Live in KT Zepp Yokohama Released: September 21, 2022 — Kitchen Guys 1st Kitchen Party Released: June 21, 2023 — "—" denotes a recording that did not chart.

With Karasu Title Single details Peak chart positions JPNOricon JPNBillboardHot100 JPNBillboardTop "Lastica" Released: January 27, 2010 Label: Danger Crue 16 83 17 "Free" Released: October 27, 2010 Label: Danger Crue 29 — 30 "—" denotes a recording that did not chart.

Other work