ハジマリノウタ



いきものがかり (ikimono-gakari) is a duo pop rock band (formerly a three member group) founded by childhood friends Yoshiki Mizuno (水野良樹) and Hotaka Yamashita (山下穂尊) in Kanagawa, Japan. The two began doing street performances in February 1999 and decided on the band name. Vocalist Kiyoe Yoshioka (吉岡聖恵) joined in November of that year. They temporarily disbanded in September 2000, coming together again in April 2003 after finishing college. The group's name is a reference to ikimono-gakari (いきものがかり), a group of children who are responsible for looking after plants and animals in Japanese elementary schools. Yamashita left the group and retired from the entertainment industry after their June 10–11, 2021 performance. They were signed to Epic Japan Records and released their first mainstream single SAKURA in March 2006. The title song was used in NTT East Japan commercials and heard on various televised programs. Their 2nd single HANABI was used as the 7th ending song for the Studio Pierrot anime release, Bleach. Their 10th single Blue Bird was used as the 3rd opening for Naruto Shippuuden. Their single Kaze ha fuite iru was used by NHK as the theme song of their 2012 London Summer Olympics and Paralympics broadcasts. They have also appeared on the widely viewed year-end music show NHK Kôhaku Utagassen every year since 2008. On March 4, 2009, their first-ever collection of video works, Tottemo Ēzō, was released. That year, Mizuno was put in charge of writing the song Yell as the set piece for the junior high division of the 76th annual NHK Nationwide School Music Contest. Their 15th single Yell / Joyful came out September 23, taking the No. 1 single spot for the Oricon daily charts and the number 2 spot for the weekly chart, the highest rankings so far for any of their singles. The band won one of the Gold Artist awards at the 2009 Best Hit Song Festival (November 26), their first time winning one of the show's prizes. They followed that up with their fourth studio album Hajimari no Uta, released on December 23, and debuting as the number 1 album on the Oricon weekly charts. On New Year's Eve, the band appeared again in the 60th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen festival. On June 9, 2012, Japanese television network NHK announced that the theme song for its Olympic broadcasts would be performed by Ikimonogakari. The song was titled Kaze ga fuiteiru (Wind is blowing). The three members wrote the song and said that its lyrics would hopefully encourage Japan's athletes like a strong wind. During the Olympics, the band made live appearances in Great Britain on NHK. On March 15, 2016, the day of their 10th anniversary, they released a new album, Cho-Ikimonogakari~Temnenkinen Members' Best Selection~ and got the number one in music chart. On January 5, 2017, Ikimonogakari announced an end to its group activities, referring to the forthcoming time as a grazing period, aiming to extend the possibilities of each member at their own pace for refreshment. It was also referred to as an indefinite hiatus, leaving scope for a future return. After a period of rest from group activities during which members were able to pursue individual goals, the group announced a resumption of their activities, including a tour planned for early 2019. The official resumption of music activity was taken to commence from November 3, 2018, on the 19th anniversary of their original foundation.  The 2019 tour took the group to eleven venues across Japan from March to May 2019, and was available only to fan club members, the first such tour in eight years. The tour was followed by various television and music festival appearances. The group's hiatus did nothing to reduce their popularity, as an annual ranking by a prominent entertainment magazine showed them placed at the 12th rank among popular Japanese music acts for 2019. In early 2021, Ikimonogakari released their ninth studio album WHO?. The track Baku from the album is used as the 8th opening theme of the anime series Boruto: Naruto Next Generations. In 2023, they performed the ending theme to Pretty Cure All Stars F, Ureshikute (うれしくて, I'm Very Happy). They also performed the opening theme for Power of Hope: PreCure Full Bloom, Tokimeki (ときめき, Excitement).  The duo released their 10th studio album 〇 (Maru) in 2023. In early 2024, the duo released their collaboration album Ikimonogakari meets as well as going on a national hall tour. On November 2nd, 2024, the duo performed a one-day show at Nippon Budokan celebrating the duo's 25th anniversary in a style of just the duo playing like a street live. The new song Aitai was performed and go on streaming the same day. List of duplicates on last.fm : Ikimonogakari, Ikimono-Gakari, Ikimono Gakari. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.