is a Japanese
rock/
jazz fusion
Jazz fusion (also known as jazz rock, jazz-rock fusion, or simply fusion) is a popular music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric gui ...
duo consisting of core members , born May 9, 1978, and , born February 25, 1978, formed in 1999. Formerly with
BMG Japan (bought by SMEJ in early 2009), they signed with
Sony Music Japan
, often abbreviated as SMEJ or simply SME, and also known as Sony Music Japan for short (stylized as ''SonyMusic''), is a Japanese music arm for Sony. Founded in 1968 as CBS/Sony, SMEJ is directly owned by Sony Group Corporation and is opera ...
's
Ariola Japan
, is a Japanese record label that is part of Sony Music Entertainment Japan. It is the successor of BMG Japan.
History
*2008 – Ariola Japan becomes a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment.
*2009 – Ariola Japan becomes a full-on record labe ...
label in September 2009.
History
Ōhashi's musical duties include vocals, guitar, and harmonica, while Tokita plays piano/keyboards, numerous other instruments, and oversees overall production. Most of the other instrumentation heard on their albums is played by guests and studio musicians. In this sense, their band structure and chemistry could be compared to that of the American group
Steely Dan
Steely Dan is an American rock band formed in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, in 1971 by Walter Becker (guitars, bass, backing vocals) and Donald Fagen (keyboards, lead vocals). Originally having a traditional band lineup, Becker and Fagen cho ...
. Their style is very heavily jazz influenced (another similarity with Steely Dan), yet it retains core pop elements and catchy melodies that have proved popular with Japanese audiences.
In popular culture
Many of Sukima Switch's songs have appeared in anime and video games. Ōhashi also covered the song "Katamari on the Swing" in the
PlayStation 3
The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE). It is the successor to the PlayStation 2, and both are part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. The PS3 was first released on ...
game ''
Katamari Forever
''Katamari Forever'', known in Japan as is a video game in the '' Katamari'' series. The game was released for the PlayStation 3 console in Japan on July 23, 2009, and in September for North America, Europe, and Australia.
Story and gameplay
''K ...
''.
* Their second single, "Kanade", was covered by
Sora Amamiya and
Rie Takahashi
is a Japanese voice actress and singer affiliated with 81 Produce. A member of the musical unit Earphones, she had a leading role in the anime series '' Seiyu's Life!''. She voiced Megumin in '' KonoSuba'', Emilia in '' Re:Zero'', Takagi in ...
for the ending themes to the anime series ''
One Week Friends
is a manga series by Matcha Hazuki. It was serialized in Square Enix's ''Gangan Joker'' magazine between January 21, 2012 and January 22, 2015. It was first published as a One-shot (comics), one-shot manga in the magazine's September 2011 i ...
'' and ''
Teasing Master Takagi-san 2'', respectively. The song was also used as the theme song for the
live-action adaptation of ''One Week Friends''.
* Their fifth single, "Zenryoku Shōnen", is featured as the first song in the
Nintendo DS
The is a foldable handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens worki ...
game ''
Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2'', which was released in Japan on May 17, 2007. The song is also in the expansion pack to the Nintendo DS game ''
Daigasso! Band Brothers''. The song was re-released for the Japanese release of Disney and Pixar's 2020 film ''
Onward''.
* Their seventh single, "Boku Note", was also used as the theme song for ''
Doraemon: Nobita's Dinosaur 2006''.
* The eighth single, "Guarana" is the theme song of the film adaptation of ''
Rough'', with their second, third and fifth singles used as inserts.
* The song "Shizuku" is the opening theme for the anime adaptation of the novel series ''
The Beast Player''.
* Their 12th single, "Golden Time Lover", is the third opening of the anime series ''
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood''.
* Their 13th single, "Ice Cream Syndrome", is the ending theme of the ''
Pokémon
is a Japanese media franchise consisting of List of Pokémon video games, video games, Pokémon (TV series), animated series and List of Pokémon films, films, Pokémon Trading Card Game, a trading card game, and other related media. The fran ...
'' movie ''
Phantom Ruler: Zoroark''.
* Their 17th single, "Eureka", is the second opening to the anime ''
Space Brothers''.
* Their 19th single, "Hello Especially", is the ending song to the anime ''
Silver Spoon''.
* Their 20th single, "Ah Yeah!!", is the second opening to the anime ''
Haikyuu!!''.
* Their 22nd single, "Hoshi no Utsuwa" (星のうつわ), is the ending theme song for the anime film ''
The Last: Naruto the Movie''.
* Their 23rd single, "LINE", is the eighteenth opening to the anime ''
Naruto Shippuden
''Naruto'' is a Japanese anime television series based on Masashi Kishimoto's 1999–2014 manga series ''Naruto''. It follows Naruto Uzumaki, a young orphan ninja who seeks recognition from his peers and dreams of becoming the Hokage, the l ...
''.
Discography
Singles
*Debut single – "view" – July 9, 2003
*2nd single – 奏 ("Kanade") – March 10, 2004
*3rd single – ふれて未来を ("Furete Mirai o") – June 16, 2004
*4th single – 冬の口笛 ("Fuyu no Kuchibue") – November 24, 2004
*5th single – 全力少年 ("Zenryoku Shōnen") – April 20, 2005
*6th single – 雨待ち風 ("Ame Machi Kaze") – June 22, 2005
*7th single – ボクノート ("Boku Note") – March 1, 2006
*8th single – ガラナ ("Guarana") – August 16, 2006
*9th single – アカツキの詩 ("Akatsuki no Uta") – November 22, 2006
*10th single – マリンスノウ ("Marine Snow") – July 11, 2007
*11th single – 虹のレシピ ("Niji no Recipe") – May 20, 2009
*12th single – ゴールデンタイムラバー ("Golden Time Lover") – October 14, 2009
*13th single – アイスクリームシンドローム ("Ice Cream Syndrome") – July 7, 2010
*14th single – さいごのひ ("Saigo no Hi") – January 26, 2011
*15th single – 晴ときどき曇 ("Hare Tokidoki Kuromi")
*16th single – ラストシーン ("Last Scene")
*17th single – ユリーカ ("Eureka") – August 8, 2012
*18th single – スカーレット ("Scarlet") – June 19, 2013
*19th single – "Hello Especially" – July 31, 2013
*20th single – "Ah Yeah!!" – July 23, 2014
*21st single – パラボラヴァ ("Parabolover") – November 19, 2014
*22nd single – 星のうつわ ("Star Vessel") – December 3, 2014
*23rd single – "LINE" – November 11, 2015
Mini albums
*Debut mini album – 君の話 (Kimi no Hanashi) – September 17, 2003
Studio albums
*Debut album – 夏雲ノイズ (Natsugumo Noise) – June 23, 2004
*2nd album – 空創クリップ (Kūsō Clip) – July 20, 2005
*3rd album – 夕風ブレンド (Yuukaze Blend) – November 29, 2006
*4th album – ナユタとフカシギ (Nayuta to Fukashigi) – November 4, 2009
*5th album – musium – October 5, 2011
*6th album – Sukima Switch – December 3, 2014
*7th album – 新空間アルゴリズム (Shinkuukan Algorithm) – March 14, 2018
*8th album - Hot Milk - November 17, 2021 (Streaming) , November 24, 2021 (physical CD)
*9th album - Bitter Coffee - November 24, 2021
Concept albums
*1st album – re:Action – February 15, 2017
*2nd album – スキマノハナタバ 〜Love Song Selection〜 (Sukima no Hanataba ~Love Song Selection~) – September 19, 2019
*3rd album - スキマノハナタバ 〜Smile Song Selection〜 (Sukima no Hanataba ~Smile Song Selection~ - August 19, 2020
Compilation albums
*1st album – グレイテスト・ヒッツ (Greatest Hits) – August 1, 2007
*2nd album – DOUBLES BEST – August 22. 2012
*3rd album – POPMAN'S WORLD〜All Time Best 2003-2013〜 – August 23, 2013
*4th album – POPMAN'S ANOTHER WORLD – April 13, 2016
References
External links
* by Office Augusta
* by Sony Music Japan
*
{{Authority control
Japanese pop music groups
Ariola Japan artists
Musical groups from Aichi Prefecture
Musical groups established in 1999
1999 establishments in Japan
Japanese musical duos