Flumpool (stylized as flumpool) are a Japanese rock band. The band, originally from

Osaka Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Osaka Prefecture has a population of 8,778,035 () and has a geographic area of . Osaka Prefecture borders Hyōgo Prefecture to the northwest, Kyoto Prefecture to the north, Nara ...

, was formed in January 2007. The band's name is a portmanteau of the words ''four'' (from the number of members in the band), ''lump'', and ''pool''. Thus, the name could be interpreted to mean "collective mass of four" or a "quartet". On 1 October 2008, the band released a

download In computer networks, download means to ''receive'' data from a remote system, typically a server such as a web server, an FTP server, an email server, or other similar systems. This contrasts with uploading, where data is ''sent to'' a remote ...

single named . Their debut

mini-album A mini-LP or mini-album is a short record album or LP, usually retailing at a lower price than an album that would be considered full-length. It is distinct from an EP due to containing more tracks and a slightly longer running length. A mini- ...

(though its length is over 48 minutes), '' Unreal'' was released on 10 November 2008. ''Unreal'' served Platinum certification from the

RIAJ The is an industry trade group composed of Japanese corporations involved in the music industry. It was founded in 1942 as the Japan Phonogram Record Cultural Association, and adopted its current name in 1969. The RIAJ's activities include prom ...

for its shipment of 250,000 copies.

History

2002: cube

In 2002, Yamamura, along with his childhood friends, Sakai and Amakawa, formed an acoustic unit named 309. Later, when a support drummer joined them, they formed a band.''flumpool Official Site''
Biography
/ref> From then, they changed their name to cube. Yamamura plays acoustic guitar as well as does most vocals. Sakai also plays acoustic guitar while Amakawa plays bass guitar. Furthermore, they issued four independent CD productions.

2007: flumpool

In January 2007, Ogura joined the band as the

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western music ensemble, bands that play Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, or Contemporary R&B, R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeepi ...

. On 13 January, the band's name was changed to ''flumpool''. They held live gigs in

Osaka-jō Hall is a multi-purpose arena located in the Kyōbashi, Osaka, Kyōbashi area of Osaka, Japan. The hall opened in 1983 and can seat up to 16,000 people. Built on a site area of , part of its form uses stone walls, modeled after those of Osaka Castle ...

and "live houses" around Osaka. On 24 July, the production of an independent single titled was announced.

2008: Debut

On 25 June, "Mirai Kanai" went up for sale on indiesmusic.com. In July, the promotional video of "labo" was made. The video was ranked number one on Access Rankings. On 27 August, both

Tower Records Tower Records is an international retail franchising, franchise and online music store that was formerly based in Sacramento, California, United States. From 1960 until 2006, Tower operated retail stores in the United States, which closed when ...

and Tsutaya held the 5,000 limited copies of the independent trial single, "labo". On 1 September, they became the Campaign Song Artist for the telephone service, au

KDDI () is a Japanese telecommunications operator. It was established in 2000 through the merger of , , and . In 2001, it merged with a subsidiary named Au, which was formed through the merger of seven automotive and mobile phone companies from t ...

" LISMO". On September 20, their song, "Hana ni Nare" was used for the campaign. On 5 September, the band was featured on

Fuji TV JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as or , is a Japanese television station that serves the Kantō region as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network System (FNS). The station is owned-and- ...

's '' Mezamashi TV'' and performed on television for the first time. On October 1, they released as their first digital single with Amuse, Inc. under the newly created sub-label A-Sketch. In just ten days, the song reached 1,000,000 downloads (now 2,000,000). On November 5, they released their second digital single, . The song was used as the theme song of TBS drama, ''Bloody Monday''. On the same month, they released their first mini-album, '' Unreal'' on the 19th. It reached No. 2 on Oricon weekly albums chart.

2009: ''What's flumpool!?''

On 19 February, the band launched their first nationwide tour, "flumpool tour 2009『UNREAL』" with seven performances in six cities. Later in that month, the band released their first major single, and reached No. 2 on Oricon weekly singles chart. Their second single was released on 1 July, entitled and reached No. 3 on Oricon weekly singles chart. On the same day, their first Live DVD, "『How did we feel then?~flumpool tour 2009 "Unreal" Live at Shibuya Club Quattro~』" was released and reached No. 1 on Oricon weekly Music DVD Chart. A week after the releases, the band began their second nationwide tour, "flumpool tour 2009 "Unclose"" at 18 venues. The tour comprised a total of 19 performances. On 14 October, the band released their third digital single, "Frame". On 18 November, they released yet another digital single, "Mitsumeteitai". The band released their first full album, '' What's flumpool!?'' on 23 December and reached No. 2 on the Oricon weekly albums chart.

2010: Vocalist's polypectomy and year-end arena lives

On 3 February, the band released their third single, "Zanzō" and reached No. 3 on Oricon weekly singles chart. The song was used as the theme song of the second season of TBS drama, ''Bloody Monday''. On the same month, they released their second live DVD, "flumpool tour 2009『Unclose』Special!! LIVE at

Nippon Budokan The , often shortened to simply Budokan, is an indoor arena in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It was originally built for the inaugural Olympic judo competition in the 1964 Summer Olympics. The Budokan was a popular venue for Japanese professional wres ...

". It also reached No. 1 on Oricon weekly Music DVD chart. On 5 March, the band started their third nationwide tour, "flumpool tour 2010「What's flumpool!?~Love&Piiiis Kids Show!!~」" at 40 venues and 46 performances in total. The tour lasted three months. On 14 March, the band released their first artist photobook, "fourbond". It was made known on 29 April that flumpool's vocalist, Ryuta Yamamura would undergo polypectomy in June. On 5 May, Ryuta Yamamura announced on "flumpool ROCKS!", flumpool's corner of the radio program TOKYO FM's SCHOOL OF ROCK!, that he will undergo polypectomy after their last concert of the third tour in Okinawa and spend about a month resting. The band released their fourth major single entitled on 23 June. It reached No. 2 on Oricon weekly singles chart. The song, "reboot~Akiramenai Uta~" was used as a support song of Japanese television network NTV's coverage of the FIFA World Cup. As of 7 July, Yamamura made a ''

Tanabata , also known as the , is a Japanese festival originating from the Chinese Qixi Festival. It celebrates the meeting of the deities Orihime and Hikoboshi (represented by the stars Vega and Altair respectively). According to legend, the Milk ...

'' return after surgery at "flumpool ROCKS!". On 1 August, flumpool performed at "SETSTOCK'10" which was held in Hiroshima. It was their first live after the return of their vocalist. It was announced on 14 July that the band would sing the theme song entitled of the movie '' Kimi ni Todoke''. The song "Kimi ni Todoke" was released as a single on 29 September. It debuted at No. 2 on the Oricon weekly singles chart. All five major single releases to date have made it to top three on the Oricon weekly singles chart. The band released a Christmas DVD single entitled . The release is limited to the members of POOLSIDE, the band's mobile fan club. This first time ever members limited release is a premium package which includes a Special DVD encompassing flumpool's "gratitude" and an original calendar (2011). The song "Snowy Nights Serenade～心までも繋ぎたい～(Xmas ver.)" was the main theme of their year-end arena lives which were held on December 18 and 19 at

and on 25 and 26 December at

Yokohama Arena is an indoor arena located in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. The capacity of the arena is 17,000 and was opened in 1989. The arena was modeled after US sports venue Madison Square Garden in New York City. It is a five-minute walk from the ...

. They expressed their gratitude to their fans for staying with them in the year since the opening of POOLSIDE by turning the words they can't convey very well into this song. On 31 December, flumpool attended the

61st NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen The , referred to from hereon as "Kōhaku", aired on December 31, 2010, from NHK Hall in Japan. This was the last time the Kōhaku was broadcast in analog television transmission. As of July 24, 2011 the digital television Digital television tran ...

, performing on the show for the second time.

2011–2012: ''Fantasia of Life Stripe''

flumpool held a live tour with rock band, Nico Touches the Walls in January in 3 cities. The band released their second full album on 26 January. The title of the album, '' Fantasia of Life Stripe'' was revealed through a CM, aired on 28 November 2010. Details of the album were disclosed on 29 November 2010 on their official website. The album reached No. 2 on the Oricon weekly albums chart. The band were in charge of the set piece for the Junior High School section of the 78th

NHK , also known by its Romanization of Japanese, romanized initialism NHK, is a Japanese public broadcasting, public broadcaster. It is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television licence, television license fee. NHK ope ...

National Music Contest. A choral composition of the set piece was scheduled to be announced in March. The theme of the contest is "Companions". The title was later announced as . "Akashi" was NHK's "Minna no Uta" music broadcast in August to September. The band released their third Live DVD entitled on April 6. The DVD reached No. 3 on Oricon weekly Music DVD chart. The band started their fourth nationwide tour entitled from April in 10 major cities and 19 performances. Due to the

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami On 11 March 2011, at 14:46:24 Japan Standard Time, JST (05:46:24 UTC), a 9.0–9.1 Submarine earthquake, undersea megathrust earthquake occurred in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region. It lasted approx ...

, the band kicked off their tour on 9 April in Fukuoka instead of Yokosuga, Kanagawa on 4 April. The two shows which were scheduled in Yokosuga, Kanagawa are replaced by concerts at Kanagawa Kenmin Hall in Kanagawa on 3 and 4 June. The concerts scheduled 7 and 8 May in Sendai, Miyagi was cancelled. The band will hold a live at Zepp Sendai on 12 August instead. The title of the live is "4th tour 2011 "Fantasia of Life Stripe ～僕達はここにいる～" Zepp Sendai Special Live". In the aftermath of the 11 March earthquake and tsunami in Japan, the band's members and their record label A-Sketch made a donation of 10 million yen to the Japanese Red Cross as part of the fund raising campaign by their agency Amuse. The band will also donate some of the revenue from sales of concert tickets and official goods. They also set up donation boxes at each concert and encourage donations from the crowds. In May, it was announced that the band would sing the theme song for the "Rugby World Cup 2011". In June, flumpool's vocalist, Ryuta Yamamura appeared solo in the CM for the mobile game site "Mobage". The song used in the CM is the band's new song which will be released as a double a-side single entitled . The song "Touch" is used as the tie-up song for "au AQUOS PHONE IS11SH" commercial. The single was released on 27 July.

2012–''present'': ''experience''

In December 2012, flumpool released an album titled ''experience''. With the album they made a debut into Taiwan. With a Chinese cover 証明 written by

Mayday Mayday is an emergency procedure word used internationally as a distress signal in voice-procedure radio communications. It is used to signal a life-threatening emergency primarily by aviators and mariners, but in some countries local organiz ...

Ashin. In September 2014, Flumpool makes a Single for Indonesian Tokusatsu Series Satria Garuda BIMA-X titled 'Let Tomorrow be'. On December 6, 2017, flumpool announced that it was going on indefinite hiatus. Vocalist Ryuta Yamamura was diagnosed with functional vocal disorder, forcing him to stop his activities and seek treatment. On January 13, 2019, Yamamura announced that he had recovered and flumpool would be resuming activities. They released the single HELP on May 22, and announced their ninth concert tour ''Command Shift Z'' would start in September and include Hong Kong tour dates. On Aug 24, 2024, flumpool performed at Super Slippa 13, a music festival held at the Taipei Arena. Vocalist Ryuta also collaborated with GLAY's Teru and Mayday to perform the song OAOA.

Band members

* (born January 21, 1985,

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

)—

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

* (born February 26, 1985, Osaka) —

* (born November 27, 1984, Osaka) —

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

* (born February 27, 1984, Hyōgo) —

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

leader Leadership, is defined as the ability of an individual, group, or organization to "", influence, or guide other individuals, teams, or organizations. "Leadership" is a contested term. Specialist literature debates various viewpoints on the co ...

Discography

Albums

Compilation albums

Singles

DVDs

Books

Radio

*SPEAK OUT! (''J-WAVE'') (2009.01.02 - ) *
SCHOOL OF LOCK! Hana no Keibiin flumpool LOCKS!
' (SCHOOL OF LOCK! ハナの警備員 flumpool LOCKS!) (''Tokyo FM'', Wednesdays 23:05-23:30) (2009.10.07 - Present)

Awards and nominations

; Billboard Japan Music Awards , - , 2010 , '' Unreal'' , King of the Year 2009 , ;

MTV Video Music Awards Japan The MTV Video Music Awards Japan (MTV VMAJ for short) are the Japanese version of the MTV Video Music Awards. Like the MTV Video Music Awards in the United States, in this event artists are awarded for their songs and videos through online vo ...

, - ,

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, ''Dear Mr. & Ms. Picaresque'' (from MW film) , Best Video from a Film , , - ,

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, ''Kimi ni Todoke'' (from Kimi ni Todoke film) , Best Video from a Film ,

References

External links

Official website
(in English)
Official website
(in Japanese) {{Authority control Japanese pop rock music groups Musical groups from Osaka Japanese musical quartets Musical groups established in 2007 A-Sketch artists 2007 establishments in Japan Men's musical groups