is a Japanese musician, singer and songwriter. He is best known as the lead guitarist of the rock band

Buck-Tick Buck-Tick (stylized as BUCK-TICK) is a Japanese rock band formed in Fujioka, Gunma in 1983. The classic lineup of lead vocalist Atsushi Sakurai, lead guitarist Hisashi Imai, rhythm guitarist Hidehiko Hoshino, bassist Yutaka Higuchi and drum ...

since 1983. Following the October 2023 death of vocalist

Atsushi Sakurai was a Japanese musician and singer-songwriter. He was the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of the rock band Buck-Tick from 1985 until his death in 2023. Initially joining as their drummer in 1983, Sakurai fronted the band for 38 years and 2 ...

, Imai began sharing lead vocal duties in the band with fellow guitarist

Hidehiko Hoshino , nicknamed "Hide", is a Japanese musician, singer and songwriter. He is best known as the rhythm guitarist of the rock band Buck-Tick since 1983. Following the October 2023 death of vocalist Atsushi Sakurai, Hoshino began sharing lead vocal du ...

. He has also performed in side-projects such as the duo

Schaft Schaft is a Japanese musical side project whose main members are Maki Fujii (of minus(ー), formerly of Soft Ballet) and Hisashi Imai (of Buck-Tick). Schaft can be thought of as being a supergroup in that for the release of their debut album ...

with

Soft Ballet Soft Ballet was a Japanese electronic group formed in 1987. The group consisted of three members, Maki Fujii, Ken Morioka, and Ryoichi Endo, though they employed extra support members for live shows. While Soft Ballet weren't necessarily chart t ...

member Maki Fujii, the supergroup

Schwein Schwein (German for ''pig'' as well as ''pork'') is a music group comprising members of Buck-Tick, KMFDM, and Pig. Members Raymond Watts (PIG; vocals, programming, guitar) and Hisashi Imai (Buck-Tick; guitar and noise), both having worked together ...

, and the rock trio Lucy. Imai is known for his visual aesthetics, and Buck-Tick are commonly credited as one of the founders of the

visual kei , abbreviated , is a category of Japanese musicians that have a strong focus on extravagant stage costumes that originated in Japan during the early 1980s. Koji Dejima of '' Bounce'' wrote that visual kei is not a specific sound, but rather it " ...

movement.

Early life

When Imai was in elementary school, his uncle gave him an acoustic guitar and tried to teach him how to play it. Despite being right-handed, Imai said it just felt natural for him to play the instrument left-handed. Regardless, he was not interested in guitar at the time and ended up ignoring it. But when he decided to start a band in high school, he was conscious that choosing the wrong handedness would cause problems, and ultimately went with left-handed. The first song he ever played was "Romantist" by

The Stalin were a Japanese punk rock band formed in June 1980, by leader and vocalist Michiro Endo. After numerous member changes, he disbanded the group in February 1985. In May 1987 Michiro formed a group called Video Stalin, which mostly made vide ...

. In addition to his music, Imai is also known for his visual aesthetics. When he and his friend Araki,

's original singer, graduated high school in 1984, they moved to

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

together, where Imai entered design school.''Love Me'', Yasue Matsuura, Takao Nakagawa; Shinko Music Publishing Company, Ltd. 1989. . He has cited Akira Uno,

Tadanori Yokoo is a Japanese graphic designer, illustrator, printmaker and painter. Yokoo's signature style of psychedelia and pastiche engages a wide span of modern visual and cultural phenomena from Japan and around the world. Career Tadanori Yokoo, bo ...

Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (11 May 190423 January 1989), known as Salvador Dalí ( ; ; ), was a Spanish Surrealism, surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, ...

Giorgio de Chirico Giuseppe Maria Alberto Giorgio de Chirico ( ; ; 10 July 1888 – 20 November 1978) was an Italian artist and writer born in Greece. In the years before World War I, he founded the art movement, which profoundly influenced the surrealists. His ...

Hirohiko Araki , better known as , is a Japanese manga artist. He is best known for his long-running series '' JoJo's Bizarre Adventure'', which began publication in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' in 1987 and has over 120 million copies in circulation, making it one ...

and

Tsutomu Nihei is a Japanese manga artist. Nihei has been drawing comics professionally since the mid-1990s. In 1995 he was awarded the Jiro Taniguchi Special Prize in that year's ''Afternoon'' Four Seasons Award for his submission, ''Blame''. After working ...

as artistic influences.

Career

Imai has been the guitarist and main composer of Buck-Tick since 1983. He was also the main lyricist on their first two studio albums, '' Hurry Up Mode'' and ''

Sexual XXXXX! ''Sexual XXXXX!'' is the second studio album by the Japanese rock band Buck-Tick. It was the group's major label debut and was released on vinyl, cassette and CD on November 21, 1987 through on Victor Entertainment. The album was digitally rema ...

'', both released in 1987. The following year, their single " Just One More Kiss" marked their breakthrough when it reached number six on the

Oricon Singles Chart The Oricon Singles Chart is the Japanese music industry-standard Single (music), singles popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Chart rankings are based on physical singles' sales. Until 2017, Oricon did not track down ...

. In January 1989, their fourth studio album ''

Taboo A taboo is a social group's ban, prohibition or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, offensive, sacred or allowed only for certain people.''Encyclopædia Britannica ...

'' reached number one. However, Imai was arrested for

LSD Lysergic acid diethylamide, commonly known as LSD (from German ; often referred to as acid or lucy), is a semisynthetic, hallucinogenic compound derived from ergot, known for its powerful psychological effects and serotonergic activity. I ...

possession that April, and the band briefly halted activities. The guitarist was given a

suspended sentence A suspended sentence is a sentence on conviction for a criminal offence, the serving of which the court orders to be deferred in order to allow the defendant to perform a period of probation. If the defendant does not break the law during that ...

, and the band's agency was flooded with fan letters pleading for them not to disband. That autumn, they entered the studio to record their fifth studio album ''

Aku no Hana is the fifth studio album by the Japanese rock band Buck-Tick. It was released on cassette and CD on February 1, 1990, through Victor Entertainment. It peaked at number one on the Oricon charts and is the group's best-selling album to date. ...

''. When released in February 1990, it reached number one and became their best-selling album to date. Buck-Tick continued their success for more than 30 years, as nearly all of their subsequent albums have reached the top ten on the Oricon chart. This includes 2023's '' Izora'', their twenty-third studio album and last with

on vocals. Imai formed the duo

with Maki Fujii of

in 1991. They released the album ''

Switchblade A switchblade (also known as switch knife, automatic knife, pushbutton knife, ejector knife, flick knife, gravity knife, flick blade, or spring knife) is a pocketknife with a sliding or pivoting blade contained in the handle which is extended ...

'' in 1994 and were sporadically active until 1999. They reunited in 2015, and released their second album ''Ultra'' in 2016. In 2001, Imai and Sakurai teamed up with English and German industrial musicians

Raymond Watts Raymond is a male given name of Germanic origin. It was borrowed into English from French (older French spellings were Reimund and Raimund, whereas the modern English and French spellings are identical). It originated as the Germanic ᚱᚨᚷ� ...

and

Sascha Konietzko Sascha Kegel Konietzko (born 21 June 1961), also known as Sascha K and Käpt'n K, is a German musician and record producer. He is the founder, frontman and "anchor" of the industrial band KMFDM. Konietzko jokingly purports himself to be the fat ...

to form the supergroup

. They released one studio album, ''Schweinstein'', one remix album, '' Son of Schweinstein'', and held a Japanese tour, all before dissolving within the year. In 2004, Imai formed the rock trio Lucy with guitarist and vocalist Kiyoshi (

Spread Beaver , known professionally as hide, was a Japanese musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the rock band X Japan from 1987 to 1997 and rose to prominence in Asia as a solo artist f ...

, Machine) and drummer Katsushige Okazaki (Age of Punk). Both Imai and Kiyoshi provide guitar and vocals, and write music and lyrics for the group. Lucy has released two albums; ''Rockarollica'' and ''Rockarollica II'', three DVDs; ''Lucy Show - Shout, Speed, Shake Your Rockarollica'', ''Lucy Show 002 Live at Unit'' and ''Lucy Show 002 Live at Studio Coast'', and one single; "Bullets -Shooting Super Star-". However, they have been inactive since November 2008. In 2008, Imai announced on his blog that he got married. He announced the birth of his first child in August 2013. Imai has also appeared on/composed for Mika Kaneko's ''Kick'', Naoko Nozawa's ''Tonkichi Chinpei Kanta'',

Der Zibet Der Zibet (stylized as DER ZIBET) was a Japanese rock band formed in 1984. The group was made up of vocalist Issay, guitarist Hikaru, bassist Hal, and drummer Mayumi upon formation. Together, they released ten singles and twelve studio albums bef ...

's ''Shishunki II'',

's ''Million Mirrors'',

's ''Shinda Mono Hodo Aishite Yaru Sa'',

PIG The pig (''Sus domesticus''), also called swine (: swine) or hog, is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is named the domestic pig when distinguishing it from other members of the genus '' Sus''. Some authorities cons ...

's '' Sinsation'' and '' Wrecked'',

Yukinojo Mori , better known by his stage name , is a Japanese lyricist, composer and poet who is affiliated with Amuse, Inc. He has written over 2,500 songs for numerous artists such as Kyosuke Himuro, Takuro Yoshida and Junichi Inagaki and theme songs fo ...

's ''Tenshi no Ita Wakusei'' and ''Poetic Evolution ~With Eleven Guitarists~'',

Guniw Tools are a Japanese visual kei rock band. The band's theme is "Integrated Art Direction featuring visual images that come forth from sound."Acid Android Acid Android (stylized as ACID ANDROID and formerly as acid android) is the solo project of yukihiro, drummer of the Japanese rock band L'Arc-en-Ciel. While yukihiro provides the vocals and many of the instruments himself, he also utilizes many ...

's ''Code'', the compilation ''Tribute to The Star Club featuring Hikage'', and

Tomoyasu Hotei , also known simply as Hotei ( ), is a Japanese musician, singer-songwriter, composer, record producer and actor. With a career spanning more than 40 years, Hotei claims record sales of over 40 million copies and has collaborated with artists fr ...

's ''All Time Super Guest''. Together with Yukinojo Mori, Imai covered the song "

Eyes Love You "Eyes Love You" is the debut single by Japanese musician hide, released on August 5, 1993. It reached number 3 on the Oricon chart. His second single "50% & 50%" was released on the same day. Both singles' covers are identical except; "Eyes Love ...

" for the 2013

Hide Hide or hides may refer to: Common uses * Hide (skin), the cured skin of an animal * Bird hide, a structure for observing birds and other wildlife without causing disturbance * Gamekeeper's hide or hunting hide or hunting blind, a structure to hi ...

tribute album ''Tribute VII -Rock Spirits-''. Imai composed the song "Koisuru Christine" for the 2017 album ''Manyoshu'' by

Kishidan is a Japanese rock band. They have a retro image, wearing Japanese school uniforms in the style of bōsōzoku. The lead singer, Sho Ayanokoji (often styled as "Show Ayanocozey"), was DJ Ozma, until he retired in December 2008. Kishidan annou ...

, who then had Sakurai write the lyrics. Imai also composed the music to "Flower Tambourine Dance" for Kishow's 2024 album ''Shin'ya Reiji''.

Equipment

Imai has used numerous guitars throughout his career, but the vast majority have been

Fernandes Fernandes is a patronymic surname in the Portuguese- and Spanish-speaking countries. The name is a patronymic form of the Portuguese and Spanish personal name ''Fernando''. Fernandes is the 243rd most common surname in the world, the 3rd one in ...

, with whom he has many signature models. In Buck-Tick's indie years, after seeing fellow Gunma Prefecture-native

paint his guitars, Imai followed suit and painted a Fernandes TEJ black and red. After the band made their major label debut, Imai worked with Fernandes to design a custom model. First was the Tsuchinoko, which had a diamond-shaped body. But it was smaller than anticipated and he felt the balance was off, so they then created the BT-MM model, also known as . Imai wanted to play the guitar with a bow during live performances, so its appearance mimics the shape of a violin, including having

F-holes A sound hole is an opening in the body of a stringed musical instrument, usually the upper sound board. Sound holes have different shapes: * Round in flat-top guitars and traditional bowl-back mandolins; * F-holes in instruments from the viol ...

painted on it. The BT-MM was first used at the

Tokyo Dome is an indoor stadium in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. It was designed as a baseball stadium following its predecessor, Korakuen Stadium (whose former site is now occupied by the Tokyo Dome Hotel and a plaza for this stadium). In Japan, it is often us ...

in 1989, and has become the model he is most often associated with. Another of his signature model guitars is the Stabilizer, which he first used on the 1996 Chaos tour and has a very unusual shape in that it has a second piece (other than the neck) connecting the body to the headstock. During his time in the band Lucy (2004–2008), Imai and fellow guitarist Kiyoshi both used custom Fernandes guitars named Kanoke. As the

Romanized Japanese The romanization of Japanese is the use of Latin script to write the Japanese language. This method of writing is sometimes referred to in Japanese as . Japanese is normally written in a combination of logographic characters borrowed from Ch ...

name suggests, they are shaped like

coffin A coffin or casket is a funerary box used for viewing or keeping a corpse, for burial, entombment or cremation. Coffins are sometimes referred to as caskets, particularly in American English. A distinction is commonly drawn between "coffins" a ...

s. The manufacturer then released Imai's signature Dazzler model, modeled after the shape of a

mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...

, around the time of the album ''

Razzle Dazzle ''Razzle Dazzle'' is a Canadian children's television program produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation between October 2, 1961, and July 1, 1966. The series was initially co-hosted by Alan Hamel and Michele Finney, later replaced by ...

'' (2010). For the 30th anniversary of Buck-Tick's major label debut, Fernandes created the signature Gustave model for Imai. Largely similar to the BT-MM in appearance, albeit with a leopard paint job that lacks F-holes, it also takes elements from the Dazzler. The back of its neck has "BRAVO TANGO" written on it; representing the initials of his band's name in the

NATO phonetic alphabet The International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet or simply the Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet, commonly known as the NATO phonetic alphabet, is the most widely used set of clear-code words for communicating the letters of the Latin/Roman ...

Discography

;With Buck-Tick ;With Schaft ;With Schwein ;With Lucy *''Rockarollica'' (June 9, 2004)

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that ...

peak position: #16 *''Lucy Show - Shout, Speed, Shake Your Rockarollica'' (November 17, 2004) #35 *"Bullets -Shooting Super Star-" (March 29, 2006) #28 *''Rockarollica II'' (April 26, 2006) #42 *''Lucy Show 002 Live at Unit'' (November 1, 2006) #52 *''Lucy Show 002 Live at Studio Coast'' (November 1, 2006) #46

References

External links

Official blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Imai, Hisashi 1965 births Living people Buck-Tick members Visual kei musicians Japanese rock guitarists Japanese male rock singers Musicians from Gunma Prefecture Schwein members Japanese male songwriters 20th-century Japanese guitarists 21st-century Japanese guitarists