Janne Da Arc was a Japanese

visual kei is a movement among Japanese musicians that is characterized by the use of varying levels of make-up, elaborate hair styles and flamboyant costumes, often, but not always, coupled with androgynous aesthetics, similar to Western glam rock. Som ...

rock band, formed in

Hirakata, Osaka 260px, Hirakata Park is a city in northeastern Osaka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 397,681 in 183075 households and a population density of 6100 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Hirak ...

in 1991. Although inactive since 2007, Janne Da Arc officially announced that they disbanded on April 1, 2019. The band's name is often seen shortened to either or "JDA".

Career

The band is currently signed to the Motorod record label, which is owned by

Avex Group is a Japanese entertainment conglomerate led by founder Max Matsuura and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1988, the company manages J-pop talents like Ayumi Hamasaki and internet sensation PikoTaro. It has also shifted into other ...

. They have released three indie albums, nine major-label albums (including single collections), 26 singles, and 14 DVDs. On May 9, 2006, they celebrated their tenth anniversary, the date marking when the final member, shuji, became an official member of the band. The band was not named after historical figure

Joan of Arc Joan of Arc (french: link=yes, Jeanne d'Arc, translit= �an daʁk} ; 1412 – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the corona ...

, despite their song "Kyuuseishu (Messiah)" being about her - yasu named the band after a character in the

manga Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is use ...

Devilman is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Go Nagai. The manga focuses on a high school student named Akira Fudo who absorbs the powers of the demon called " Amon" with help of his friend Ryo Asuka in order to battl ...

'' by

Go Nagai , better known by the pen name , is a Japanese manga artist and a prolific author of science fiction, fantasy, horror and erotica. He made his professional debut in 1967 with ''Meakashi Polikichi'', but is best known for creating popular 1970s ...

. A picture of the character can be seen on the art for the band's limited edition ''Janne Da Arc 10th Anniversary Indies Complete Box'', released March 15, 2006. Their sound is self-described as

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, ear ...

, but they played many musical styles such as

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

, hard rock and many others. Vocalist yasu takes many musical cues from his musical idol, Motoyuki "Morrie" Ōtsuka of the heavy metal band Dead End. However, the members of Janne Da Arc have proven themselves to be very versatile as well as proficient at their chosen instruments, and are influenced by many bands and musical styles. As of January 26, 2007, the members of Janne Da Arc are pursuing solo projects, concurrent with their work in the band. On May 19, 2009, they released a 10th Anniversary Complete Box Set. On April 1, 2019, Janne Da Arc officially disbanded due to legal matters with their bassist, ka-yu, and health problems of their vocalist, yasu. The announcement was made by agency Uprise Product and elaborated on the circumstances of ka-yu's departure. It noted that during the time the band was preparing for an announcement of a new album and a live tour last September, it had received documents addressed to ka-yu from a law firm. The announcement continued on saying that "if the contents of the document were true," then it represented "acts that went against society and what was right." As a result of these documents, the band decided to cease activity with any projects related to ka-yu.

Members

* yasu (Yasunori Hayashi), vocalist, born January 27, 1975 in Hirakata, Osaka, Japan. Favorite artists include Dead End and

Boøwy Boøwy ( ; stylized as BOØWY) was a Japanese rock band formed in Takasaki, Gunma in 1981. The classic lineup of vocalist Kyosuke Himuro, guitarist Tomoyasu Hotei, bassist Tsunematsu Matsui, and drummer Makoto Takahashi reached legendary sta ...

. yasu also plays the guitar and keyboard, the latter of which he uses to compose most of his music. In 2007 he started his solo project, Acid Black Cherry. * you (Yutaka Tsuda), guitarist, born July 24, 1974 in Kobe, Japan. Favorite artists include Unicorn and

Nuno Bettencourt Nuno Duarte Gil Mendes Bettencourt (born September 20, 1966) is a Portuguese-American guitarist, singer-songwriter, record producer, and businessman. He became known as the lead guitarist of the Boston rock band Extreme. He has also recorded a ...

. * ka-yu (Kazuyuki Matsumoto), bassist, born January 21, 1975 in Hirakata, Osaka, Japan. Favorite artists include Crazy Cool Joe (Dead End bassist) and Boøwy. ka-yu is characterized by his more

look in comparison to the rest of the band members. In 2010 he has announced the start of a new project called DAMIJAW, starting out with an album on April 28. *kiyo (Masanobu Kiyose), keyboardist, born June 27, 1974 in Hirakata, Osaka, Japan. Favorite artists include

Earth, Wind, and Fire Earth, Wind & Fire (EW&F or EWF) is an American band whose music spans the genres of jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, big band, Latin, and Afro pop. They are among the best-selling bands of all time, with sales of over 90 million r ...

and

Keith Emerson Keith Noel Emerson (2 November 1944 – 11 March 2016) was an English keyboardist, songwriter, and record producer. He played keyboards in a number of bands before finding his first commercial success with the Nice in the late 1960s. He became ...

. *shuji (Shuji Suematsu), drummer, born November 21, 1974 in Kobe, Japan. Favorite artists include

X Japan was a Japanese rock band from Chiba, formed in 1982 by drummer and pianist Yoshiki and lead vocalist Toshi. Starting as a predominantly power/ speed metal band with heavy symphonic elements, they later gravitated towards a progressive soun ...

and

Loudness In acoustics, loudness is the subjective perception of sound pressure. More formally, it is defined as, "That attribute of auditory sensation in terms of which sounds can be ordered on a scale extending from quiet to loud". The relation of phys ...

. All the members, with the exception of ka-yu, graduated from Hirakata West High School in the same class. For the release of their single ''Furimukeba...'', Janne Da Arc returned to their high school to give a special performance, which became the feature film ''Hirakata''.

Discography

Singles

*"Red Zone" - March 19, 1999 / June 20, 2001 *"Lunatic Gate" - September 22, 1999 * - January 13, 2000 *"Heaven's Place/Vanity" - April 12, 2000 * - June 26, 2000 *"Mysterious" - November 8, 2000 *"Dry?" - January 31, 2001 *"Neo Venus" - April 25, 2001 *"Seed" - July 25, 2001 * - October 24, 2001 *"Feel the Wind" - December 12, 2001 *"Shining Ray" - August 7, 2002 * - November 20, 2002 * - January 16, 2003 * - May 8, 2003 * - August 20, 2003 *"Freedom" - March 24, 2004 *"Kiss Me" - April 7, 2004 *"Dolls" - May 19, 2004 *"Romance" - May 26, 2004 *"Black Jack" - June 2, 2004 *"Love is Here" - November 17, 2004 * - January 19, 2005 - No. 2 * - May 18, 2005 */Destination" - February 8, 2006 - No. 2 *"Heaven/" - May 10, 2006 - No. 2 Ranked Platinum (selling more than 250,000 copies) by

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 ...

in 2008

EPs

* ''Dearly'' - April 17, 1998 * ''Resist'' - December 5, 1998 * ''Chaos Mode'' - March 17, 1999

Albums

;Videos * ''1999 Tour "Chaos Mode"'' (June 30, 1999) * ''5 Stories '' (September 27, 2000) * ''Fate or Fortune: Live at Budokan'' (March 28, 2001) * ''Six Clips'' (March 13, 2002) * ''100th Memorial Live Live Infinity 2002 at Budokan'' (December 26, 2002) ;DVDs * ''1999 Tour "Chaos Mode"'' (September 27, 2000) * ''5 Stories '' (September 27, 2000) * ''Fate or Fortune: Live at Budokan'' (March 28, 2001) * ''Six Clips'' (March 13, 2002) * ''100th Memorial Live: Live Infinity 2002 at Budokan'' (December 26, 2002) * ''Another Story Clips'' (March 19, 2003) * ''Singles Clips'' (November 12, 2003) * ''Danjiri Night'' (December 25, 2003) * ''Arcadia Clips'' (September 29, 2004) * ''Hirakata'' (February 16, 2005) * ''Live 2005 "Dearly" at Osaka-jō Hall 03.27'' (March 27, 2005) * ''10th Anniversary Special Live: Osaka Nanba Rockets 2006.5.9'' (September 20, 2006) * ''Live 2006 Dead or Alive: Saitama Super Arena 05.20'' (September 20, 2006) * ''Tour Joker 2005 at Budokan'' (March 25, 2009) ;Blu-ray * ''Tour Joker 2005 at Budokan'' (March 25, 2009) ;Box sets * ''Janne Da Arc 10th Anniversary Indies Complete Box (3CD, 1DVD)'' (March 15, 2006) * ''Janne Da Arc Major Debut 10th Anniversary Complete Box (6CD, 3DVD)'' (May 19, 2009)

References

External links

*
Avex's Janne Da Arc website
{{Authority control Japanese alternative rock groups Japanese hard rock musical groups Japanese pop rock music groups Japanese progressive rock groups Musical groups established in 1991 Musical groups disestablished in 2019 Musical groups from Osaka Visual kei musical groups