, better known by his pseudonym Kobametal, is a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

music producer under the talent agency

Amuse, Inc. is a Japanese entertainment company that provides artist management services. The artists include idols, musicians, and more. Amuse produces TV and radio programs, commercial films, and movies. Other interests are in publication, music softwar ...

He's also the CEO of Babymetal World LLC. He is best known as the producer and manager of the

kawaii metal Kawaii metal (also known as cute metal, J-pop metal, or kawaiicore) is a musical genre that blends elements of heavy metal and J-pop that was pioneered in Japan in the early 2010s. The genre combines both Eastern and Western influences that appe ...

group

Babymetal (stylized in all caps as BABYMETAL) is a Japanese kawaii metal band consisting of Suzuka Nakamoto as "Su-metal", Moa Kikuchi as "Moametal" and Momoko Okazaki as "Momometal". The band is produced by Kobametal from the Amuse Inc., Amuse talent a ...

Biography

Kobayashi's interest in

heavy metal music Heavy metal (or simply metal) is a Music genre, genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom and United States. With roots in blues rock, psychedelic rock and acid rock, heavy metal band ...

started around his sixth grade in elementary school after listening to the band

Seikima-II is a Japanese Heavy metal music, heavy metal band, formed in 1982. Throughout their career they have had numerous lineups, with lead singer Demon Kakka the sole constant member. The group has sold over 10 million records in Japan alone. The ...

. He joined Amuse in 1996 and spent the early years of his career doing media promotion for

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 " ...

bands such as

Siam Shade Siam Shade (stylized as SIAM SHADE) was a five-piece Japanese rock band, formed in Tokyo in 1991. The classic line-up of Hideki on vocals, Natchin on bass, Kazuma and Daita on guitar, and Jun-ji on drums broke onto the visual kei scene alongs ...

and

Cascade Cascade, or Cascading may refer to: Science and technology Science * Air shower (physics), a cascade (particle shower) of subatomic particles and ionized nuclei ** Particle shower, a cascade of secondary particles produced as the result of a high ...

. On March 14, 2009, he accompanied , a

patissier A pastry chef or pâtissier (; feminine pâtissière, ) is a station chef in a professional kitchen, skilled in the making of pastries, desserts, breads and other baked goods. They are employed in large hotels, bistros, restaurants, bakeries, by ...

-themed

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring two or more women in music, female singers who generally vocal harmony, harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female p ...

formed by Amuse in cooperation with the Japanese

Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries may refer to: * Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (Cambodia) * Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (Japan) * Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (Niue) * Depar ...

, in their appearance at the farewell concert of

Karen Girl's was a Japanese three-member girl group formed in 2008 by the Amuse, Inc., Amuse talent agency. The group performed songs for the anime ''Zettai Karen Children'' for the duration of the show. History Karen Girl's was formed from elementary schoo ...

, of which

Suzuka Nakamoto , known by her stage name Su-metal, is a Japanese singer. She is best known as a member of the kawaii metal band Babymetal, and was formerly a member of Karen Girl's and Sakura Gakuin. She is represented by the talent agency Amuse Inc. Early lif ...

was a member. After watching Nakamoto's performance, Kobayashi planned to launch a new musical unit combining

J-pop J-pop (often stylized in all caps; an abbreviated form of "Japanese popular music"), natively known simply as , is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1990s. Modern J-pop has its roots in trad ...

and heavy metal with her as the lead singer. Future Babymetal member

Yui Mizuno , formerly known by her stage name Yuimetal, is a Japanese musician, singer, and dancer. She is a former member of the kawaii metal group Babymetal and the idol group Sakura Gakuin. In October 2018, she left Babymetal due to an undisclosed illness ...

was also present at the concert. In 2010, the idol group

Sakura Gakuin was a Japanese idol girl group formed in 2010 by the Amuse talent agency. The group's membership fell within the age range of Japanese compulsory education, typically containing between 10 and 12 members at a time who fall between the ages of ...

was formed by Amuse with a theme of school life and club activities. One of the sub-units formed within the group was the Heavy Music Club, produced by Kobayashi, and Mini-Pati was also absorbed as the Cooking Club sub-unit. In February 2011, Amuse announced that the members of Heavy Music Club, namely Nakamoto, Mizuno, and

Moa Kikuchi , known by her stage name Moametal, is a Japanese singer and dancer. She is best known as a member of the kawaii metal band Babymetal, and was formerly a member of the idol group Sakura Gakuin. She is represented by the talent agency Amuse Inc ...

, would perform under the name Babymetal. On March 13, 2016, he received an Excellence Award from the Association of Media in Digital (AMD) in Japan for his success in promoting Babymetal internationally. In June 2022, Kobametal was appointed as a director of Kulture, Inc, an Amuse subsidiary which would handle the integration of new technologies such as the

metaverse The metaverse is a loosely defined term referring to virtual worlds in which users represented by avatars interact, usually in 3D and focused on social and economic connection. The term ''metaverse'' originated in the 1992 science fiction ...

and

NFT A non-fungible token (NFT) is a unique digital identifier that is recorded on a blockchain and is used to certify ownership and authenticity. It cannot be copied, substituted, or subdivided. The ownership of an NFT is recorded in the blockchai ...

into the entertainment industry. In April 2025, Kobametal was appointed as the CEO of Babymetal World LLC, a company established by Amuse in United States to expand Babymetal global activities.

References

Heavy metal producers Japanese record producers Amuse Inc. artists {{Music-producer-stub