is a Japanese musician, singer and songwriter. She is best known as lead guitarist of the all-female

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band

Scandal A scandal can be broadly defined as the strong social reactions of outrage, anger, or surprise, when accusations or rumours circulate or appear for some reason, regarding a person or persons who are perceived to have transgressed in some way a ...

since 2006. In addition to being a principal songwriter in the band, Mami occasionally sings lead vocals on songs such as "Koe" and "Oh! No!". In 2014, Mami and two of her bandmates became the first female Japanese musicians to have signature model guitars with Fender.

Early life

Mami was born on May 21, 1990, in

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is the list of cities in Japan, fourth-most populous city in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020, and the principal city of the Chūkyō metropolitan area, which is the List of ...

Aichi Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,461,111 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the ...

, Japan. She was enrolled at Caless, a voice and dance school, where she and her

bandmates met. Before making their debut, Mami appeared along with her future bandmate Tomomi and singer Yuya Matsushita in a TV commercial.

Career

Scandal was formed in 2006, when Mami was 16 years old. In 2008, they had their first releases on the independent label

Kitty Records Kitty Films Co., Ltd. (キティフィルム ''Kabushiki-gaisha Kiti Firumu'') was a production company established in 1972 in Japan. They were a pioneer in releasing full anime television series in a single set. The sound recording work by Ken' ...

before signing to

Epic Records Japan Epic Records Japan is a Japanese record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment Japan. Its founder was Shigeo Maruyama. Between 1978 and 1988 the label operated as a wholly owned subsidiary: Epic/Sony Inc. () was established in August 1978

and making their major label debut with "

Doll A doll is a physical model, model typically of a human or humanoid character, often used as a toy for children. Dolls have also been used in traditional religious rituals throughout the world. Traditional dolls made of materials such as clay and ...

" in October of that year. They won a Newcomer Award at the

51st Japan Record Awards The 51st Annual Japan Record Awards took place on December 30, 2009. TBS broadcast the event, which will take place again at New National Theatre in Shibuya, Tokyo. The nominations for the Awards were announced on December 1. Awards winners * ...

in 2009. Scandal performed a concert at the

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 ...

in March 2012, marking the fastest debut at the prestigious venue by a "girl band" in history. Mami and Scandal bassist Tomomi formed the

rap Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates " rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backin ...

duo in 2011. A music video for their song was included on Scandal's ''Video Action'' home video released that year. The Dobondobondo song "Cherry Jam" was included on a limited edition of Scandal's 2012 single " Taiyō Scandalous". In 2016, the duo's songs and were included on different limited editions of Scandal's single "Take Me Out". A music video for "Dobondobondo Dungeon" was included on Scandal's ''Video Action 2'' home video released later that year. Mami wrote and composed the 2017 song "Exceeeed!!" for the idol group Yumemiru Adolescence. She also composed and arranged the 2018 song "Story" for singer

Airi Suzuki is a Japanese singer, actress, model, and radio personality associated with Up-Front Works. In 2002, she joined Hello! Project as a member of Hello! Project Kids and later debuted as the lead vocalist of the Japanese idol girl group Cute (Japan ...

. Mami held her first solo performance as part of the Chōshidōkan ~Sō no Mori no Oto Shizuku~ event at

Maruyama Park is a park in Kyoto, Japan. It is noted as the main center for cherry blossom viewing in Kyoto, and can get extremely crowded at that time of year (April). The park's star attraction is a weeping cherry tree (''shidarezakura'') which becomes ...

on October 4, 2020.

Equipment

Mami mainly uses Fender guitars. She is closely associated with the

Stratocaster The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of double- cutaway electric guitar designed between 1952 and 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corporati ...

, such as her black American Standard Stratocaster HSS with colorful circles, but also has several signature models with them. In May 2014, Fender's

Squier Squier is an American brand of electric guitars owned by Fender. The former manufacturing company, established as "V. C. Squier Company" was founded in 1890 by Victor Carroll Squier in Battle Creek, Michigan, producing strings for violins, ban ...

brand released the Mami Jazzmaster Pearl White "Stratomaster". The "Stratomaster" nickname comes from the fact that it combines a

Jazzmaster The Fender Jazzmaster is an electric guitar designed as a more expensive sibling of the Fender Stratocaster. First introduced at the 1958 NAMM Convention, it was initially marketed to jazz guitarists, but found favor among surf rock guitarist ...

with elements of a Stratocaster. Models for two of her bandmates were released at the same time, making them the first female Japanese musicians to have signature model guitars with the company. In November 2017, it was announced that Mami had signed an endorsement contract with Fender. The Mami Stratocaster (R) model, which she had been using since July 2017, was released in December 2017. The red guitar with pearl pickguard was her first to have three single coil pickups. In August 2022, Fender released another Mami Stratocaster model, the Omochi. Its Mami Custom Humbucking Pickups feature an engraving of a geometric figure the guitarist designed herself. She named the guitar after

omochi A mochi ( ; Japanese ) is a Japanese rice cake made of , a short-grain japonica glutinous rice, and sometimes other ingredients such as water, sugar, and cornstarch. The steamed rice is pounded into paste and molded into the desired shape. ...

based on its vintage white color, pickup engraving, and sound.

Discography

;With Scandal *''

Best Scandal ''Best Scandal'' (stylized as BEST★SCANDAL) is the debut studio album of Japanese pop rock band Scandal. It was released in three versions with different covers: the regular CD only version, a limited version that consists of CD with DVD, and a ...

'' (2009) *''

Temptation Box ''Temptation Box'' is the second studio album by the Japanese band Scandal A scandal can be broadly defined as the strong social reactions of outrage, anger, or surprise, when accusations or rumours circulate or appear for some reason, regar ...

'' (2010) *''

Baby Action ''Baby Action'' is the third studio album by the Japanese rock band Scandal, released in 2011. The album reached No. 4 on the Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies stat ...

'' (2011) *'' Queens Are Trumps: Kirifuda wa Queen'' (2012) *''

Standard Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object ...

'' (2013) *''

Hello World Hello World may refer to: * "Hello, World!" program, a computer program that outputs or displays the message "Hello, World!" Music * "Hello World!" (composition), song by the Iamus computer * "Hello World" (Tremeloes song), 1969 * "Hello World" ...

'' (2014) *''

Yellow Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In t ...

'' (2016) *''

Honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several species of bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of pl ...

'' (2018) *'' Kiss from the Darkness'' (2020) *''

Mirror A mirror, also known as a looking glass, is an object that Reflection (physics), reflects an image. Light that bounces off a mirror forms an image of whatever is in front of it, which is then focused through the lens of the eye or a camera ...

'' (2022)

Bibliography

* ''Rock Study Go!!'' (September 25, 2013)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mami 1990 births 21st-century Japanese guitarists 21st-century Japanese women guitarists Living people Singers from Nagoya Japanese rock guitarists Japanese women rock singers Japanese women songwriters Sony Music Entertainment Japan artists Scandal (Japanese band) members Japanese lead guitarists