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 ...

wimp WiMP is a music streaming service available on mobile devices, tablets, network players and computers. WiMP, standing for "Wireless Music Player," was a music streaming service that emphasized high-quality audio. WiMP offered music and podcast ...

Dada Dada () or Dadaism was an anti-establishment art movement that developed in 1915 in the context of the Great War and the earlier anti-art movement. Early centers for dadaism included Zürich and Berlin. Within a few years, the movement had s ...

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 ...

Your Name is a 2016 Japanese animated romantic fantasy film written and directed by Makoto Shinkai, produced by CoMix Wave Films, and distributed by Toho. Inspired by the frequency of natural disasters in Japan, the film depicts the story of high scho ...

Weathering with You is a 2019 Japanese animated romantic fantasy film written and directed by Makoto Shinkai, produced by CoMix Wave Films and distributed by Toho. It follows a 16-year-old high school boy, Hodaka Morishima, who runs away from his troubled rur ...

Makoto Shinkai , known as , is a Japanese filmmaker and novelist. He is known for his anime feature films produced with CoMix Wave Films. Shinkai began his career as a video game animator with Nihon Falcom in 1996, and gained recognition as a filmmaker with ...

Kanagawa is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the List of Japanese prefectures by population, second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-dens ...

middle school Middle school, also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school, is an educational stage between primary school and secondary school. Afghanistan In Afghanistan, middle school includes g ...

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment The band's activities were initially centred on

Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...

, and their first performance took place on BB Street in

Kannai is a district in Naka Ward, Yokohama, Japan, bounded by the Ōoka River, JR Negishi Line, Nakamura River, and Yokohama waterfront. "Kannai" is not an official name of the area, but the common term of reference has been in use for over a century ...

district on 5 February 2002. At this point, guitarist Akira Kuwahara dropped out of high school in order to focus on the band. In September and August 2002, Radwimps partook in the Yokohama High School Music Festival and eventually won the grand prize for the competition with the song "Moshi mo". "Moshi mo" was released as the band's debut single in May 2003, with 10,000 copies pressed and sold for 100 yen each. Following this single, Radwimps toured the Yokohama area, including a performance as the sole act at Yokohama's Club 24West. The band released their debut album, '' Radwimps'', in July through independent label Newtraxx, featuring songs they wrote in middle school. The following August, after a guest appearance at the Yokohama High School Music Festival, the band went on hiatus for Noda and other members to focus on their school exams. Radwimps returned from hiatus in March 2004, though Kei Asō, Yūsuke Saiki, and Akio Shibafumi did not rejoin the group. To replace the musicians, the band added acquaintances, such as drummer Satoshi Yamaguchi and bassist Yusuke Takeda. Radwimps immediately began recording new songs, and by July had released a second single, "Kiseki", and performed a three-month Japan-wide tour. Right after the end of the tour, the band started work on their second album, '' Radwimps 2: Hatten Tojō'', which was finalized by the end of the year and released in March. Directly after the release, the group departed on a five-month and also performed at high-profile summer music festivals, such as Setstock, Rock in Japan, and Summer Sonic. During this time, the band released a third single, "Hexun / Kanashi", which was their first charting release.

2005–2006: Major record deal

In November 2005, the band made their major debut under Toshiba EMI, with the single "Nijūgoko-me no Senshokutai", followed by "EDP (Tonde Hi ni Iru Natsu no Kimi)" in January, both of which rose to the top 50. In shifting to a major label, Noda explained that the band took the same stance as they had as an independent group, and that "If we thought we were bigger on a major label, that would have been a big mistake". The band's third and first major-label album, '' Radwimps 3: Mujintō ni Motte Ikiwasureta Ichimai'', regraded 3 in March 2006, was a landmark in establishing their popularity, debuting at number 13 on

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 ...

's album charts. ''Radwimps 3'' saw a change in the band's musical style, allowing them to be more experimental in their sound. By the end of 2006, the band's popularity had increased significantly: their album '' Radwimps 4: Okazu no Gohan'', led by the top-20 singles " Futarigoto" and " Yūshinron" and the top-5 "Setsuna Rensa", debuted at number five and had an initial shipment of more than 100,000 copies. At this time, the band's older releases, such as ''Radwimps'', ''Radwimps 2'', and "Kiseki", began charting for the first time, with ''Radwimps'' eventually being certified Gold by the

Recording Industry Association of Japan 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 pro ...

. In the next three years, both ''Radwimps'' and ''Radwimps 2'' charted for approximately 100 weeks, and as of early 2011, ''Radwimps 3'' and ''Radwimps 4'' still continued to chart.

2008–2012: First number-one single

In 2008, the band achieved their first number-one single, with " Order Made", on the Oricon charts. Their 2009 album, '' Altocolony no Teiri'', sold around 213,000 copies in its first week, debuting at number two on the Oricon charts. The band achieved their second Oricon number-one single, "

Dada Dada () or Dadaism was an anti-establishment art movement that developed in 1915 in the context of the Great War and the earlier anti-art movement. Early centers for dadaism included Zürich and Berlin. Within a few years, the movement had s ...

", in 2011. In 2011, Radwimps released their sixth album, '' Zettai Zetsumei'', which debuted at number two on the Oricon charts and went on to be certified Platinum by the RIAJ. Following this release, the band embarked on their Zettai Enmei Tour throughout Japan from April to August 2011. On 11 March 2012, Radwimps released the single on YouTube, commemorating the one-year anniversary of 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 ...

.

2016–2020: International exposure

On 24 August 2016, Radwimps released the soundtrack album , to the

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

film of the same name, directed by

Makoto Shinkai , known as , is a Japanese filmmaker and novelist. He is known for his anime feature films produced with CoMix Wave Films. Shinkai began his career as a video game animator with Nihon Falcom in 1996, and gained recognition as a filmmaker with ...

. The film was an international success, further boosting the band's global profile and sending them to number two on the ''Billboard'' World Albums chart. The record also charted at number 16 on ''Billboard'' Heatseekers, and number 15 on ''Billboard''s Soundtrack Albums chart. In their home country of Japan, it was certified Double Platinum by the RIAJ, with over 500,000 copies sold, making it the band's best-selling album. It went on to win the Japan Record Special Award, the Japan Academy Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Music, and Soundtrack Album of the Year at the 31st

Japan Gold Disc Award The is an award presented by the Record music Industry Association of Japan in the field of music. The Japan Gold Disc Awards have multiple Grand Prix categories, including: Artist of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year (download and ...

s. Three months after that release, Radwimps returned with their ninth studio album, '' Human Bloom''. On 19 April 2017, while in the middle of their Human Bloom Tour, Radwimps performed as a guest act for

Coldplay Coldplay are a British Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer and percussionist Will Champion, and manager Phil Harvey (band m ...

's A Head Full of Dreams Tour at

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 the same month, they also added Singapore to their Asian tour. On 10 May 2017, Radwimps released the single "Saihate Ai ni / Sennou". At the end of 2018, they issued their next album, '' Anti Anti Generation'', featuring

Taka The taka (, , sign: , code: BDT, short form: Tk) is the currency of Bangladesh. In Unicode, it is encoded at . Issuance of banknotes 10 and larger is controlled by Bangladesh Bank, while the 2 and 5 govt. notes are the responsibility of the ...

of One Ok Rock, singer-songwriter

Aimyon is a Japanese singer and songwriter. Her agency is ENS Entertainment, and her label is Unborde under Warner Music Japan. Career Aimyon was influenced to become a singer-songwriter, because her grandmother aspired to be a singer or actress, ...

, Tabu Zombie of Soil & "Pimp" Sessions, and rapper Miyachi. The record produced three singles: "Saihate Aini / Brainwashing", "Mountain Top", and "Catharsis". The album peaked at number one on both Oricon and Japan's ''Billboard'' charts, receiving a Gold certification from the RIAJ for sales of 100,000 copies. The band followed it with their Anti Anti Generation Tour 2019, from June to August. In 2019, Radwimps provided music for Shinkai's next film, ''

Weathering with You is a 2019 Japanese animated romantic fantasy film written and directed by Makoto Shinkai, produced by CoMix Wave Films and distributed by Toho. It follows a 16-year-old high school boy, Hodaka Morishima, who runs away from his troubled rur ...

'', released on 19 July. The album debuted at number three on the

Oricon Albums Chart The Oricon Albums Chart is the Japanese music industry standard albums popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Oricon originally published LP, CT, Cartridge and CD charts prior to the establishment of the Oricon A ...

before peaking at number two in the following week. It won the 34th Japan Gold Disc Award for Animation Album of the Year, which made it the top-selling anime album of 2019, with more than 128,000 copies sold that year. It also won the 43rd Japan Academy Film Prize for Best Music and Best Soundtrack at the 24th Space Shower Music Awards. The band launched a world tour with stops in the United States, Canada, and Mexico in July 2020. However, the tour was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, and a planned Japan tour was postponed.

2020–2024: 15th anniversary

On 22 and 23 November 2020, Radwimps held a special fifteenth-anniversary concert 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 ...

. In September 2021, Akira Kuwahara announced that he would go on hiatus for an indefinite period of time, after the weekly magazine '' Shūkan Bunshun'' reported his extramarital affair with a former model. In 2022, Radwimps provided music for the film ''The Last Ten Years'', released on 4 March. The same year, the band also wrote music for Shinkai's film '' Suzume'', making this the third time they collaborated with the director. In October, Kuwahara returned to the band after his year-long hiatus. In 2024, the band embarked on a world tour, performing in multiple locations across Asia. In October of that year, they announced that they had parted ways with Kuwahara.

2025–present

On 31 March 2025, the band's track was used as the latest ending song for NTV's program ''News Zero''.

Side projects

Radwimps have also released music under the moniker Misoshiru's ("The Miso-Soups"), beginning with the song "Jennifer Yamada-san" from the 2006 single " Yūshinron". A band with a primarily

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

sound who perform disguised in Groucho glasses and red T-shirts, Misoshiru's released their debut album, ''Me So She Loose'', in March 2013. In 2008, Yojiro Noda acted as a record producer for the first time, writing and producing the song "Labrador" for singer Chara, which was used as the leading promotional track for her album ''

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 ...

''. During the recording sessions, Noda collaborated with musicians such as Nobuaki Kaneko (

Rize Rize (; ; ; ka, რიზე}; ) is a coastal city in the eastern part of the Black Sea Region of Turkey. It is the seat of Rize Province and Rize District.Bump of Chicken is a Japanese alternative rock group from Sakura, Chiba. The band members are Motoo Fujiwara (Vocalist, vocals, Rhythm guitar, rhythm), Hiroaki Masukawa (guitar), Yoshifumi Naoi (Bass guitar, bass) and Hideo Masu (Drum kit, drums). Since their c ...

), Susumu Nishikawa ( Diamond Head), and Koichi Tsutaya. In 2010, Radwimps took part in a special project called Terrakoya, a commemorative band formed for the ''EMI Rocks'' 50th anniversary of

EMI Music Japan , formerly , was one of Japan's leading music companies. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of British music company EMI Group Ltd. on June 30, 2007, after Toshiba sold off its previous 45% stake. Its CEO and president was Kazuhiko Koike. Wh ...

rock concert, featuring Radwimps along with Acidman, Fujifabric, Atsushi Horie ( Straightener), Susumu Nishikawa, The Telephones, and Kazuya Yoshii. The band released the song "Emi" in November, written by Noda in collaboration with Yoshii. Yojiro Noda made his solo debut under the name Illion in 2013 and released his debut album, '' Ubu'', on 25 February 2013, in the United Kingdom.

Songwriting

Lead vocalist Yojiro Noda writes all of the band's music and lyrics (the only exception currently is the bonus track "Yonaki" from ''Radwimps 4'', written by Akira Kuwahara). Almost all of Noda's lyrics are based on events he has experienced, or nonfictional events. "Enren" from ''Radwimps 4: Okazu no Gohan'', released in 2006, was the first fictional-themed song Noda wrote since the band formed.

Band members

Current members * – lead vocals , rhythm guitar * – bass guitar, backing vocals * – drums, backing vocals ;Former members * – rhythm guitar * – bass guitar * – drums * – lead guitar, backing vocals ;Touring members * – drums * – drums * – drums ;Timeline

Discography

* '' Radwimps'' (2003) * '' Radwimps 2: Hatten Tojō'' (2005) * '' Radwimps 3: Mujintō ni Motte Ikiwasureta Ichimai'' (2006) * '' Radwimps 4: Okazu no Gohan'' (2006) * '' Altocolony no Teiri'' (2009) * '' Zettai Zetsumei'' (2011) * '' Batsu to Maru to Tsumi to'' (2013) * '' Your Name.'' (2016) * '' Human Bloom'' (2016) * '' Anti Anti Generation'' (2018) * ''

Weathering with You is a 2019 Japanese animated romantic fantasy film written and directed by Makoto Shinkai, produced by CoMix Wave Films and distributed by Toho. It follows a 16-year-old high school boy, Hodaka Morishima, who runs away from his troubled rur ...

'' (2019) * '' Forever Daze'' (2021) * '' Suzume'' (with Kazuma Jinnouchi) (2022)

Tours

* (2005) * (2006) * (2006) * (2006) * (2007) * (2009) * (2011) * RADWIMPS Grand Prix (2014) * RADWIMPS 2015 Asia–Europe Live Tour (2015) * Human Bloom Tour (2017) * RADWIMPS Asia Live Tour (2017) * Road to Catharsis Tour (2018) * RADWIMPS Asia Live Tour (2018) * Anti Anti Generation Tour (2019) * Back to the Live House Tour (2023) * The Way You Yawn, and the Outcry of Peace (2024)

Awards and nominations

, - , rowspan="1" align="center", 2002
, rowspan="1", Radwimps, "Moshi mo" , Yokohama High School Music Festival , , - , rowspan="1" align="center", 2007
, rowspan="1", " Yūshinron" ,