Sekai no Owari (literally translated, "End of the World"; stylized in

all caps In typography, text or font in all caps (short for "all capitals") contains capital letters without any lowercase letters. For example: All-caps text can be seen in legal documents, advertisements, newspaper headlines, and the titles on book co ...

) is a Japanese pop band from Tokyo. The band was formed in 2005 and has four members: Nakajin, Fukase, Saori, and DJ Love. Since their debut, they have released 7 albums and various singles as well as featuring in their own documentary film ''Tokyo Fantasy''. The band has performed at Nissan Stadium, Japan's largest concert venue, and are currently considered to be one of the biggest music acts from Japan. The band members have also produced and written content for several Japanese singers and groups, and lead vocalist Fukase has inspired a synthesized

Vocaloid is a singing Speech synthesis, voice synthesizer software product. Its signal processing part was developed through a joint research project between Yamaha Corporation and the Music Technology Group at Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona. The s ...

character of himself. The band has collaborated with other artists such as

DNCE DNCE is an American dance-rock band consisting of lead singer Joe Jonas, drummer Jack Lawless, and guitarist JinJoo Lee. Bassist and keyboardist Cole Whittle was a part of the band from when it started in 2015 to when it went on hiatus in 2018. ...

Owl City Owl City is an American electronic music project created in 2007 in Owatonna, Minnesota. It is one of several projects by singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Adam Young (American musician), Adam Young, who created the project while exp ...

Nicky Romero Nick Rotteveel (; born 6 January 1989), professionally known as Nicky Romero or Monocule, is a Dutch DJ, record producer and remixer from Amerongen, Utrecht Province. He has worked with, and received support from DJs, such as Tiësto, Fedde l ...

, Epik High,

Steve Aoki Steven Hiroyuki Aoki ( , ; born November 30, 1977) is an American DJ and record producer. In 2012, Pollstar designated Aoki as the highest-grossing electronic dance music artist in North America from tours. In 2024, Gold House recognized him as ...

, Marieme,

Niki __NOTOC__ Niki may refer to: People * Niki (given name) * Niki (singer) * Ni-Ki, member of the South Korean boy band Enhypen. Places * Niki, Hokkaido, a town in Japan * Niki, Florina, a village in Greece Other uses * Niki (airline), former ...

Clean Bandit Clean Bandit is an English electronic music group formed in Cambridge in 2008. They have achieved four number-one singles and six additional top-ten songs on the UK Official Singles Chart. Since 2016, the group has been a trio comprising foundi ...

Gabrielle Aplin Gabrielle Ann Aplin (born 10 October 1992) is an English singer-songwriter. After amassing a following for her acoustic music covers on YouTube, Aplin signed a recording deal with Parlophone in February 2012. She rose to prominence the following ...

Haywyre Martin Sebastian Vogt (born August 8, 1992), better known by his stage name Haywyre, is an American electronic music producer, pianist, and performer. He is known for fusing elements of classical, jazz and funk into various genres of electronic ...

and

Aloe Blacc Egbert Nathaniel Dawkins III (born January 7, 1979), known professionally as Aloe Blacc (), is an American singer and rapper. He is known for his guest performance on Avicii's 2013 single "Wake Me Up (Avicii song), Wake Me Up", which peaked on ...

History

2007–2009: Formation and indie debut

Fukase and Saori knew each other since kindergarten and met Nakajin in primary school. Together the three began a cover band at an early age while still in high school inspired by senior professional bands such as

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 ...

. Later, they met DJ Love who was added to original line-up as a DJ, replacing Fukase who was meant to take on the concept of a clown, and Fukase became the lead vocalist while Nakajin and Saori became the guitarist and pianist of the band, respectively. Starting out as an indie band, they performed their first live concert at their own-made

live house A is a Japanese live music club – a music venue featuring live music. The term is a Japanese coinage ( wasei eigo) and is mainly used in East Asia. It most frequently refers to smaller venues, which may double as bars, especially featuring ...

"Club Earth" with 15 people attending. The band self-produced their first demo, ''Sekai no Owari'', with a limited edition of 1,000 copies. Fukase, vocalist, named the band ''Sekai no Owari'' because "Once you've experienced the bottom, you have to find a way to go up. So I named my band ''End of the World'' to create the strength neededthrough the music."

2010–2011: First album, Nippon Budokan and major label debut

Sekai no Owari released their first album ''Earth'' under the independent label Lastrum in 2010. The album reached number 15 in the

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 ...

Weekly Album charts and the band started to become popular in the Japanese indie scene. The band started touring Japan with their first two tours "Heart the Earth Tour" and "One-Man fall tour" while simultaneously releasing their first double A-side single "Tenshi to Akuma/Fantasy", which peaked at number 8 on the Oricon Single charts. In August 2011, Sekai no Owari performed a solo 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 ...

and signed to the major label

Toy's Factory is a Japanese record label founded in the late 1980s as a subsidiary of the entertainment company VAP, based in Japan. On May 30, 1990, it was established as an independent company. It is an associate member of the Recording Industry Assoc ...

. The band changed their original name '世界の終わり(Sekai no Owari)' to the romanized version Sekai no Owari.

2012–2014: ''Entertainment'', nationwide tours and increasing popularity

After signing to Toy's Factory, Sekai no Owari released two singles in 2011. The singles titled "Inori" and "Starlight Parade" reached number 13 and 16 respectively. The band embarked in their next tour "Sekai no Owari Tour 2011". The next year they released their next single "Nemurihime" (眠り姫, "Sleeping Beauty") which reached number 4 in the Oricon Single charts and was set to be included in the new album the band was working on. In July 2012, the band released their second album and first major studio album ''Entertainment'' which reached number 2 in the Oricon charts. To support the album release, the band also toured "Arena Tour 2013 Entertainment in Kokuritsu Yoyogi Daiichi Taiikukan" and "Arena Tour 2013 Entertainment"''.'' The band went on to release two more singles in 2013, the first 'RPG' reached number 2 in the Oricon charts and number 1 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 and was later given the double platinum certification 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 prom ...

for over 250,000 copies sold. The second single "Death Disco" was released as a digital single only and reached number 20 in the Billboard Japan Hot 100. In 2013, they performed their first-ever outdoor-live-event, "Fire and Forest Carnival", gathering a total of 60,000 people, their largest audience at that moment. After finishing their tour activities, Sekai no Owari resumed recording activities releasing three different singles during 2014. The first single "Snow Magic Fantasy" reached number 1 and was certified gold by the RIAJ. The next single "Honou to Mori no Carnival" (炎と森のカーニバル, "The Flame and Forest Carnival") was released almost three months after and reached number 2 in the Oricon charts being certified gold once again by the RIAJ. In October 2014, the band collaborated with

on a new song, titled "Tokyo". It was released on Republic Records, a division of UMG Recordings, Inc. The song was later put on Owl City's fifth studio album, ''

Mobile Orchestra ''Mobile Orchestra'' is the fifth studio album by American electronica project Owl City, which was released on July 10, 2015. The album debuted at number 11 on the Billboard 200, ''Billboard'' 200. This is the project's last album under Republic ...

'', in Japan. In November, they released a single "Dragon Night", which was produced by Dutch DJ

. On August 15, 2014, ''Tokyo Fantasy'', a 90-minute film featuring the band members was released nationwide in Japan. It was directed by French filmmaker Raphaël Frydman and later made available on DVD.

2015–present: ''Tree'', overseas activities and international debut

In January 2015, Sekai no Owari released their third album, ''

Tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...

'' 2 years and 7 months after their previous album. The album topped the chart at No. 1, and reached 1 million sales in total of physical sales and digital downloads. In June 2015, an English version of their hit song "Dragon Night" was released in their YouTube channel in June. In July 2015, Sekai no Owari held a two-day show, "Twilight City"'','' at

Nissan Stadium Nissan Stadium may refer to: * Nissan Stadium (Nashville) * Nissan Stadium (Yokohama) The , currently known as for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, which opened in March 1998. It is ...

. "Twilight City" was a two-day event with attendance of 140,000 and is to date their biggest audience received. American pop-star Austin Mahone joined the show as a guest act. Their following singles "Anti-Hero" and "SOS" were used as the theme songs of the movies ''

Attack on Titan is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hajime Isayama. It is set in a world where humanity is forced to live in cities surrounded by three enormous walls that protect them from gigantic man-eating humanoids referred to a ...

'' and ''Attack on Titan: End of the World'', respectively and they both sold 100,000 copies with 'SOS' reaching again number one in the Oricon album charts being the third time the band achieves so. Both songs are performed fully in English. In August 2015, it was announced that a

vocal for the Vocaloid 4 engine based on Fukase would be produced. End of the World 2016

In September 2015, Sekai no Owari became the first Japanese act to perform for MTV World Stage Malaysia 2015 in front of 20,000 people. They performed 5 songs: Anti-Hero, Death Disco, SOS, Mr. Heartache and Dragon Night. Later on Sekai no Owari held a special live event in Taiwan supported by KKBOX and was also invited to perform at Taiwan's prestigious 'KKBOX Music Awards' representing Japan. In March 2016, Sekai no Owari announced their plans to debut in the United States and work on an English language album that was initially planned for 2017. In December 2018, the members announced on social media that their English album, ''Chameleon'', would be released in spring 2019 using the English version of their name "End of the World", working with famous producers

, and

. The band released two Japanese albums on February 27, 2019: ''

Eye An eye is a sensory organ that allows an organism to perceive visual information. It detects light and converts it into electro-chemical impulses in neurons (neurones). It is part of an organism's visual system. In higher organisms, the ey ...

'' (showcasing the band's wild side) and ''

Lip The lips are a horizontal pair of soft appendages attached to the jaws and are the most visible part of the mouth of many animals, including humans. Mammal lips are soft, movable and serve to facilitate the ingestion of food (e.g. sucklin ...

'' (featuring their signature pop sound). ''Chameleon'' was released on November 27, 2020. On December 30, 2022, "

Habit A habit (or wont, as a humorous and formal term) is a routine of behavior that is repeated regularly and tends to occur subconsciously. A 1903 paper in the '' American Journal of Psychology'' defined a "habit, from the standpoint of psychology, ...

" earned Sekai no Owari the Grand Prix at the 64th Japan Record Awards. Their song "Present" was in the Japanese dub of

Inside Out 2 ''Inside Out 2'' is a 2024 American animated coming-of-age film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. The sequel to '' Inside Out'' (2015), it was directed by Kelsey Mann and was produced by Mark Nielsen, from a screen ...

Musical style

Sekai no Owari started as an

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 ...

band but later adopted concepts of

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 experimented with other genres. The band expressed their wish to "not to be thrown into any particular box..." and attempted to develop a diverse style. The band's music ranges from electro-pop to

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

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 ...

and

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

, merging them into a fantasy-inspired concept. Sekai no Owari performs internationally as "End of the World". They have a number of songs which are in English, in order to better reach an international audience. The band has stated in interviews that they feel a non-Japanese audience will not connect as well with Japanese (language) music, and so they try to write English language music from a different perspective. Guitarist and sound producer Nakajin has also contributed vocals. He wrote and performed "Tonight" and "Honou no Senshi" (lit. "warrior of flame"), from Sekai no Owari's second album, ''Entertainment'', as well as "Goodbye," from their album ''Lip'', and "Doppelganger," from their album ''Eye''. Nakajin also performed vocals on and wrote the lyrics for "Kaleidoscope," a B-side track from the 2020 single "silent." Sekai no Owari's 2021 album ''scent of memory'' also features a solo song from Nakajin, titled "Masayume."

Band members

* Nakajin – Shinichi Nakashima (中島真一, ''Nakashima Shinichi) –'' leader, vocals, chorus, sound production, guitar, stringed instruments * Fukase – Satoshi Fukase (深瀬慧, ''Fukase Satoshi) –'' vocals, group conceptor, guitar, bass * Saori – Saori Ikeda (池田彩織, ''Ikeda Saori'') piano, accordion, stage production * DJ LOVE – real name unknown – DJ, drums, sound choice, comedic talk, bass

Discography

Album

*''Earth'' (2010) *''Entertainment'' (2012) *''

'' (2015) *''

'' (2019) *''

'' (2019) *''Chameleon'' nd of the World(2020) *''scent of memory'' (2021) *''Nautilus'' (2024)

Tours

Japan tours

* ''Heart the eartH Tour'' (2010) * ''One-Man Fall Tour'' (2010) * ''Sekai No Owari at Nippon Budokan!!! (2011) '' * ''Sekai no Owari Tour'' 2011 (2011) * ''Sekai no Owari Zepp Tour 2012 "Entertainment"'' (2012) * ''Sekai no Owari Hall Tour 2012 "Entertainment"'' (2012) * ''Sekai no Owari Arena Tour 2013 "Entertainment"'' (2013) * ''Fire and Forest Carnival'' (2013) * ''Arena Tour "Fire and Forest Carnival: Starland Edition"'' (2014) * ''Tokyo Fantasy'' ith Owl City(2014) * ''Twilight City'' ith Austin Mahone(2015) * ''The Dinner Tour'' (2016) * ''Tarkus Tour'' (2017) * ''INSOMNIA TRAIN Tour'' (2018) * ''The Colors Tour '' (2019) * ~~''Sekai No Owari Dome Tour 2020 "Du Gara Di Du"'' (2020)~~ → Cancelled (due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

) * ''Sekai No Owari Tour 2021-2022 "Blue Planet Orchestra" (2021)'' * ''Sekai No Owari Dome Tour 2022 "Du Gara Di Du" (2022)'' * ''Sekai No Owari Fanclub Tour 2023 "Fafrotskies ~The Fan~" (2023)'' * ''Sekai No Owari Zepp Tour 2023 "Terminal" (2023)'' * ''Sekai No Owari Arena Tour 2024 "Shinkai (Deep sea in Japanese)" (2024)'' * ''Sekai No Owari Fanclub Tour 2025 "Instant Radio" (2025)''

World tours

* ''Sekai no Owari U.S Tour'' (2016) * ''The Colors Asia Tour 2019'' (2019) * ''Phoenix Asia Tour 2025'' (2025)

Festivals and events

* ''

Summer Sonic Festival is an annual music festival held on one weekend in August simultaneously in both Chiba and Osaka, Japan. The festival features revolving lineups performing one day in Osaka then performing the next day in Chiba and vice-versa. The lineup often ...

'' (2014) * '' MTV World Stage Malaysia'' (2015) * ''Sekai no Owari Special Live Show'' in Taiwan (2015) * '' KKBOX Music Awards'' (2016) * '' Jisan Valley Rock Festival South Korea'' (2016) * '' Concrete & Grass Music Festival'' in Shanghai (2016) * '' Clockenflap Music and Arts Festival Hong Kong'' (2016)

Awards

References

External links

* {{Authority control Toy's Factory artists Japanese rock music groups Japanese musical quartets Musical groups from Tokyo 2007 establishments in Japan Musical groups established in 2007 MAMA Award winners Dance-rock musical groups Virgin Records artists Vocaloid voice providers