Sayonara: Do As Infinity

Tonight, the World of Jedicraft goes slightly interactive with some music clips for you. The reason for this is to discuss one of my favorite Japanese bands: Do As Infinity. I just found out (I’m a little slow in the music news) that the band announced their breakup in the end of September last year (2005) and had their last concert at the Nippon Budokan in late November of the same year. Thus, it’s been a very emotional day...

Do As Infinity was formed in 1999 by Dai Nagao, a talented song writer who was writing under the AVEX Records label for some Japanese pop stars including Ayumi Hamasaki and hitomi, Nagao was given the opportunity to do something he always wanted to: form a rock band. Extensive auditioning brought in the awesome Ryo Owatari as guitarist and the beautiful (both in appearance and vocally) Tomiko Van for lead vocal.The group spent most of 1999 as most starting Japanese bands do, playing outdoor live, free concerts in popular areas of Tokyo, such as Shibuya, hot on the heels of their smash hit first single: Tangerine Dream.

The next years brought fame and popularity to the trio as their singles topped the charts all around Asian (especially Shinjitsu no Uta which was more popular in China than in Japan). Other big hits include: Hi no Ataru Sakamichi, SUMMER DAYS, Rauken, Boukenshatachi, Under the Sun/Under the Moon (two connected songs) and For the Future. Additionally some songs were used in other forms of media: anyone who watched Vampire Hunter D will recognize Tooku Made, InuYasha fans know Week!, rumble fish was used as the theme for the movie Kamen Gauken (Turtle University??), and their final single, TAO, was the theme in the game Tales of Legendia.

So what happened? Many believe Dai never fully committed to the band later on during its six year run. While he wrote 95% of the songs and helped to manage the band, his other responsibilities at AVEX frequently occupied his time; no example is truer than then the band played in here in NYC without him. By 2005, he had become less of a staple at concerts and live appearances.

The trio have now parted, their last song TAO, talks about saying goodbye to good friends, but all is not lost. Tomiko Van is starting a solo career, her first album is expected to be out in February, while Ryo Owatari has started a new band called Missile Innovation, also expected to debut around February. Dai continues to write many of the popular songs today in Japan. The band is finished, but still have an intensive following worldwide, including here in the US, where a quick google of the band’s name reveals a large number of fan sites and wannabe husbands of Tomiko Van. Tomiko Van! Okay, I needed to put in two more links! Sue me for providing you with more reading material!

Wisdom of the Day: Being socialable is tough; much easier to be a hermit.