is a Japanese alternative rock group from Sakura, Chiba. The band members are Motoo Fujiwara (vocals, rhythm), Hiroaki Masukawa (guitar), Yoshifumi Naoi (bass) and Hideo Masu (drums). Since their conception in 1994, they have released 28 singles and 10 albums. They are a popular group in Japan; every release since their third single, "Tentai Kansoku", has charted in the top ten on the Oricon Weekly Charts. Their music has been used in various video games and as theme songs for movies, television shows and anime in Japan.
Members NamePartDate of BirthBlood TypeMotoo FujiwaraVocal Guitar
Lyrics
CompositionApril 12, 1979Type OHiroaki MasukawaGuitar ChorusDecember 20, 1979Type AYoshifumi NaoiBass ChorusOctober 9, 1979Type AHideo MasuDrums ChorusAugust 10, 1979Type A
History The four members of BUMP OF CHICKEN have known each other since kindergarten, although at that time, Fujiwara, Naoi, and Masukawa did not know Masu. After graduating from kindergarten, Naoi, Masu, and Masukawa attended the same elementary school, Sakura City Usui Elementary School. Later, they all attended the same middle school, Sakura City Usui Nishi Junior High School, where they reunited.
In 1994, during their third year of middle school, they formed a band for the school's cultural festival (the band's original name was "Hage Band"), playing a cover of The Beatles' version of "Twist and Shout". At the time, Masukawa did not play guitar, and his role was more akin to a staff member, assisting with tasks like raising and lowering the curtains.
By 1995, the band began performing original songs and participated in various competitions. Eventually, Masukawa was officially added to the band as the guitarist.
On February 11, 1996, the band officially became the current lineup and changed their name to BUMP OF CHICKEN (the name was chosen to mean "the retaliation of the weak" or "the strike of the coward"). The band later designated this date as their "formation anniversary".
After a brief hiatus to focus on Masukawa and Masu's university entrance exams, the band resumed activities in June 1998, performing as the live band for the theater production Hashiru Onna by the theater company "Switch". Fujiwara also composed about six songs for the performance.
On October 24, 1998, BUMP OF CHICKEN released their first CD demo, titled BUMP OF CHICKEN, limited to 500 copies. The demo sold out in just one month.
1999–2000: "FLAME VEIN" and "THE LIVING DEAD" In 1999, BUMP OF CHICKEN released their debut album, FLAME VEIN on High Line Records. Later that year, they released their first single, "Lamp". In 2000, they released THE LIVING DEAD, their final release on High Line. They also held their first live tour, "", during March and April.
Later in 2000, the group switched to Toy's Factory, releasing their first single on the label, "Diamond", in September.
2000–2002: "jupiter" BUMP OF CHICKEN's first big success occurred when their single, "Tentai Kansoku", appeared on the Oricon Weekly Charts in 2001. They held two live tours, " 2001" beginning in March and "Surf Porkin'" beginning in July. In October, they released "Harujion". They released their first album on Toy's Factory, jupiter, in February 2002 and it was their first number one on the Oricon Weekly Charts. In the summer of 2002, their music was featured on the Japanese TV drama Tentai Kansoku, giving them more exposure.
At the end of 2002, the group released the single "Snow Smile".
2002–2004: "Yggdrasil" In 2003, BUMP OF CHICKEN saw the release of their first double A-side single "Lost Man/sailing day". "sailing day" was used as the ending theme to the animated movie One Piece: Dead End Adventure. The beginning of 2004 saw a slew of re-releases. "Arue", from their album FLAME VEIN, was released as a single in March. They re-released their first two albums in April. FLAME VEIN received an extra song and was re-released as FLAME VEIN +1. THE LIVING DEAD received no modifications. In July, the group released "Only Lonely Glory", which became their first single to chart at number one on the Oricon Weekly Charts. A month later, they released their fourth album, Yggdrasil, which was their second album to reach number one on the Oricon Weekly Charts. Shortly after, they released "Sharin no Uta", from Yggdrasil, as a single.
2005–2007: "orbital period" In 2005, BUMP OF CHICKEN released two singles, "Planetarium" and second double A-side single "supernova/Karma". Karma was used as the theme song for Namco's "Tales of the Abyss". The band's next single, "Namida no Furusato" was used in a commercial for Lotte Airs. It became the group's second number one single. In 2007, they released the singles "Hana no Na" and "Mayday" on the same day. The two singles reached number one and two respectively on the Oricon Weekly Charts. BUMP OF CHICKEN released their fifth studio album, orbital period, on December 19, 2007. They released their first compilation album present from you on June 18, 2008. This album contains b-sides from singles and other non-album tracks.
2008–2010："COSMONAUT" On November 25, 2009, BUMP OF CHICKEN released its third double A-side single "R.I.P./Merry Christmas", their first single in two years. On April 14, 2010, they released "HAPPY" and then in the following week, another single, "Mahō no Ryōri (Kimi kara Kimi e)". These two singles also reached number one consecutively for two weeks on the Oricon Weekly Charts, the first time a band achieved this since Orange Range's "Love Parade" and "Onegai! Señorita" in 2005. They released a fourth double A-side single "Uchūhikōshi e no Tegami/Motorcycle" on October 13, 2010, and they released a music video for the song on Toy's Factory's YouTube channel on September 14, 2010, which surpassed 200,000 views in two days. On December 15, 2010, they released their sixth studio album, COSMONAUT but it did not feature the song "Merry Christmas".
2011–2014: "RAY" In 2011, BUMP OF CHICKEN announced that they wrote the song "Tomodachi no Uta" as the theme song for the animated 3D movie Doraemon: Nobita and the New Steel Troops: ~Angel Wings~, and "Tomodachi no Uta" was released as the single on February 23, 2011. They also released two singles, "Smile" on May 11, 2011, with all revenue from the ringtone and CD sales donated to the Japan Red Cross for victims of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. On October 19, 2011, they released their 21st single "Zero", which was used as the theme song for video game by Square Enix, Final Fantasy Type-0. It achieved over 200,000 sales, marking their highest sales since "Hana no Na" and "Mayday".
Also in 2012, they released two more singles "Good Luck" in January 18, which earned their seventh No.1 spot on the Oricon Single Chart. On September 12, they release "firefly", which was used as the theme song for the Japanese drama , marking their first ever TV drama theme song.
On July 3, 2013, BUMP OF CHICKEN released their first best-of albums, BUMP OF CHICKEN I <1999–2004> and BUMP OF CHICKEN II <2005–2010> and held their first stadium live at QVC Marine Field in Chiba on August 9, 2013 that was live streamed fully in YouTube. The band also released a new single "Niji o Matsu Hito", featured in the live-action movie Gatchaman, as a digital-only release on August 21, 2013.
From September 9, 2013, BUMP OF CHICKEN started their arena tour WILLPOLIS 2013, with the final shows held at Nippon Budokan on October 28 and 29. During the tour's final show, the band announced the release of their new album RAY, scheduled for late January 2014.
On March 12, 2014, BUMP OF CHICKEN released RAY, their first original album in over three years. On the same day, the band released a special version of the song "ray", featuring Hatsune Miku, marking the band's first collaboration with a featured artist.
On March 20, 2014 it was announced that lead vocalist Fujiwara had been hospitalized for pneumothorax. As a result, the band's solo concert scheduled for March 31, 2014, in Shin-Kiba was postponed to July 15, 2014. Despite concerns about Fujiwara's health, the band continued their WILLPOLIS 2014 tour, which began on April 5, 2014. The tour included a performance in Taiwan on June 28 and concluded with a Tokyo Dome show on July 31.
On August 1, 2014, they released the digital-only single "You were here", and also made their first appearance on the TV show Music Station on July 25, 2014.
The WILLPOLIS 2014 tour's progress, particularly the Tokyo Dome show, was featured in a documentary broadcast by NHK in October 2014. Additionally, on December 5, 2014, the band released their first documentary film, BUMP OF CHICKEN "WILLPOLIS 2014" Theater Version.
2014–2016: "Butterflies" On November 28, 2014, BUMP OF CHICKEN released "Fighter", a digital-only single written as a collaboration with the manga March Comes In like a Lion. The song was also included as part of the special edition of March Comes In like a Lion Volume 10, published by Hakusensha. Later that year, on November 29, 2014, the band released "Parade", written for the film Parasyte, as another digital-only single.
On April 22, 2015, the band released the double A-side single "Hello, world!/ Colony", marking a major commercial success with over 200,000 copies sold. As part of the release, special live performances were held on July 30 at Intex Osaka and August 4 at Yokohama Arena. Due to high demand, the Yokohama concert was also live-streamed to cinemas nationwide, attracting 47,000 viewers, marking the band's first-ever live screening event.
On December 31, 2015, BUMP OF CHICKEN performed for the first time at the 66th NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen, where they sang "RAY" live from the Countdown Japan 15/16 venue.
On February 10, 2016, the band released their sixth studio album Butterflies, which debuted at No. 1 on the Oricon Weekly Albums Chart and also became the first BUMP OF CHICKEN album to reach the No. 1 position on the Monthly Albums Chart. The following day, they held their 20th anniversary special live 20 at Makuhari Messe in Chiba, drawing 25,000 attendees. The performance was later released as the BUMP OF CHICKEN 20th Anniversary Special Live "20" DVD/Blu-RAY on July 13, 2016.
Starting in April 2016, the band launched their first-ever stadium tour, BUMP OF CHICKEN Stadium Tour 2016 "BFLY", which toured six venues, attracting a total of 280,000 people. The final show at Nissan Stadium in Yokohama drew 140,000 attendees across two days. This performance was recorded and released as BUMP OF CHICKEN Stadium Tour 2016 "BFLY" Nissan Stadium 2016/7/16,17 on December 21, 2016.
The band also made multiple appearances on NHK’s SONGS music program in December 2015 and February 2016, with hundreds of requests for re-broadcasts. In May 2016, an edited "Complete Version" of their performance was aired. On June 17, 2016, the music video for ""Hōseki ni Natta Hi" (宝石になった日, Those Days Became Jewels), from Butterflies, was released.
2016–2019: aurora arc In July 2016, BUMP OF CHICKEN provided the theme song "Aria" for the TBS drama Aogeba Tōtoshi, which was released digitally on August 17, 2016. Later that year, they provided the opening theme song "Answer" and the ending theme song "Fighter" for the anime March Comes In like a Lion, with "Answer" released as a digital single on December 21, 2016. In April 2017, the band contributed the opening theme song "GO" for Granblue Fantasy: The Animation, and a commercial for the game also aired in May 2017.