(stylized in all caps) is a Japanese alternative rock band formed in Yokohama in 1996. For its entire career, the band has consisted of vocalist Masafumi Gotoh, guitarist Kensuke Kita, bassist Takahiro Yamada, and drummer Kiyoshi Ijichi. Starting out as a college band, Asian Kung-Fu Generation released a series of independent EPs featuring lyrics mostly sung in English. In 2002, they released their major-label EP debut Hōkai Amplifier, from that point singing their lyrics in Japanese. The band's musical style is influenced by seminal Western alternative rock acts as well as their own local Japanese indie rock and punk scene. Their songs incorporate various aspects of the genres, most typically expressing fast tempos and prominent power chord guitar riffs in addition to rhythmic groove and emotional lyrics. Despite the indie nature of their music, the band has enjoyed worldwide commercial success in addition to critical acclaim. Asian Kung-Fu Generation has been cited as one of the best, most balanced modern rock bands to emerge from Japan in the 2000s.
History
1996–2002: Formation and indie releases Asian Kung-Fu Generation was first formed in 1996 when Masafumi Gotoh, Kensuke Kita, and Takahiro Yamada met while attending a music club at Kanto Gakuin University, a private university in Yokohama, Japan. After realizing that they all shared similar musical tastes, the three decided to start their own band. Masafumi Gotoh became the lead vocalist and played rhythm guitar, Kensuke Kita played lead guitar and sang backup and Takahiro Yamada played bass. Drummer Kiyoshi Ijichi joined them later on after parting with another college band he was in. The four then began providing performances at their university as well as throughout the local Yokohama area. After graduating from college, following years of playing in several small venues and having collaborated with fellow Japanese rock musician Caramelman, AKFG released their first indie EP in 2000. The six-track EP contained original lyrics written and sung almost entirely in English. The four spent the remainder of the year playing in clubs and hosting independent events.
The year after, the band made an attempt to attain airplay on indie radio stations for their first Japanese single, . The song was eventually picked up by a popular radio DJ and put into heavy rotation on the station FM Yokohama upon the demand of listeners. AKFG then released another indie EP, I'm Standing Here. This time, however, the band wrote songs in Japanese. At this time, the band had begun drawing an increasingly large number of audiences to their shows held in clubs in the districts of Shibuya, Shimokitazawa, Kichijōji, and Tokyo.
2002–2004: Hōkai Amplifier and Kimi Tsunagi Five M
On November 25, 2002, after contributing to the Under Flowers Records compilation, Whatch You Gonna Do?, Asian Kung–Fu Generation officially released their first major-label mini-album, . The group enlisted internet radio host and graphic artist Yusuke Nakamura to design and compose their single and album covers. The critically acclaimed EP topped the High Line Records' weekly chart for two consecutive weeks and peaked at number thirty-five on the Oricon indies sales chart.
As a result of its success, Hōkai Amplifier was re-released on April 23, 2003, by the band's new record label, Ki/oon Records, a subsidiary of Sony Music Japan. A month later, AKFG held their first headline show at Shimokitazawa Club Shelter. That same summer, the band performed at the annual rock festivals of Fuji Rock Festival 03's "ROOKIE A GO GO" and Summer Sonic '03 in Tokyo and Osaka. On August 6, the band released their major-label debut single, , with their second single, , following shortly after. Days later, AKG held the first edition of what would become an annual festival, the Nano-Mugen Fes. The event took place on August 11 at the Shinjuku LOFT. The band followed it up by releasing their first full-length studio album, on November 19. The LP sold over 250,000 copies and landed in the number five spot on the Oricon charts in its first week. As their fame and following grew, fans began calling the band simply , an abbreviation of how the band's name is rendered in Japanese.
2004–2005: Sol-fa
As they entered 2004, AKFG received the award for Best New Artist while their video for "Kimi to Iu Hana" won the award for Best Music Video at the SPACE SHOWER Music Video Awards. From January 19 to February 25, AKG held their first headlining tour: Five Nano Seconds. The tour consisted of thirteen shows. On July 1, the band held their third ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION presents Nano-Mugen Festival at the Tokyo arena Nippon Budokan. Over the course of the following summer, the band played in more than ten summer rock festivals, including Meet The World Beat, Rock In Japan Fes 04, and Fuji Rock Festival 04.
Over the course of the year, the band released four more singles: , , and , before finally releasing their second full-length album, on October 20. The album debuted at number-one on the Oricon charts where it stayed for two consecutive weeks and eventually went on to sell more than 600,000 copies. The album received critical praise for its honed sound and high production quality, which thoroughly nullified the language barrier that frequently impeded non–Japanese-speaking audiences. This notion became evident following the domestic release of Sol-fa, when AKFG fans from around the world organized themselves and petitioned for copies of the second album to be distributed outside Japan. The support for Ajikan eventually resulted in Tofu Records striking a contract to release Sol-fa in the United States on October 18, 2005. Additionally, the song "Rewrite" found recognition both domestically as well as on an international level when it was chosen as the fourth opening theme for the anime series Fullmetal Alchemist. Around the same time, their song "Haruka Kanata" enjoyed similar recognition after being used for the second opening of the anime series Naruto. Asian Kung–Fu Generation spent the next two months on a national tour consisting of twelve shows called "Tour SUI CUP 2004 -No! Member, November." The tour included a prestigious headliner at Nippon Budokan arena. The four then released a year-end video DVD, izō Sakuhinshū Vol. 1 on November 26. The DVD is compilation of the music videos for all singles from "Haruka Kanata" to "Kimi no Machi Made," including a never before seen clip of "Siren." The video contains audio commentary for each song, a making-of featurette, and live footage derived from their concerts. In 2016, the song "Re:Re:" was rerecorded and used as the opening for the anime Erased.
2005–2007: Fanclub and Feedback File
Due in part to their growing recognition, Asian Kung-Fu Generation would dedicate a significant amount of time the next couple of years going on extensive national tours. Between March 14 and June 26 of 2005, AKFG went on an extensive sold-out Re:Re Tour, performing at forty-eight concerts in thirty-eight cities throughout Japan. At the same time, the band released their second DVD, Eizō Sakuhinshū Vol. 2: Live at Budokan +. The two-disc video was the band's very first live DVD, as the first disc contains live footage of the entirety of the final show of their "Tour Suihai 2004 - No!Member, November-," at Budokan, where they performed before an audience of over 10,000 people on December 5, 2004. Meanwhile, the second disc contains clips from their first concert at the Shimokitazawa Shelter Club on November 2, 2004. It also includes behind-the-scenes documentary directed by Toshiaki Toyoda and filmed at Kanto Gakuin University, as well as outtakes from the music video for "Kimi to Iu Hana." Upon its release, the video managed to top the Oricon DVD charts for an entire month. On July 9, AKFG held their fifth Nano-Mugen Festival at Yokohama Arena, where they performed with seven other Japanese and UK bands. To advertise the event, they released a preceding compilation album that retained one song from each band attending the festival. Over the next summer, AKFG attended a host of festivals, including Summer Sonic 05, Rising Sun Rock Fes. 2005, and Rock in Japan Fes. 05. They also appeared as guests on GOGOICHI –SPACE SHOWER CHART SHOW– on November 27 on SPACE SHOWER TV. The band closed the year by releasing the single, , followed up by a brief tour entitled, "Tour SUI CUP 2005 - Winter Dragon" in December.
The band began 2006 with the release of their upcoming album's second single, "World Apart." The single was unique in that it featured a song in which Kensuke Kita stood as lead singer. It was AKFG's first song to achieve number-one single status, also it was the year that the band was finally able to acquire their very own studio. They then took part in live performances in LIVE SUPERNOVA DX on February 16, 2006. On March 15, AKFG released their third full-length album, . The album peaked at number three and stayed in the Oricon top five for nearly two months. The following month, the band went on a national tour entitled, Count 4 My 8 Beat. Tickets for all thirty-eight shows quickly sold out. AKFG's sixth annual Nano-Mugen Fes. was held at Yokohama Arena. For two days, Asian Kung–Fu Generation and eleven other bands, including six Japanese bands, three American bands and two English bands, performed. Like the previous year, a compilation album was released in July to advertise the Nano-Mugen Festival. After three years of attending the Fuji Rock Fes, AKFG had the opportunity to perform on its coveted primary Green Stage for the first time at Fuji Rock Festival 06.
To commemorate their ten-year anniversary, Asian Kung–Fu Generation released their first compilation album, Feedback File on October 25. Rather than featuring hit singles, the nostalgic album was primarily compiled of B-sides, live performances, and old demos from their early indie days. Even though it retained little new material, the compilation was met by commercial success and managed to debut at number two on the Oricon charts. AKFG then went on a two-month arena tour entitled, Tour Sui Cup 2006-2007: The Start of a New Season. Well over 100,000 fans attended this tour, which traveled through eight cities and featured guest performances by bands from Japan and the United States. In the midst of the tour, AKFG was commissioned by the director of the then-upcoming anime film, Tekkon Kinkreet, to compose a theme song for the movie. The band created a song called, and released it as a year-end single prior to the film's debut. As a sign of their increasing cultural prominence, the band came to be parodied in a volume of the popular Hellsing manga by members of the Vatican named, "The Vactikung."
2007–2008: Withdrawal and World World World
On March 21, the band released another live DVD, Eizō Sakuhinshū Vol. 3 that contained footage of their previous tour. Although they took part in various domestic summer festivals, AKFG gradually became more and more withdrawn over the course of 2007 before halting appearances almost entirely, including the lack of their annual Nano-Mugen festival. Nevertheless, the band released the single "After Dark", which debuted in the top ten on the Oricon charts and was used as the seventh opening for the anime series Bleach.
In March of the following year, the band released their next album, World World World, accompanied by the single . Despite the lack of media appearances and the significant timespan between releases, the album debuted at #1 on the Oricon album chart.