⟩ Who is Asaki?
Asaki is a musician who has been working for Konami under their BEMANI division since 2002. His music style is unique, sometimes being described as visual kei, industrial rock, and progressive metal. He describes his own music as "Kyoto metal", "Folk songs with a depressing feeling" and "Close to prog metal".
His music and lyrics can be seen as out of the ordinary and sometimes esoteric; he writes songs with themes of humanity, death, and love mixed with dark, sometimes spiritual and philosophical elements.
His lyrics can sometimes be quite hard to understand, but I think that adds to his unique
style and charm. He often does not release all of his lyrics publicly, instead choosing to
only include a small portion of the song's lyrics with the booklets that come with BEMANI
Soundtracks, and sometimes he will request to omit the lyrics entirely.
There have
been times where he will even include sections in the booklet that are not sung at all.
Asaki is an eccentric person, his sense of humor contrasting the themes that he talks and writes about. He calls himself Oji-san (Uncle), and a very old person, although his age is not publicly known.
He loves cats, cars, and curry. His profile on the old site for his first album stating "As long as he has a cat, a car, and a guitar, he won't complain much".
Asaki is an extremely talented musician, his solo work being made entirely by himself, from instruments to vocals. Although he usually does everything alone, there are some exceptions, for example his album releases have others playing the drums, strings, and piano. He often collaborates with other BEMANI artists, recording the guitar and bass for their songs.
⟩ Albums
Bottom: Remaster
神曲 (Shinkyoku)
Release Date
Limited Edition - 16 Sep 2005Regular - 22 Sep 2005
Remaster - 21 March 2012
Track List
01. 蛹 (SANAGI)02. 蛍 (Hotaru)
03. 幸せを謳う詩 (Shiawase wo utau uta)
04. この子の七つのお祝いに (Konoko no nanatsu no oiwai ni)
05. 予後の音 (Yogo no oto)
06. 月光蝶 (Gekkou chou)
07. 赤い鈴 (Akai suzu)
08. 雫 (Shizuku)
09. 神曲 (Shinkyoku)
10. 空澄みの鵯と (Sorasumi no hiyo to)
Album Information
Shinkyoku is Asaki's first album. The working title was 猫まっしぐら（仮）(Neko
Massshigura (kari)).
According to Asaki, the theme of the album is "People's Spirit". It contains longer
versions of songs from several BEMANI games as well as four new songs, three of them
being included in future BEMANI titles. The project began on the 4th of March, 2005,
being completed on the 15th of August. The album would only be released if enough copies
were pre-ordered, support from fans was overwhelming, and the goal was met within five
days. The limited edition and regular edition were available only through KONAMI STYLE,
whereas the remastered version could be purchased nationwide. The sales through KONAMI
STYLE alone were around 30,000 copies. The limited edition version came in a special all
black case, and contained lyric sheets.
You can read a special message from Asaki about the release of Shinkyoku here.
Bottom: Regular
天庭 (Tentei)
Release Date
30 January 2013Track List
01. 散るを踏み 残るを仰ぐ (Chiru wo Fumi Nokoru wo Aogu)02. 天庭 (Tentei)
03. 魚氷に上り 耀よひて (Sakana Kouri ni Nobori You yo Hite)
04. 愛のかたち 幸せのかたち (Ai no Katachi Shiawase no Katachi)
05. つばめ (Tsubame)
06. このひと しりませんか (Kono Hitoshiri Masenka)
07. 舌切り念念 (Shitakiri Nennen)
08. まほろば教 (Mahoroba Kyou)
09. 行き過ぎて後に (Ikisugite Ato ni)
10. ほしふりの果て 極東史記より (Hoshiburi no Hate Kyokutoushiki Yori)
11. 虚仮虚仮として けしからず (Koke Koke to Shite Keshikirazu)
12. 其曰く 教外別伝をして (Sorewaku Kyougebechiden wo Shite)
13. 生きてこそ (Ikitekoso)
14. 白きを廻り 黒きの巡り (Shiroki wo Mawari Kuroki no Meguri)
15. ここりのつき (Kokori no Tsuki)
Album Information
Tentei is Asaki's second album, released 7 years after his first. It was originally planned to be released in 2010, but was delayed due to Asaki's health, with him falling ill twice during production. Asaki had a change of heart after his recovery, and every song except Tentei was scrapped and reworked. He said, "What I wanted to release changed, and I wanted to express what I really thought and experienced. I wanted to make it more raw".
A DVD containing a music video for Tentei was included with the first print edition. Shooting for the music video was planned to start in Fall 2010, but was delayed until November 2011 due to Asaki's illness. Asaki states that the theme of the album is "love and people". Several alternative album jackets were released, all of them created by amamo (Takao Yamamoto). The jackets were different for each retailer: one for BUNKYODO, TOWER RECORDS, KONAMI STYLE, and one for regular stores. There was an exclusive jacket given to visitors of Asaki's public event. Alongside the release of the album, talk events were hosted at CD stores and malls around Japan. The album reached No. 6 on the Oricon charts, and No. 2 on the daily charts.
Each song is based on the album's theme of "love and people", and is a story told from various perspectives. Mahoroba Kyou is a song based on another Asaki title, "(鬼言集) Kigonshu". Kigonshu's theme was deemed too different and large-scale for Tentei, so some elements of the song were extracted and made into Mahoroba Kyou. Another song, "水面静かに大地の烈日わたらせて (Minamo shizuka ni daichi no retsujiru watarasete)" was intended to be included, but his health had not recovered by the time it was decided.
⟩ Personal Favourite Songs
Here is a list of a few of my personal favourite Asaki songs, although I love all of them. I have been a fan of his music since I was around 12 years old, first hearing his song Shizuku on Pop'n Music. I fell in love with his unique aesthetic and sound, and he has been my favourite musician ever since.
⟩ Miscellaneous Info
Asaki records his guitar by placing microphones in front of his amp. He has said in an interview that this is his favourite part of his music process.
Publicly, he rarely does any sort of appearance. There are very little photos of Asaki, and he prefers to keep to himself as much as possible. There was a livestream event where he appeared, which was then taken down and reuploaded with his face censored with a caricature.
Asaki became a regular on the GuitarFreaks web radio show, Musician's Room XG, along with Yuei and 96. He was forced to take a break due to ear problems, having to be hospitalised. He continued to appear as a regular on the successor to Musician's Room XG, BEMANI Backstage.
He has several aliases that he releases music under, some of them being:
あさき / Asaki / asaki / ASAKI
閣下 (Kakka)
Ashemu
Anonymous
キャプテンロック (Captain Rock)
There are others besides these, he also is a part of many groups of musicians with different names.
Not much is known about Asaki's personal life outside of BEMANI. Before he joined BEMANI, he was part of a short-lived visual kei band called Blanc Neige, only releasing 5 songs. He was also a guest guitarist for another band, Le chat Noir.
He sometimes posts about his pet cat, Maruo-kun, on his Twitter.
According to an interview with 4Gamer discussing his album Tentei, he applied to KONAMI because he needed the money to buy a new amplifier. He didn't know about BEMANI before joining, applying for KONAMI because he was playing a RPG at the time, thinking "I'll make game music!". KONAMI happened to be looking for sound engineers, so he sent in a demo, which resulted in them asking him to work on GuitarFreaks.
He owns a fully custom guitar called Onikichi-san, which cost him 800,000 yen.
He requested his face to not be revealed for a long time, but Tentei's alternative jackets displayed photos of him. This was apparently planned without his knowledge.
Asaki's bloodtype is A, and he was born on the 30th of June.
Apart from his serious music, he has created strange, silly songs about how to cook rice, baseball, and even about the nutrition value of eggs.
⟩ Information Source Credits
Asaki on ja.wikipedia.org
Shinkyoku on ja.wikipedia.org
Tentei on ja.wikipedia.org
4gamer interview with Asaki
Asaki on RemyWiki
Asaki's Twitter
Archive of the old Shinkyoku site