Biography

Jakura

13/08/2009 2009-08-13 17:29:56 KoME Author: Viktor & Meg

Jakura

Jakura

In March 1998 the band was founded by vocalist Asuyu (ex- AZALEA) and bassist Yuu in Nagoya. The band released their first demo tape in August 1998, while experiencing lineup changes. One year after their start, Seika joined as their drummer. By summer, the new guitarists Kamiyu and Mikoto had joined and thus completed their well known lineup.

It took almost a year until the band made their debut with the help of their label marder suitcase, which was then part of the bigger label LISIEUR. In May 2000 one of their fliers was published in SHOXX magazine, causing a buzz about the band’s new demo that would be released in June. Although it was limited to 1000 copies, within a month there were 3000 orders for the tape. Due to the overwhelming demand, the demotape was re-released as a single, and coupled with a new song by September. By the winter, their first mini-album debuted. This time, the band had wizened up after selling out their previous releases and saw 5000 copies of the mini-album hit store shelves.

In early 2001 the band conjured a plan for fans to attend their shows while obtaining a premium copy of their demotape, three flat. Fans who attended Jakura’s first Tokyo one-man on January 20th at Meguro Rockmaykan had the opportunity to order the tape, and received a promotional video which was distributed to all attendees. For those who were unable to make it, a second pressing of the tape was released in March. In the late spring, the band continued their heavy activity, embarking on their Akunin hakusho tour and releasing their second single.

In October, Jakura held a short one-man tour in Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka. Each concert had its own unique single which was distributed to the attending fans. During this tour, the band saw a consecutive three month single release and the debut of their second VHS.

Exactly one year after their first one-man, Jakura held a one-man at Shinjuku LIQUID ROOM, (now in Ebisu) on January 20, 2002 to celebrate this "anniversary", during which they distributed a new demo. However, the success of the band was short lived, and on March 28, Asuyu left the band. This sudden change would decide the future of Jakura. After long deliberation, the band decided they would continue, but in May, released two “best of” CDs, which included all of their previous music and some live songs which had been recorded during their October tour.

After a short break, the band found their new vocalist, Sai, formerly known as Miyamichi of the Nagoyan band S. With this, the band restarted their activities in June 2002. By September, they kicked off their autumn tour with the release of a new single.

Despite the successful lineup change Jakura announced in early 2003 the intention to disband. The members later explained this was due to the fact that they felt they had accomplished everything they had wanted to do. In April, shortly after the release of their last single, the band hit the road for a final tour, making seventeen stops before returning home to Nagoya to bid farewell to their faithful fans. The band’s final show was on June 9th, 2003 at NAGOYA HEARTLAND.

Shortly after disbandment, Mikoto retired from the music business. Sai went on to Pashya but quit in 2006. After taking a short break, he has returned to the scene in session bands. Kamiyu joined public giant system and was active until May 2008. His whereabouts are currently unknown. Seika joined the well known band bis. After their disbandment he had been active in several session bands. The most successful of the group was undoubtably Yuu, who floated between session bands before joining the rising band Versailles under the name Jasmine You. However, in August 2009, Yuu passed away, leaving fans worldwide in mourning.
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