Laputa (band)

Laputa was a Japanese Nagoya kei rock band, active from 1993 to 2004.^[1] The band chose its name from the flying island in Gulliver's Travels and tried to portray a similar unrealistic view of the world with their performance. Their 1997 album Emadara was named one of the top albums from 1989 to 1998 in a 2004 issue of the music magazine Band Yarouze.^[4]

Laputa
Origin	Nagoya, Aichi, Japan[1]
Genres	Gothic rock post-punk hard rock[2] heavy metal[2] EDM[2] electronic rock[3]
Years active	1993–2004[1]
Labels	Toshiba-EMI Nippon Crown
Members	aki Kouichi Junji Tomoi
Past members	Hiro Hideno Kusuba
Website	laputa-all-burst.jp

History

Laputa was formed in July 1993 by aki and Tomoi, high school friends who were previously in the band Ai SICK FACE together. Laputa recorded their two demos "Saddist no Yume" and "Naraku no Soko"(Okazaki Yukito from Eternal Elysium worked as an engineer.) in later 1993.^[5] They met some success in 1995 in the visual indie scene with their first indie album Memai, and shot a music video for Vertigo. They released a mini-album (Kurumeku Haijin) in 1996, and also released a live video (Hakoniwa) featuring performances from the concert at SHIBUYA ON AIR WEST from the Paradoxical Reality TOUR IV.

With their increasing popularity in the visual indie scene, Laputa caught the attention of big record companies and signed to the major label Toshiba-EMI in August 1996. Laputa released their first major single GARASU NO SHOUZOU in September 1996, which peaked at #34 on the Oricon singles chart. In October Laputa's first major album KAGEROU was released. Laputa released 4 more albums and several videos in the following 4 years.

In 2000, Laputa released a collection of their B-sides (c/w songs) "Coupling Collection + xxxk [1996-1999 singles]". They also released a three-disc best-of album "3DISC BEST ~1995-1999 except Coupling Collection~", which featured 32 songs in all including Laputa's eight major singles and 24 other songs. After these releases, Laputa left Toshiba-EMI and signed to a smaller major label Nippon-Crown.

While on Nippon Crown Laputa released 4 albums/mini-albums and 3 singles which made it on to the top 50 of the Oriocon charts. Glitter, a mini-album which was released in 2002, had a more electronic-oriented direction.

Laputa's lead songwriter Kouichi was reportedly in a hospital or clinic for much of 2002. Because of this, he wrote only two songs on the New Temptation album, and Laputa's tour for the album consisted of less than ten concert dates. Junji wrote more of the songs on 誘～New Temptation～惑 than any other member, and would remain Laputa's lead songwriter for the rest of their career. Tomoi also began to contribute more in writing songs and lyrics.

In May 2004 Laputa announced through their fanclub that they were disbanding, citing a desire for each of them to evolve. They released a best-of CD+DVD of their material from their years on the Nippon-Crown label titled "BEST AL+CLIPS 2000~2004" on July 28, 2004, toured from August to September, and played their last live on September 5, 2004, at Shibuya Koukaido. A DVD of the last live titled "ALL BURST" was released on December 15, 2004.

After Laputa's disbanding all four musicians stayed in the music business and three of them started solo projects. Aki began to release material under his own name, while Kouichi started Everlasting-K and Junji started HALATION. On the other hand, Tomoi first joined MILK FUDGE, and then played support for JILS. After JILS disbanded, he formed a new band, called C4 in 2008, together with Junji, JILS' guitarist Shunsuke and singer Toki, formerly of 90s' visual kei band Kill=slayd.

On August 29, 2023, Aki passed away due to a sudden illness at the age of 52.^[6]

Members

• aki – vocals
• Kouichi – guitar ex.Silver-Rose^{[† 1]}
• Junji – bass
• Tomoi – drums

Former members

• Hiro – guitar
• Hideno – guitar
• Kusuba – bass

Musical style and influence

Musically the essence of the band sound was extracted from "Dark, Hard, and Melodious".^[8] Their sound is characterized by Kouichi's unique chord progressions and aki's high-pitched vocals.

Influence

aki

aki cited Morrie from Dead End as a main influence on his vocal style.^[9] He covered Japanese metal bands in his high school days, such as Dead End, Loudness, 44 Magnum, Gastunk, Reaction, Marino, Sniper and Tilt.^[10]

Kouichi

Kouichi stated he was influenced by Yngwie Malmsteen^[11][12] and Takeshi Tsuji from Justy-Nasty.^[12] As a solo artist, Everlasting-K, he admired hide, describing him as "my eternal goal".^[13]

When asked what bands he listened to in his high school days, Kouichi mentioned Vow Wow, Anthem and Earthshaker.^[14]

Junji

His early influences included Duran Duran,^[15] Bon Jovi,^[15] Bauhaus,^[16] Dead Can Dance^[17] and The Cure.^[17] Junji was later into electronic dance music and trip hop.^[18]

Tomoi

His style was mostly influenced by Masafumi Minato from Dead End and Akira Ōta from Kinniku Shōjo Tai.^[19] He stated that he was into bands such as Duran Duran, Toto and Journey,^[20] and covered Seikima-II and glam metal in his high school days.^[21]

Legacy

Laputa is credited with "creating the early nagoya kei style along with Kuroyume",^[22] combining the sounds of heavy metal music and gothic rock.

Musicians that have cited Kouichi as an influence include Ruiza and Hide-Zou from D,^[23] Kei from Diaura^[24] and Tsurugi from Sadie.^[25]

Takayoshi Ohmura from Babymetal stated that "I love Laputa so much."^[26] and later joined C4. Umi from vistlip said that Laputa's major first single "硝子の肖像 (Glass no Shouzou)" got him into visual kei and started playing in the band.^[27] Yomi from Nightmare covered Laputa in his high school days.^[28] Kaya covered their song "揺れながら… (Yurenagara...)" on the compilation album "CRUSH!-90’s V-Rock best hit cover songs-".^[29][30]

Discography

Demos

1. Saddistの夢 (Saddist no Yume) (Sep 4, 1993)^[5]
2. 奈落の底 (Naraku no Soko) (Dec 20, 1993) ^[5]

Singles

Date	Title	Album	Oricon Singles Chart
May 5, 1994	私が消える (Watashi ga Kieru)	–	–
Sep 9, 1996	ガラスの肖像 (Glass no Shouzou)	蜉～かげろう～蝣 (Kagerō)	34
May 28, 1997	eve～Last night for you～	絵～エマダラ～斑 (Emadara)	33
Nov 12, 1997	Meet Again	麝～ジャコウ～香 (Jakō)	20
Feb 4, 1998	揺れながら… (Yurenagara...)	麝～ジャコウ～香 (Jakō)	25
Sep 23, 1998	Feelin' the sky	翔～カケラ～裸 (Kakera)	15
Jan 1, 1999	Breath	翔～カケラ～裸 (Kakera)	29
Mar 17, 1999	Chimes	翔～カケラ～裸 (Kakera)	25
May 19, 1999	Virgin Cry	翔～カケラ～裸 (Kakera)	23
Oct 25, 2000	Shape～in the shape of wing～	楽～ヘブン～園 (Heaven)	26
Feb 21, 2001	Silent on-looker	楽～ヘブン～園 (Heaven)	43
June 21, 2002	深海/Brand-new color (Shinkai/Brand new color)	–	58

Albums

Date	Album	Label	Oriocon Albums Chart
Feb 24, 1995	眩～めまい～暈 (Memai)	–	–
Feb 25, 1996	眩めく廃人 (Kurumeku Haijin)	–	–
Oct 23, 1996	蜉～かげろう～蝣 (Kagerō)	Toshiba-EMI	24
Jun 25, 1997	絵～エマダラ～斑 (Emadara)	Toshiba-EMI	24
Feb 4, 1998	麝～ジャコウ～香 (Jakō)	Toshiba-EMI	10
Jun 9, 1999	翔～カケラ～裸 (Kakera)	Toshiba-EMI	10
Feb 23, 2000	Laputa Coupling Collection+×××k	Toshiba-EMI	43
Oct 25, 2000	Laputa 3DISC BEST～1995-1999 except Coupling Collection～	Toshiba-EMI	41
Mar 16, 2001	楽～ヘブン～園 (Heaven)	Nippon-Crown	50
Mar 21, 2002	glitter	Nippon-Crown	66
Jul 24, 2002	誘～New Temptation～惑	Nippon-Crown	50
Apr 23, 2003	Sparks Monkey	Nippon-Crown	75
Mar 17, 2004	Material Pleasures	Nippon-Crown	89
Jul 28, 2004	Best AL+CLIPS 2000～2004	Nippon-Crown	–

References

Notes

1. Silver-Rose was one of the most influential group in the early nagoya kei scene.^[7]

Citations

1. ラピュータの解説 - SOCKETS人物データベース (in Japanese). ソケッツ株式会社. Archived from the original on 2018-09-07. Retrieved 2018-09-06.
2. ラピュータ. cdjournal.com (in Japanese). CDジャーナル. Retrieved 2015-08-07.
3. 市川哲史(ICHIKAWA Tetsushi)、藤谷千明(FUJITANI Chiaki) (2018-08-26). すべての道はV系へ通ず。 [Every Road Leads to the V Kei.]. Shinko Music. p. 366. ISBN 978-4-401-64639-5.
4. "Top 44 Albums from 1989 - 1998". jame-world.com. 2004-05-09. Retrieved 2015-02-19.
5. extrax Laputa(1999) p.104
6. "元Laputaボーカルakiさん、急病により死去 52歳【報告全文】". Oricon (in Japanese). 2023-09-01. Retrieved 2023-09-01.
7. Shun (2015-01-27). SHUN.'S FAVORITE THINGS Vol.30 ９０年代名古屋系 (in Japanese). Visulog. Retrieved 2015-08-17.
8. extrax Laputa(1999) p.105
9. "COMMENT". avex. Retrieved 2015-07-27.
10. extrax Laputa(1999) p.54
11. extrax Laputa(1999) p.8
12. 荒川れいこ (1997-07-27). Kouichi (Laputa) & HIRO, KOJI (La'cryma Christi) ニューエイジ・ギタリストによる対談が実現！！. 月刊 ロッキンf. 262. 立東社: 18–24.
13. "hide Memorial Part Two". jame-world.com. Retrieved 2013-03-07.
14. extrax Laputa(1999) p.62
15. extrax Laputa(1999) p.74
16. extrax Laputa(1999) p.76
17. Yusuke Kato (1998-09-01). V-SELECTION Rockin' Talk ーアーティストが選んだ、思い出のあの曲ーLa'cryma Christi SHUSE x Junji Laputa. Vicious. 30. シンコーミュージック: 64–65.
18. 『SHOXX Vol. 52』、YUKI SUGIE (インタビュー)、音楽専科社, 1997, p.133
19. extrax Laputa(1999) p.88
20. extrax Laputa(1999) p.83
21. extrax Laputa(1999) p.84
22. ラピュータ. cdjournal.com (in Japanese). CDジャーナル. Retrieved 2015-08-07.
23. "MTPM05 Special Program! SPECIAL TALK BATTLE Everlasting-K x Ruiza & HIDE-ZOU". Mad Tea Party MAGAZINE (in Japanese). 5: 63–67. 2006-07-01.
24. 【インタビュー】DIAURA、2ndフルアルバム『FOCUS』完成「"常識を疑え"っていうコンセプト自体がこのバンドを表している」 (in Japanese). BARKS. 2013-12-02. Retrieved 2015-08-17.
25. "Sadie 剣のツイート". 2013-05-31. Retrieved 2015-08-17.
26. エクストリーム・テクニック・マイスター 第二回 大村孝佳. ヘドバン(Headbang) (in Japanese). 5. Shinko Music: 145. 2014-11-18.
27. ～Road of the 海(vistlip)～. ロフトプロジェクト. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
28. Nightmare (2008). Nightmare revelation mokushiroku photographs and history book - 2 history Revelation［黙示録］photographs and history (in Japanese). Vol. BOOK-2 history. ぴあ. p. 8. ISBN 978-4-8356-1704-6.
29. 大ヒットV-ROCKカヴァー・コンピ『CRUSH!』第3弾発売決定！今作限りのスペシャル・コラボも実現 (in Japanese). BARKS. 2012-04-24. Retrieved 2018-09-09.
30. V-ROCKカヴァーコンピの本家！ 「CRUSH!-90’s V-Rock best hit cover songs-」第3弾発売大決定!!!! 今作限りのスペシャルコラボも実現!!!!!! (in Japanese). universal music. 2012-04-23. Retrieved 2018-09-09.

Further reading

Japanese

• 加納一美 (1999-10-27). Laputa―from the cradle to the grave 1999 (Fool's Mate extrax). FOOL’S MATE extrax. FOOL’S MATE. ISBN 978-4-938716-18-9. Archived from the original on 2016-08-07. Retrieved 2016-08-17.