Toshiki Kadomatsu

Widely regarded as one of the pioneers of city pop, a style of synth-heavy music that combined funk, soul, and disco with complex arrangements, Japanese singer-songwriter and guitarist Toshiki Kadomatsu was born on August 12, 1960, in Shibuya, Tokyo. Apart from his solo output, he has also helped produce several Number 1 hit singles for other artists, including Miho Nakayama's "You're My Only Shinin' Star" (1986) and "Catch the Nite" (1988). He first picked up the guitar at a very young age after watching his older brother play, and later majored in philosophy at Nihon University. "YOKOHAMA Twilight Time," his debut single, appeared in 1981 and was followed by the release of his first full-length Sea Breeze later that year. Released in 1984, his genre-defining fourth studio album After 5 Clash is often credited with shaping the landscape of city pop and would attain cult status in the upcoming decades. In 1987, Toshiki Kadomatsu landed one of his biggest commercial hits with the instrumental album Sea Is a Lady, which rose to Number 4 on the Japanese charts. After taking a break from recording between 1993 and 1998, he signed with Sony BMG and released the album Time Tunnel in 1999. During the early aughts, Toshiki Kadomatsu issued a handful of cover albums and wrote original music for the soundtrack for the films Shiroi-fune (2002) and Miracle Banana (2005). Following a move to Ariola in 2010, he has remained a steady presence on the Japanese pop music scene through releases like Citylights Dandy (2010), The Moment (2014), and Tokyo Boys & Girls (2019). Inherit the Life, his first batch of original songs in almost eight years, saw the light in 2022 and reached Number 5 on the Billboard Japan Albums chart.

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