Without little doubt Boøwy are the biggest Japanese rock band to never really be given the credit overseas they deserve for pioneering the JRock movement. Throughout the 80’s this band paved the way for rock bands in Japan to have an impact both on popular culture and the Oricon charts and as such many people believe that without their tenure rock music may never have became a mainstream commodity in Japan, or indeed in some parts of Asia where their influence has also been able to penetrate.
The band formed outright in 1980, a punk-based collaboration between Kyosuke Himuro on vocals and a freshly-expelled-from-school Tomoyasu Hotei on guitar, flanked by a plethora of musicians originally from Himuro’s and Hotei’s previous projects. Success wasn’t an instant accolade for the band but after weathering the financial hardships of being independent they were signed to the major label Victor in 1982. Deciding to henceforth call themselves “Boøwy” and wanting to take a more pop-rock approach, the band sprang a series of line-up changes to eventually form the core 4 members which would persist for the rest of the band’s tenure. 1983 proved to be a transitional year for the band as they struggled to gain recognition in the music industry and cut ties with their record label. After strenuously touring throughout 1984 to try and make a name for themselves they eventually landed a deal with Toshiba-EMI the following year and used the major label backing as a platform for commercial success.
Having generated huge levels of popularity and enthusiasm within the Japanese public the friendship between Hotei and Himuro began to fall apart, culminating in the band breaking up in 1988 at the height of their commercial success. Not being ones to step away from the limelight quietly, they played their farewell shows on April 4th and 5th at the recently constructed super-venue of Tokyo Dome.
While Hotei’s and Himuro’s mutual animosity shows no sign of ending 22 years after Boøwy disbanded a brief indulgence for Boøwy fans occurred in 2004 when Himuro hosted a sell out concert at Tokyo Dome where he sang many Boøwy songs for the first time since the unanimous break-up. While being a solid vindication of the endearing nature of Boøwy’s music to transcend the generation gap the concert also reiterated, as if it was ever required, that the insatiable demand for a reformation remains as strong as ever.
Kyosuke Himuro now joins the likes of Yoshiki and Morrie as JRock exiles living in America, owning a mansion in Los Angeles formerly owned by Shaquille O'Neal of all people and having launched a prolific solo career which has so far spanned 11 albums and 25 singles as well as collaborating with artists such as Glay, Gerard Way of the My Chemical Romance fame and Billy Idol guitarist Steve Stevens. On more than one occasion Himuro has been closely associated to the Final Fantasy franchise, offering his music as tie-in media and has even been cited as being an influence by Square Enix royalty Tetsuya Nomura.
Soon after Boøwy’s dissolution Hotei featured in the band “Complex”, a short lived collaboration with his friend Koji Kikkawa, which despite its lack of longevity was able to generate moderate success. Today Tomoyasu Hotei remains a popular guitarist and figure in the Japanese public lexicon, having launched a successful solo career with a string of chart-topping releases and also owing his talents to acting on occasion. Outside of Japan Hotei is best known for his song “Fight without honour and humanity” used by Quentin Tarantino in the Kill Bill films and for contributing music to Terry Gillian’s Hollywood adaptation of Hunter. S. Thompson’s “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”.
Boøwy’s music breached the margins between pop and rock in a band format in Japan and still remains fondly remembered by many as being the defining sound of the 1980’s. While many hardcore fans still hold out a glimmer of hope for a reunion the majority believe hell would sooner freeze over than Hotei and Himuro reconcile, and as of January 2010 the latter certainly does seem to be the more likely state of affairs.
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