Kazutoshi Sakurai facts for kids

Kazutoshi Sakurai (桜井 和寿, Sakurai Kazutoshi, born 櫻井 和寿, March 8, 1970, in Tokyo) is a famous Japanese musician. He writes almost all the songs for his band Mr. Children. He also writes lyrics and sings for his solo group, Bank Band.

In 2006, Sakurai was ranked No. 8 among the "Top 30 Best Japanese Singers of All Time" by HMV. In 2007, people voted him No. 4 for the "ideal father image" by Oricon. In 2009, he was chosen as one of the Young Global Leaders by the World Economic Forum. He also helped start AP Bank. He gave $1 million to help this group fund projects that protect the environment.

His Music Journey

Kazutoshi Sakurai is a very important person in Japanese music. His song lyrics are often studied in music magazines because they are so good. He writes about many different topics. These include social issues, science, feelings like sadness, love, and even war. He can play many instruments, such as the guitar, piano, and harmonica.

For most of his music career, Sakurai has been part of the band Mr. Children. But he has also worked on other projects. In 1995, he sang and produced a charity song called "Kiseki no Hoshi" (奇跡の地球). He made this song with Keisuke Kuwata to help the Act Against AIDS campaign. He was also a radio host for Music Gambo.

Sakurai has two other bands he worked with. One was Acid Test, a band that played songs by John Lennon. This band is no longer active. The other is Bank Band. In 2001, Sakurai and Kenichi Tahara from Mr. Children formed Acid Test for a special concert. This concert was part of Yoko Ono's "Dream Power and Educational" project. Artists came together to raise money to build schools for children in Africa and Asia. Acid Test covered John Lennon's song "Mother". This song was later released on an album called Happy Birthday John!: A Tribute to John Lennon.

In July 2002, Sakurai had a health issue that required surgery. He spent four months getting better. Because of this, Mr. Children's "The Wonderful World" tour had to be canceled. But he returned to the stage in December 2002 for a special concert. Later, a DVD of this concert was released, called Wonderful World on Dec. 21.

AP Bank and Helping the Environment

In June 2003, Sakurai helped start AP Bank. This is a non-profit bank that aims to solve environmental problems. He started it with music producer Takeshi Kobayashi and famous composer Ryuichi Sakamoto. This bank only invests in projects that are good for the environment, like renewable energy. The three men each invested 100 million yen to start it. "AP" stands for both Artists Power and Alternative Power.

Artists Power is a project that Ryuichi Sakamoto and Takuro of Glay started in 2001. Besides the bank, Sakurai also helped start AP Bank fes.. This is a yearly music festival that teaches people about environmental issues. These issues include recycling and global warming. All the money made from the festival goes to fund more projects at AP Bank.

Solo and Collaboration Projects

As a solo artist, Sakurai co-wrote and sang the song "Te wo Dasuna!" (手を出すな！) with Gaku-MC in 2006. They formed a special group called "Ukasuka-G". This song was a cheering song for the Japanese soccer team. As Bank Band, he worked with Salyu to release the song 'to U' in 2006.

In 2007, he sang as a guest on Kai Yoshihiro's 10 Stories album. He also appeared as a secret guest at Golden Circle Vol.10. There, Sakurai performed with other famous artists like Yumi Matsutoya and Yuzu. He helped write the lyrics for a song called "Music".

In 2007, Bank Band announced a new theme song for "ap bank fes. '07" called "Yoku kita ne" (よくきたね). Later that year, Bank Band released their first song only on iTunes, called "Harumatsu Ibuki" (はるまついぶき). This song was used for the Japanese movie Midnight Eagle. Part of the money from this song was given to people affected by the Niigata earthquake. The rest went to fund more projects at AP Bank.

He released his second album, Soushi Souai 2 (沿志奏逢 2), with Bank Band in 2008. In 2010, he released another album, Soushi Souai 3 (沿志奏逢 3), also with Bank Band.

In 2020, it was announced that Sakurai wrote a song called "Smile". This song was sung by a special group of artists from Johnny & Associates. This was part of Johnny's charity work called "Smile Up Project". It was the first time Sakurai worked with Johnny's artists.

Discography

Singles

Bank Band

• "To U" (2006)
• "Harumatsu Ibuki (はるまついぶき)" (2007)

Sakurai Kazutoshi x Gaku MC (Ukasuka-G)

• Te wo dasuna! (May 31, 2006)
• Demo, te wo dasuna! (でも、手を出すな！) (March 20, 2013)

Albums

Bank Band

• Soushi Souai (沿志奏逢) (2004)
• Soushi Souai 2 (沿志奏逢 2) (2008)
• Soushi Souai 3 (沿志奏逢 3) (2010)

Ukasuka-G

• Amigo (June 11, 2014)
• Tīshatsu to watashitachi (Tシャツと私たち) (July 13, 2016)
• Don'na kotode mo okori uru (どんなことでも起こりうる) (December 1, 2021)

ACID TEST

• Happy Birthday John! ~A Tribute to John Lennon~ (2005)

DVDs

Bank Band

• BGM Vol.2 (2004)
• ap bank fes '05 (2005)
• ap bank fes '06 (2006)
• ap bank fes '07 (2008)
• ap bank fes '08 (2009)
• ap bank fes '09 (2010)

Ukasuka-G

• Live & Travel DVD / Blu-ray「ウカスカジーの大冒険 〜TOUR “WE ARE NOT AFRAID !!”〜」 (June 14, 2020, DVD, Blu-ray)

See also

In Spanish: Kazutoshi Sakurai para niños