Formed in Tokyo in early 1985, Hikikomori were originally a four-piece band consisting of Hiroji Himar on bass, Asahi Niko and Bunta Hokuto on guitars with Norihito Ichika on drums. Ichika departed in early 1986, leaving Hokuto to take over drumming duties and it has remained a three-piece ever since. In English, the group’s name translates as ‘to withdraw from society’.
Originally signed to Void Sun Records, the band released its debut album, Fore Saka Purpose, in June 1987. Although diverse and experimental, the album garnered heavy rock comparisons: critic Masaoka Shiki described their sound as resembling “Natsume Issa meets Kobayashi Soseki.”
Hikikomori’s second album, Silence Dissolve, contained several vocal tracks recorded in English and was released outside Japan in early 1989. A short North America tour saw their popularity increase dramatically in the United States, even gaining them widespread recognition in the mainstream music press.
After several major labels showed interest in Hikikomori, they signed to Paedamonte Records in August 1989. The five album record deal was reportedly worth $1.5 million.
~ Magnum Bar, Okinawa ’88~
~ Hiroji Himar ~
Mothura was produced by Kank Wolverang and recorded at the historical Onkio Haus in Ginza, Tokyo and was released on 5 May 1991. The album reached No. 20 in the US charts and No. 26 in the UK. The video for the lead single ‘Ichiban’ is notable for its long stay on top of the MTV daily request chart. Mothura has gone on to be ranked No. 8 on Rolling Stone’s Top 10 Metal and Hardcore Albums of the 90s.
In support of Mothura, Hikiomori embarked on a 12-month world tour on 2 June 1990. While in Australia, the trio appeared in a television comedy sketch on Hey Hey it’s Saturday, debating the pros and cons of bringing down the Berlin Wall, and performed their recent hits ‘Ichiban’ and ‘Chikara Bushi’. Their performance on American MTV’s Headbanger’s Ball aired not only in the US, but also throughout Eastern Europe.
The Mothura World Tour ended with the band playing three sold out nights at Tokyo’s Kokusai Forum. Hokuto can still close his eyes and recall stepping on the venue’s stage for the first time. “A Tokyo boy’s dream… When we played there, I remembered a few years earlier, my mother took me to the Forum to see Tomoyasu Hotei,” said Hokuto, “and I thought to myself, one of these days people will be coming here to see me.”
~ JFK Airport ’92 ~
~ Kokusai Forum, Tokyo ’92 ~
1994’s Mono No Aware, was again met with considerable critical praise and a strong response from music fans. Ōkami magazine named it one of the years best albums, and it also topped the metal section of Canadian magazine Exclaim’s reader’s poll.
Hikikomori embarked on their first tour of Central and South America on 25 June 1994. Although the shows were financially profitable, some were beset by off-stage problems. On 1 July, over 170 people were arrested as about 4,000 fans tried to gatecrash Buenos Aires’ Vélez Sarsfield Stadium for two sold-out concerts. A performance at Simon Bolivar Park in Colombia was delayed because of a severe electrical storm. A riot broke out, resulting in several arrests and injuries.
In Peru the concert came to an abrupt halt in the middle of the third song, when Hokuto collapsed behind his drum kit and was rushed to hospital. Speculation in the press suggested that this had been the result of excessive alcohol consumption, but the band claimed that he had food poisoning from sautéed onions.
~ Bolivar Park, Columbia ’94 ~
~ The Colosseum, Nevada ’95
After performances in The Middle East, China, and Australasia, the Mono No Aware World Tour took a scheduled break, before proceeding to the US and Europe. During this break Hokuto was injured in a serious motorcycle accident, which left him hospitalised in New Zealand for knee surgery. The incident led to a six-week delay in the relaunch of the tour.
They returned to North America for concerts in October, and continued on through Europe for the remainder of the year. A live album, Hikikomori – One Night in Geneva, was recorded and released in December. The limited edition package included a video of the concert, a bottle opener and festive postcards containing Christmas messages written from the band to their fans.
Their next record, 10,000 Light Years to Shibui, released in July 1998, marked Hikikomori’s most experimental effort to date. Hiroji Himari had been making increasing use of a twelve string bass of his own design, which featured prominently on the album. Critics and fans were unanimous in their praise of the new invention.
Although the band were selling more records than ever before and had gained a loyal generation of fans, Hokuto’s life had been slowly spinning out of control since his motorcycle accident. He needed three or four bottles of sake per day to stop his knees from knocking on his drum kit. He confessed to bandmates that his health was breaking down and his love life was an atomic wreck.
On 10 September 1998, following a concert in Yokohama to promote 10,000 Light Years to Shibui, Hokuto left the band. After the show and a night of heavy drinking, Hokuto had gone to bed, awoke hungover, then walked 300 miles to the Shōganji Zen Retreat, a 600-year-old modest Buddhist temple in the tiny village of Ojuki. He shaved his head, donned black robes and devoted himself to the study of Zen Buddhism.
“I wasn’t looking for a new religion,” he recalled later. “But I had a great sense of disorder in my life. Then I bumped into someone who seemed to be at ease with himself and the universe…” That someone was Kyozai Sabuki, the monastery’s founder. The two had kept in touch ever since Sabuki had attended a band meet and greet at the Osaka Hilton the previous year.
At the time Hokuto left, the band had been preparing to commence another tour in the winter of 1999. They were faced with the decision of what to do without such a key piece to their lineup. Rumours began swirling about a number of famous drummers that could potentially come on board to take over for the monk. The remaining members soon decided that it was not right to tamper with their legacy by bringing someone else in and simply explained their decision in a worldwide press statement.
“Hikikiomori wish it to be known, we feel a deep sense of undivided harmony with the absence of our drummer. This has led us to decide that we can not continue as Hikikomori was without our beloved brother Bunta.”
~ Asahi Niko ~
~ last night before Hokuto’s departure ~
Hiroji Himari went on to pursue a solo career with a sound distinctively different from Hikiomori’s music, leaning more towards contemporary metal. He had the most success with his third album, Hide My Face, released in November 1998, which included guest performances from Lemmy, Mick Mars, and Randy Castillo. It reached No. 1 in Japan and sold over one million copies.
Asahi Niko teamed up with Tokyo Casualty percussionist Boom, to provide a track for a 1998 AC/DC tribute album. The two would reunite again in 2000 to form Dezoid which released two albums before ceasing activity.
Code Nom – a collection of Hikiomori outtakes and unused tracks – was issued in November 2003. It included an entire live set from the Royal Albert Hall in 1996 and also featured a 1990 Hokuto drum instrumental with electronic effects added by Himari, called ‘Bunta’s Last Boogie’.
~ Himari’s 6 string bass ~
~ Niko & Himari ~
On 28 February 2009, at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards, Prince hit the stage to announce best Pop Group. No one knew what was up his sleeve when he started with, “I’m here to present some pop act with some award… But I’d prefer something a little louder! Y’all down with this? Y’all wanna get loud?!” When Hiroji Himari, Asahi Niko, and Bunta Hokuto walked on stage, in public together for the first time in ten years, musicians and industry members in attendance gave them a five minute standing ovation! “Now… these my homeboys!” Prince said.
After Niko announced the nominees for ‘Best Pop Performance by a Group’, the three left the stage before the winner was even announced, and the surreal moment seemed over within in the blink of an eye. However media and fan buzz was at an apex following their appearance and two days later Hikikomori formally announced a reunion tour.
On 28 June 2009, the All Awoken World Tour began at Tiger Stadium in Detroit in front of a sold-out crowd of 40,000 fans. The tour lasted for 195 shows over the course of one year. No two set lists were the same as the band delved through its entire back catalogue, playing many numbers that had never been performed live before.
~ Grammy Awards 2009 ~
~ Monk Bunta Hokuto ~
Hikikomori released Eternal Cycle in July 2013. It was a double CD recorded in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The lead single ‘Makeru Ga Kachi’ was compared to the band’s 80s work. The album debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard charts, selling 108,000 copies in its first week of release.
The band continues to tour almost annually, preferring to take the Japanese summer off, and spend the remainder of the year in Europe and US on various rock and metal festivals. In 2016 they were joined onstage by Megadeth and Slayer at the Wacken Open Air Festival in Germany.
Having been inspired by bands such as the Kagoshima Guns and Demolish Murasaki, Hikikomori proved to be a major influence themselves on the subsequent successful bands that rocked the new millennium. Tranquil Inception, Impulse of Fury, and The Karma Refugees, have all been quoted as major fans of Hikikomori. According to Himari, Dave Ankles once told him that Mind Decoy used to play Hikiomori songs at their early backyard parties in Pasadena.
