Tomoyasu Hotei (布袋寅泰 Hotei Tomoyasu, born on February 1, 1962 in Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture) is a Japanese musician, guitarist and actor
At 190 cm (6 foot, 3 inches), Tomoyasu Hotei is one of the most intimidating people in the Japanese music world. Over a long musical career as a guitarist with one of Japan’s legendary rock bands, guest artist and solo performer, he has developed a worldwide reputation as Japan’s premier axeman and has sold over 25 million albums. Possessing strong skills as both a guitarist and songwriter, he has played in various configurations and styles, but has always been a rocker at heart.
Hotei first began playing the guitar in junior high school. In high school, his band 'Blue Film' finished runners up in a school contest to 'Death Penalty', a band led by Kyosuke Himuro. Hotei was expelled shortly before graduation. The reason was that, when warned about his long hair he replied "Jesus had long hair!" Shortly after, he went to Tokyo where one day he received a phone call from Himuro. The two had never really known each other but hit it off and went on to hold auditions for a new band, which in 1981 became the six-member Boøwy. The band became major stars in Japan, in 1985 played the Marquee in London, and in 1986 had their first million seller, 'Beat Emotion'.
When the band broke up in 1988, Hotei established himself as a solo star, as did Boøwy singer Kyosuke Himuro. Hotei also made two albums with Koji Kikkawa as Complex,both of which went to number one in the national charts. Hoteifrequently records overseas, and has collaborated with many foreignmusicians, including playing onThe Stranglers Hugh Cornwell 1993 solo album, on stage with David Bowie at Nippon Budokanin 1996, and at the Closing Ceremony of the Atlanta 1996 Centennial Olympic Games with Michael Kamen.
In addition to releasing many best-selling solo albums, Hotei composed & performed the score for Hiroyuki Nakano's 'Samurai Fiction' as well as starring in the film. Tomoyasu Hotei’s songs have also appeared on the soundtrack to 1998’s 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas' and the song 'Battle without Honor or Humanity' was used in the Quentin Tarantino's film Kill Bill, the PlayStation 2 version of 'Dance Dance Revolution SuperNOVA' and Michael Bay's film 'Transformers'. Hotei recorded a cover of John Lennon's Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” for Merry Axemas, an instrumental guitar Christmas album featuring tracks from guitarists including Jeff Beck, Joe Perry and Steve Vai.
Tomoyasu Hotei’s wife, Miki Imai is also a popular singer and actress.
Ambivalent
Release date : 2007-10-29
布袋寅泰/Tomoyasu Hotei’s new album. AMBIVALENT , which is a fitting title for this release once you hear it. He’s been putting out albums alot in the last few years , but it hasn’t stopped any of them from being unique and stand out on their own. He’s one of the few japanese guitarists that come up with fresh material each album this late in the game. It’s rather impressive , and this latest installment is no stray from the usual for HOTEI.
Tracklist:
01. SPARKLING GUITAR
02. PEEK-A-BOO
03. 日々是上々
04. ブラックカメレオン
05. YESTERDAY NO MORE
06. WANDERERS
07. レプリカント
08. FOREST CHANT
09. NIGHTMARES
10. MINIMAL BEAUTY
11. ×××KISS×××
12. FUNKY PUNKY
13. 人生はパーティーだ
14. 幸せな日々
15. 夢中遊泳
16. 狂った時計
