Ippu-Do was a Japanese band of the early 1980s led by singer-songwriter Masami Tsuchiya on vocals and guitar, with Akira Mitake on keyboards and Shoji Fujii on drums. The group's debut single, "Motto Real ni," was released in 1979, followed by the studio albums Normal and Real in 1980, which established their presence in the Japanese music market. In 1981 the band released Radio Fantasy, which marked their first release outside Japan, and the following year they issued the single "Sumire September Love," which became a hit after appearing in a Kanebo Cosmetics advertisement starring Brooke Shields, selling 452,000 copies in Japan and becoming the group's most successful single. Tsuchiya joined the British band Japan on tour in 1982 before returning to Ippu-Do for a brief reunion in 1983, during which he and Mitake recorded the studio album Night Mirage and the live album Live And Zen, supported by musicians including Steve Jansen, Richard Barbieri, and Percy Jones. The group faded out after 1984, without a formal announcement of dissolution, and Tsuchiya went on to pursue a solo career, releasing further albums. Later compilations, including Very Best September Love (1998) and Essence – The Very Best Of Ippu-Do (2010), have kept the band's legacy alive, combining both group and solo material and reintroducing earlier tracks from the 1979–1984 era.
