Yuzu

Yuzu aka Japanese pop-rock duo Yūjin Kitagawa (北川悠仁, Kitagawa Yūjin, born January 14, 1977) and Kōji Iwasawa (岩沢厚治, Iwasawa Kōji, born October 14, 1976) started life in 1996 when the pair were still in high school in Yokohama. They began their career performing on the streets of Yokohama before taking things up a notch and releasing their debut EP in 1997, Yuzu No Su, with their first album arriving in 1998. Yuzu Ikka (ゆず一家) went to number six in Japan and was followed by second album Yuzuen (ゆずえん) in 1999, which Yuzu took all the way to the top of Japan's Oricon chart. The prolific pair went on to release a torrent of hit albums over the next two decades, from the chart-topping Tobira (トビラ) in 2000 to Sees in 2022, stopping at an impressive six number-one LPs along the way. They created "Ashita Tenki Ni Nare" for the 2007 Japanese youth romance movie Shaberedomo Shaberedom and have documented their achievements across five compilation albums, from 2005's Home [1997–2000] to 2017's Yuzu Iroha [1997–2017] (ゆずイロハ1997–2017). They have released studio albums at a consistent rate over the years, all resulting in top-five chart victories. July 2024 saw the release of the Zukan (図鑑) LP, which went to number three in Japan.