Shikao Suga

Born on 28 July 1966 in Tokyo, Japanese musician and singer-songwriter Shikao Suga (スガ シカオ, Suga Shikao) debuted in 1995 via Bounce Records with his first indie release, 0101, issued under his real name (菅 止戈男) before finding a new label home in Office Augusta and reaching a wider audience with the single "ヒットチャートをかけぬけろ" ("Hit Chart o Kakenukero"). By the late 1990s, he had evolved his sound and settled on the name スガシカオ, issuing a succession of albums over the next few decades while enjoying success with the self-penned "Yozora no Mukō", which was turned into a hit by Japanese boyband SMAP in 1998, as well as finding musical fame in various anime and live action dramas and movies adapted from manga. Among these were manga series Honey and Clover, which featured songs from his 1996 album Clover (such as "Hachigatsu no Serenade", "Tsuki to Knife" and "Yubikiri") and films including horror Dark Water ("Aozora") and 2010's Sweet Little Lies ("Ame agari no asa ni"). After releasing 2010 album Funktastic, he took a six-year break before issuing The Last in 2016. Rōdō nanka shinaide kōgōsei dake de ikitai arrived in 2019 and 2023 saw the release of Innocent.