Ningen Isu
Ningen Isu (人間椅子 "Human Chair") is a Japanese heavy metal band.[1] The name of the band is taken from the 1924 short story The Human Chair by Edogawa Rampo.[2]
The group was founded in 1989 as a hard-rock band and comprises Shinji Wajima (lead guitar), Ken-ichi Suzuki (bass guitar), Noriyoshi Kamidate (drums). Wajima and Suzuki used to go to the same high school, Hirosaki High School in Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture. Influences include Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, King Crimson, and similar artists. The first drummer, Noriyoshi Kamidate played until the 3rd album "Ougon no Yoake". Masuhiro Gotô joined the group Gerard as a support member of the 4th album "Rashomon". After that the 3rd drummer, Iwao Tsuchiya, joined the group. After Iwao left, Gotô joined as an official member in 1996. The latest drummer, Nobu Nakajima joined in 2004. All members share the vocals.
They often write about Japanese classical literature, for example, Osamu Dazai, Ryunosuke Akutagawa, Jun-ichiro Tanizaki, and so on. They often take up topics such as hell, Buddhism, the universe, and gambling. Wajima and Suzuki have a local accent called "Tsugaru-ben," which adds a unique atmosphere to their songs. They always wear Kimono and "Fundoshi" on stage; Wajima looks like an literary master of Meiji era, Suzuki paints his face white and looks like an Buddhist monk. He wears "Fundoshi", old Japanese underwear under the Kimono. While Nakajima wears Koikuchi shirt and sunglasses and looks like a Japanese gangster. In the band's early days, Suzuki often wore cloths like Nezumi-otoko, a rat man (a character of "Ge-Ge-Ge no Kitaro" by Shigeru Mizuki), which made them impressive.
Discography
Singles:
- 1991 : Yashaga-ike (C/W Jinmen-so), which means "pond of Yasha" (a kind of Japanese ghost)
- 1991 : Koufuku no Neji (C/W Heisei Asaborake), which means "a screw of happiness"
- 1993 : Motto Hikari o! (C/W Namakemono no Jinsei <single version>, Daiyogen, Motto Hikari o! <karaoke>), which means "Mehr Licht!", words by Goethe
- 1996 : Katana to Saya (C/W Ouka Ondo, Ouka Ondo<karaoke>), which means "a sword and a sheath"
Albums:
- 1989 : Ningen Isu, taken from the novel "The Human Chair" by Rampo Edogawa
- 1990 : Ningen Shikkaku, taken from the novel "No Longer Human" by Osamu Dazai
- 1991 : Sakura no Mori no Mankai no Shita, taken from the novel by Ango Sakaguchi. The title "means under the blooming cherry blossoms"
- 1992 : Ougon no Yoake, which means "golden dawn"
- 1993 : Rashoumon, taken from the novel "Rashoumon" by Ryuunosuke Akutagawa
- 1995 : Odoru Issunboushi, taken from the novel "Odoru Issunboushi" (lit. "a dancing pygmy") by Rampo Edogawa
- 1996 : Mugen no Juunin, taken from the comic "Mugen no Juunin" (lit. "a dweller of eternity") by Hiroaki Samura
- 1998 : Taihai Geijutsu Ten, which means "degenerate art exhibition"
- 1999 : Nijusseiki Sousoukyoku, which means a "funeral march for the 20th century"
- 2000 : Kaijin Nijuu Mensou, taken from the novel "Kaijin Nijuu Mensou" (lit. "mystery man with 20 masks") by Rampo Edogawa
- 2001 : Mishiranu Sekai, which means "an unknown world"
- 2003 : Shura bayashi, which means a kind of traditional Japanese music for "Shura" (a word from Buddhism)
- 2004 : San Aku Douchuu Hizakurige, taken from a concept of Buddhism. The title is also a parody of the novel "Tokai Douchuu Hiza-kurige" by Ikku Jippensha
- 2006 : Fu-chi-ku, taken from the English words "hoochie-coochie"
- 2007 : Manatsu no Yoru no Yume, taken from the play "A Midsummer Night's Dream" by William Shakespeare
- 2009 : Mirai Roman-ha, which means a "future romantic school"
- 2011 : Shigan Raisan, which means "the worship of this world"
- 2013 : Mandoro, which means "full moon"
- 2014 : Burai Houjou,which means "freedom and luxuriance"
- 2016 : Kaidan soshite shi to erosu, which means "Ghost story and death and Eros"
Best-of Albums:
- 1994 : Petenshi to Kuuki Otoko 〜Ningen Isu Kessaku-sen
- 2002 : Oshie to Tabi suru Otoko 〜Ningen Isu Kessaku-sen vol.2〜
- 2008 : Ningen-Isu Kessaku-Sen
- 2014 : Utsushiyo-ha-Yume, which means "this world is a dream"
Live Albums:
- 2010 : Shippuu Dotou (2CD+DVD)
DVD's:
- 2006 : Yuigonjou Housou
- 2006 : Mishiranu Sekai
References
- ↑ Angus Cargill Hang the DJ: An Alternative Book of Music Lists 2008 Page 75 "Ningen Isu The first Japanese band I ever saw and still the very best; Black Sabbath reborn in the Tohoku region of Japan. Fourteen albums to date and you need them all."
- ↑ Mark Driscoll Absolute Erotic, Absolute Grotesque: The Living, Dead, and Undead - 2010 p139 "In the short story "The Human Chair" (Ningen Isu) published in 1924, Rampo intuited this neuropolitical invasion of the body and the de- anthropomorphizing effects that ensue. In the story a worker in a small factory becomes so engrossed in."
