Yoshiki was born on November 20, 1965 in Chiba, Japan. His mother happened to be a piano teacher, and he started to learn piano at the age of 5. He also started to play drums when he was 10. He and Toshi met each other in kindergarten. After Yoshiki’s father died, he became a bit of a troublemaker.

In 1982, at end of high school, Yoshiki formed X Japan with Toshi. Back then, no label wanted to risk signing X; however, Yoshiki’s mother believed in him and sold the family business which enabled Yoshiki to found Extasy Records. The formation of Extasy Records allowed X to release their first record. In 1988, he had already signed 2 other artists.

Yoshiki and his mother
Yoshiki

Yoshiki
Yoshiki

Yoshiki has a wide interest in music. He started off as classical pianist, then started to learn drums and became interested in hard rock. That’s what reflects in X Japan’s music, a “symphonic rock orchestra”. Yoshiki was the leader of X, playing both piano and drums and writing most of the songs--for example: Forever Love, Tears, Endless Rain, Say Anything…

During concerts Yoshiki switched between drums and piano. When there was no time for that during one song, he pre-recorded the piano or drum track. Due to his energetic drumming he had several neck injuries and had to wear a neck corsage to protect his neck after he was seriously injured during a concert.


He not only plays piano and drums, but also guitar and bass. According to him, he never wanted to sing because his voice is not good enough. During his time with X Japan he already worked on solo projects such as:

  • V2 with Tetsuya Komuro from the band Globe in 1991, they released the single “Eyes of Venus”.
  • “Eternal Melody” with the London Philharmonic orchestra and George Martin (Beatles) in 1993. The album Eternal Melody includes adoptions from X Japan songs and also “Amethyst”, a wonderful classical piece that was also released as single.
  • In 1994 he worked together with Roger Taylor (the drummer from Queen) and released the single “Foreign Sand” which was a big hit in the UK.
  • Yoshiki also put together 2 compilations called “Yoshiki Selection”. On both compilations, you can hear his favorite classic music pieces from famous composers.
  • On the “Kiss My Ass – a Tribute to Kiss” compilation, he adapted the song “Black Diamond” for piano and orchestra.
 Yoshiki Yoshiki

Yoshiki
Yoshiki
After many successful years, X Japan disbanded in 1997 when Toshi left the band. After the dissolution from X Japan, Toshi and Yoshiki went their separate ways.

Yoshiki had plans to reform X Japan with hide, but after hide’s death in May 1998 those plans were shattered. After hide’s memorial where Yoshiki held a speech, he withdrew from public and moved back to LA. Eventually, he went back to work as producer and songwriter for his very successful label Extasy Records, with bands such as Dir En Grey, Glay, Kidney Thieves and Abandoned Pools.

In November 1999 Yoshiki had his first appearance again. He performed the song Anniversary at a festival to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Emperor's enthronement.

In 2000, 7-Eleven Japan asked Yoshiki to produce a series of TV commercials incorporating his solo project Violet UK into their corporate image for the new millennium.

Yoshiki was asked to compose the theme song (I'll Be Your Love, sung by Dahlia) for the Aichi Expo 2005 in April 2002, and in September 2002 he joined the band Globe (Seize The Light got released on November 27).

In December 2002, Yoshiki was back on stage presenting his new project Violet UK. He gave a concert together with the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra. It was a musical journey through his works from the past with X Japan with a glance into the future with his new project Violet UK. Yoshiki presented together with the vocalist of Violet UK songs that were never heard before. The concert was held in Tokyo at the Tokyo International Forum.

 Yoshiki
Yoshiki Symphonic Concert

Yoshiki started to produce a new band from Korea, called the Trax in early 2004, followed by the release of Eternal Melody II and the DVD from the "Yoshiki Symphonic Concert", later that year.

A new project emerged in 2006 when Yoshiki formed a Japanese "super band" with Gackt to break through on the international market and gain more recognition world wide. This project is put on a hold for now as X Japan reunited in 2007 (for more information visit the projects or X Japan section of this site).

In the last few years he also worked as a music executive producer (as well as writing music) for films such as: Catacombs, Saw IV, Repo The Genetic Opera and Goemon .