Ketsumeishi

Ketsumeishi started in 1993, but they established themselves three years later in 1996 with the current line-up: two MC/rappers, a vocalist and a DJ. Their name comes from a medical herb which was used in ancient China as a laxative. They claim to have chosen this name because to them it means: "we make every possible effort" and "invisible mysterious". Alternatively, 'ketsu' also means 'ass'.

They debuted in 1999 with the single Kocchi Oide. The song was used for an online commercial and although the single was not a very big success, it definitely helped to get them some attention.

The single was followed by two more and their first album, Ketsu no Police was released in December 2000. The album ranked 27th on the Oricon charts, a pretty big accomplishment, but nothing compared to their next three albums: all of them ranked 1st on the charts!

Their newest album is their fourth: Ketsu no Police 4, which contains the song Sakura. The award-winning single sold 942,675 copies by the end of 2005, almost breaking the elusive 1,000,000 Plus Single Sales mark.

Next to the member’s activities within Ketsumeishi, they have also been active solo or worked with other bands, for example Ryo's version of Wagamama Julliet on a Boowy tribute album, and their collaboration with the pop duo Chemistry.

Since then, the band has only gotten more and more successful, showing the world that you don't have to be a young, sexy, dancing boy band singer to be one of the best selling artists in Japan!