Takaya Kawasaki

Overview

Takaya Kawasaki (川崎鷹也, born May 16, 1995) is a Japanese singer-songwriter and actor from Nasushiobara, Tochigi Prefecture. He rose to fame in August 2020 when "Mahō no Jūtan" (魔法の絨毯), a track from his album, went viral on TikTok, topping Spotify's Viral Top 50 for 14 weeks. In 2023 he also made his debut as an actor in film and television.

Career

Early life and beginnings

His father ran a live bar, so music was part of everyday life from childhood. His father loved punk rock and hardcore punk acts such as 10-FEET, Hi-STANDARD and HAWAIIAN6, and many of the bands who played there came from those genres. In 2013, in his final year at Tochigi Prefectural Kuroiso Minami High School, he sang HY's "366 Nichi" and Southern All Stars' "Manatsu no Kajitsu" at the school festival with a classmate on piano, to great acclaim. He resolved to build a career in a genre different from that of his father and his brother, four years his senior. After graduation he moved to Tokyo and enrolled in the vocal course at Musemode Music Academy in April 2014. He bought his first guitar, a 60,000-yen model, on a loan, having never played one before.

Bocco. and solo debut (2016–2019)

He graduated in March 2016 and joined the music project "Bocco.", active mainly on YouTube. On March 4, 2017 the project held its first one-man show at Zou-no-Hana Terrace and released its first single "Sora Moyou", but on July 3 of that year it announced its dissolution, and he began a solo career. On July 25, 2018 he released the album I believe in you on the indie label S-Rise Music/Flying Voice Inc.

The "Mahō no Jūtan" breakthrough and major-label debut (2020–2021)

In August 2020, "Mahō no Jūtan" took off on TikTok, with more than 30,000 videos using the song and over 300 million total plays (as of May 2021). Its YouTube views reached 90.73 million (as of December 2023), and the album hit No. 1 on LINE MUSIC's Album Top 100. Following the hit, I believe in you was reissued by Victor Entertainment on May 26, 2021.

He released the single "Sakura Usagi" digitally on January 15, 2021 and held Takaya Kawasaki Acoustic LIVE: Deai to Wakare no Hitori Uta at Shinagawa InterCity Hall on March 28. On July 14 he joined Kazemachi ni Tsuretette!, the tribute album for lyricist Takashi Matsumoto's 50th anniversary, covering "Kimi wa Tennenshoku". This led to more television appearances, and he performed on the first day of the Nippon Budokan concert Kazemachi Odyssey 2021 on November 5–6. On December 15 he released his first major-label original album, Calendar, through Warner Music Japan. He also performed "Kimi wa Tennenshoku" on year-end programs including the 63rd Japan Record Awards.

2022 onward

On September 14, 2022 he released Shiro, the first in a series of cover EPs. On October 31 he appeared in the final stage after the closing ceremony of the National Sports Festival for People with Disabilities (Tochigi prefectural event) in Utsunomiya alongside fellow Tochigi native Kyogo Kawaguchi. Since October 7, 2022 he has hosted TOKYO FM's radio show Takaya Kawasaki MAGIC NOTE.

On June 12, 2023 he made his TV drama debut in NHK's late-night drama Homeru Hito Homerareru Hito (as Hajime Bando), and on June 16 made his film acting debut in Majo no Kōsui (as Yuya Kawahara), for which he also wrote the theme song "Orange".

Recent releases (2023–2025)

He released the single "Nukumori" on May 18, 2023, followed by an album of the same name on June 14, then "Megane no Uta" (October 20) and the live recording "Namaoto -Vol.1- (Live2023@Zepp Haneda)" (November 27). In 2024 came "Stardust Memory" (April 3), "Akogare" (May 10), "Aishin" (May 31), "Yūhi no Ue" (July 3) and "Saikai-ka" (August 23). In 2025 he issued "Aimai Blue" (single on March 14, album on May 16, EP on June 6), "Namaoto -Vol.2- (Live2025@PACIFICO Yokohama)" (July 30), "Every day, Every Moment (Takaya Kawasaki X Lulu-lala Friends) [Takaya Kawasaki Ver.]" (September 21) and "Lulu-lala Friends with JAPAN" (October 27).

Musical style and personal life

Working in J-POP, Kawasaki names Koji Tamaki as the musician he admires most and cites his musicality as a major influence. He chose a path different from his parents' punk tastes, performing as an acoustic-guitar-centered singer-songwriter; his guitars include a GUILD D-55E ATB and a GIBSON songwriter. He married in 2018 a woman two years his senior at high school, announced the birth of his first son in April 2020, and on December 1, 2024 revealed on his radio show that a second child was born at the end of October 2024. He is friends with singer-songwriter Masayoshi Oishi.