Koji Kikkawa

Overview

Kōji Kikkawa (吉川晃司, born August 18, 1965 in Hiroshima Prefecture) is a Japanese singer-songwriter, musician and actor. He is president and CEO of Accel Music Entertainment, the company he founded. He debuted in 1984 with the single "Monica" and in 1988 became the vocalist of COMPLEX alongside Tomoyasu Hotei of BOØWY. He is known for hits such as "La Vie en Rose," "Kiss ni Utarete Nemuritai" and "Venus: Mayoigo no Mirai," as well as COMPLEX's "Be My Baby."

Career

Early life

His family ran the Kikkawa ryokan and restaurant in Hiroshima's Nakajima district until the atomic bombing. His father was recognized as having entered the city after the blast, making Kikkawa a second-generation hibakusha. He took up water polo in his first year of junior high and, at Shudo High School, was selected for Japan's junior world championship team, was named best high school player in Japan two years running, and toured Italy and Egypt as the youngest national team member. A scholarship to Keio University through water polo was within reach.

He began playing in bands in high school and joined EIGHT CITY'S FISH BAND as side guitarist and vocalist. After seeing a Motoharu Sano concert he committed himself to music, wrote to Watanabe Productions himself, auditioned and signed. Despite strong opposition from family and teachers, he left school and moved to Tokyo in April 1983. The agency regarded him as a once-in-a-decade talent, and president Shin Watanabe personally led a heavily funded debut campaign combining a film and a single. Kikkawa was the last star Watanabe nurtured.

Debut and rise

Kikkawa debuted on February 1, 1984 with "Monica," the theme of his starring film Sukanpin Walk (released February 11). A string of hits followed: "Sayonara wa Hachigatsu no Lullaby," "La Vie en Rose," "You Gotta Chance" (No. 1 on Oricon for three weeks), "Nikumare-sou na New Face" (No. 1), "RAIN-DANCE ga Kikoeru" (No. 4) and "Candle no Hitomi" (No. 2). He won eight new-artist awards in 1984 across music and acting, including the Shinjuku Music Festival gold prize and the Japan Academy Prize for Newcomer of the Year. His second album, La Vie en Rose (October 5, 1984), began a run of three consecutive No. 1 albums, and five of his albums eventually topped the Oricon chart through the 1990s.

In early 1985, in his first year, he played Nippon Budokan, only the second artist to do so that quickly, and at the end of the year made his first NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen appearance. He released "Marilyne" in March 1987 and appeared in the Japan-Italy co-production Shataraa, which was substantially altered after Shin Watanabe died during filming. After a brief break in 1988, he went independent at age 22 under Seventh Enterprise and moved to Toshiba EMI.

COMPLEX

In 1988 he formed COMPLEX with Tomoyasu Hotei, releasing "Be My Baby" (a Toyota Sera commercial song) in April 1989. The duo released two singles and two albums, all No. 1 on Oricon, before suspending activities with a Tokyo Dome concert on November 8, 1990. Their uncompromising sound won over both mainstream and hardcore rock fans.

After COMPLEX

He continued with hits including "Setsunasa o Korosenai," "Kiss ni Utarete Nemuritai" and "Boy's Life," and completed his 20th Anniversary Tour at Budokan on February 1, 2005. In 2006 he recorded "One World," the theme of the film Kamen Rider Kabuto: God Speed Love, and teamed with DJ TWINS on the single "Juicy Jungle"; DJ TWINS also released a remix album of his hits. He released the remix album DISCO K2, and the single "Baby Jane" in April 2007.

From 2009 to 2010 he played Sokichi Narumi/Kamen Rider Skull in the Kamen Rider W franchise and sang its theme, "Nobody's Perfect." In 2011 he and Hotei reunited as COMPLEX for two Tokyo Dome benefit concerts for victims of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, their first joint shows in nearly 21 years. In 2017 his single "SAMURAI ROCK" served as the theme of J Sports' broadcast of the World Baseball Classic. His most recent album is Over the Nine (2022). In 2024, he and Hotei reunited again at the Tokyo Dome for a benefit for victims of the Noto earthquake, and in 2025 Kikkawa formed the unit Ooochie Koochie with Tamio Okuda.

Musical style

Starting out somewhere between idol and rocker, Kikkawa grew into an artist who explores musical boundaries and reinvents himself year after year. He writes his own songs, produces and arranges his albums, and plays most of the instruments himself. His work spans kayokyoku, J-pop and J-rock, with ventures such as a disco-flavored revisit of his older material.