Lucky Kilimanjaro

Overview

Lucky Kilimanjaro (nicknamed "Lakkiri") is a six-piece Japanese band signed to Dreamusic. Led by vocalist Yukimaru Kumaki, the six members met in a university music club and began performing together in 2014. Their stated theme is "to make every day around the world dance."

Members

Yukimaru Kumaki (vocals)
Masaki Shibata (drums)
Seiji Yamaura (bass)
Mao Otaki (synthesizer)
Koji Matsuzaki (guitar)
LaMi (percussion)

Former members include Kento Yamamoto (guitar), and Ken Takezuna took part as a support bassist.

Career

2014: The group started its musical activities centered on Kumaki.
2018: Lucky Kilimanjaro arranged "Last Romance" and "Hatsukoi" (Feb 28) and "Kiss wa Agenai" (Jun 20) for Tokyo Girls' Style.
2020: Kumaki wrote, composed and arranged "Tokimeki wa Uso ja Nai" for Hey! Say! JUMP and "SAUNA SONG" for DISH// (both Feb 26). The band also appeared at Levitate Me! and ONLINE YATSUI FESTIVAL! 2020.
2022: On July 1, Kumaki and Otaki announced their marriage. The band played a wide run of festivals, including ARABAKI ROCK FEST.22, VIVA LA ROCK 2022, ROCK IN JAPAN FESTIVAL 2022 and GREENROOM BEACH 2022. They released the singles "Fuzzy Summer" (Jul 13) and "Hitosuji Sasu" (Nov 30).
2023: Releases included "Heat" (Feb), the album Kimochy Season and the single "Mata ne" (both Apr 5), "Gokou" (Jul) and "Mugensa" (Oct). They appeared at JAPAN JAM 2023, ROCK IN JAPAN FESTIVAL 2023, RISING SUN ROCK FESTIVAL 2023 in EZO and SPACE SHOWER SWEET LOVE SHOWER 2023, among others.
2024: They released "Jikkan" (Apr), "Dancers Friendly" (Jul) and "Soul Friendly" (Oct). From August, Otaki wrote the column "Isshoku Nyukon" for skream! (through October 2025). On December 31 the band performed the New Year's Eve slot on the COSMO STAGE at COUNTDOWN JAPAN 24/25.
2025: Releases included "Tanoshii Oishii Torisugite mo Ii" (Jan), the live album YAMAODORI 2025 at Makuhari Messe (May), "Haruka Hoeru" (Jul) and "Flower" (Oct). In August, Otaki's first pregnancy was announced; she stepped away from tours and festivals from September onward, and the remaining five members continued. Kumaki cancelled the December 27 FM802 RADIO CRAZY 2025 appearance to be present at the birth, and the arrival of their first child was announced on December 29.
2026: From February 8 to March 6, the band held its first hall tour, LOVE MY DANCE LOVE YOUR DANCE LOVE MAOTAKI DANCE, in Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka. The single "Baby, world is yours" followed on February 18. On August 11, the return of Mao Otaki, who had been away for childbirth and child-rearing, was announced. An appearance at Nakatsugawa WILD WOOD 2026 is scheduled for September 19.

Musical Style

The band makes heavy use of synthesizer sounds, and their songs are strongly influenced by 1980s city pop and disco. Their genres are described as Japanese indie, J-R&B, city pop and J-pop. Kumaki is also active as a songwriter for other artists.