Saucy Dog

Overview

Saucy Dog (サウシードッグ, nicknamed "Saucy") is a Japanese three-piece rock band formed in 2013. The lineup is Shinya Ishihara (vocals, guitar), Kazuki Akizawa (bass) and Yuika Seto (drums). They are managed by MASH A&R and signed to A-Sketch. Their song "Cinderella Boy" has accumulated over 540 million streams since its 2021 release, making it one of the most streamed songs in Japan, and the band made their first appearance on the 73rd NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen in 2022.

Career

• 2013–2016: The band formed on November 16, 2013. After a former member left on December 26, 2015, Ishihara continued alone. On April 3, 2016, Kazuki Akizawa joined, and the band restarted with a self-organized first show. On August 2 they released their final self-produced recording, the EP Ashiato, at venues only, and support drummer Yuika Seto officially joined the same day. They won the Grand Prix at MASH FIGHT vol.5 on December 4.
• 2017: The mini-album Country Road (May 24), their first nationally distributed release, marked their debut. A release tour final series followed in September at Esaka MUSE, Nagoya UPSET and Shibuya TSUTAYA O-Crest.
• 2018: The digital single "Mahiru no Tsuki" (March 7) reached No. 8 on the iTunes rock chart on its first day. It became an FM802 heavy rotation in May, and the band held their first one-man tour, "one-one tour 2018," in June. Live recordings of "Rocket" and "Sekai no Hate" from Shibuya WWW were released digitally on September 14.
• 2019: They held the one-man shows "YAON de WAOOON" at Osaka-jo Open-Air Concert Hall (April 13) and Hibiya Open-Air Concert Hall (April 30), and released their first video work on December 18. Ishihara also appeared regularly on FM802's MUSIC FREAKS from October 2019 to September 2020.
• 2020: The "We will take you" one-man tour began on September 22.
• 2021: Their first Nippon Budokan show, "send for you," took place on February 5. During a later tour, Seto's COVID-19 infection led to the postponement of shows at Zepp Nagoya and Zepp Osaka Bayside, which were rescheduled for November 28 and 29.
• 2022: Their first Kohaku appearance was announced in November, where they performed "Cinderella Boy." The single "Genzai wo Ikiru no da." and its Brass Band version were released on December 9.
• 2023: Releases included "Kaibutsu-tachi yo" (February), "Mahou ga Toketara" (June), the album "Bad Really" (July) and "Hashiyasume" (December). From March, "Yasashisa ni Afureta Sekai de" was used as a departure melody at Matsue Station for a limited period, and from April the band began hosting "Saucy LOCKS!" on TOKYO FM/JFN's SCHOOL OF LOCK!. The "It Re:ARENA TOUR" ran from November 18, 2023 to March 31, 2024, with 15 shows at 9 venues drawing about 130,000 people, their largest tour to date.
• 2024: Singles included "Kono Nagai Tabi no Naka de" (February), "poi" (April), "Baka mitai." (August) and "Kusege" (October). The album New Gate arrived on December 18. From October 2, 2024 to February 20, 2025, they held the five-city, five-month "Koikoi" series of joint shows.
• 2025: The hall tour "ONE FOR hALL, hALL FOR ONE one TOUR" ran from April 9 to August 3 with 22 shows in 11 cities. They released "Spice" (August), "Kiseki wo Matteta tte" (October) and "Eden no Heya" (November), followed by the album Curry Rice on December 17. On August 9 they appeared as themselves in the TV anime Crayon Shin-chan, with only Ishihara voicing the appearance.
• 2026: On January 4 they played their first dome show, "Saucy Dog DOME LIVE 2026," at Kyocera Dome Osaka. "Cinderella Boy" became their first song to pass 700 million cumulative streams on the Oricon weekly streaming chart.

Musical Style

Saucy Dog is a three-piece rock band associated with J-pop and the Japanese indie scene, built around Ishihara's vocals and guitar. The band has grown through steady live work, from one-man tours and joint-show series to arena, hall and dome concerts.