TakaseToya (高瀬 統也)

Overview

TakaseToya (Takase Toya) is a Japanese musician and singer-songwriter. He performs under his real name and is from Fusō, Aichi Prefecture. He is 178 cm tall, blood type A, and writes and composes almost all of his songs. He built a strong following in Hong Kong and across Asia, and his signature song "Doushite feat. Noda Manami" reached 1.2 billion plays in 2026.

Career

At nine he began vocal training with his grandmother, a vocal trainer, because he was tone-deaf. At 17 he learned guitar in a music class, started writing original songs, and that winter began street performances as "TO-YA". He made his CD debut on December 12, 2014, with "Uta no Kimochi".

On the advice of an acquaintance at a radio station, he began working under his real name on February 10, 2019. In March he released the music video for "I can't stop loving you feat. Daichi Masahiro" and began collaborating with track maker RINZO.

His first EP, Now the Won (released in 2020), reached No. 1 on Hong Kong's electronic chart and No. 9 on the iTunes Store Hong Kong overall top albums in 2021, sparking rapid fan growth in Asia. The mini-album MEMO RANDUM, released digitally on June 9, 2021, also hit No. 1 on Hong Kong's electronic chart and No. 16 overall. His self-cover "Bibōroku Self Cover Ver." reached 1.5 million TikTok plays in a day.

On January 22, 2022, he released "Doushite (feat. Noda Manami)" ahead of the Digital EP 13-gatsu 1-nichi (January 31). The song entered Spotify Japan's Viral Top 50 on June 7 and the top 10 on June 11, stayed on the viral chart for over 100 days thanks to TikTok, and topped Apple Music Japan's electronic songs. The EP reached No. 1 on Apple Music electronic albums in Hong Kong and Cambodia, and on iTunes in Austria. He founded his company in April 2022, released his first full album 13-gatsu 2-nichi on December 7 (CD & DVD on January 25, 2023), and held his first Hong Kong solo concerts at Music Zone@E-max on December 24 and 25.

On June 9, 2023, he won the grand prize in the "TuneCore Japan PickUp (2022)" category of the Independent Artist Awards by TuneCore Japan. On November 15 he released "Hakuai" with Anson Kong of Hong Kong group MIRROR, and on December 13 his second full album Ai℃.

In 2024 he passed 100 million streams (April 2), held a Japan tour in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and Fukuoka (May–June), appeared at the Chill Club Awards 2024 in Hong Kong (June 12), and played two solo nights at Kitty Woo Stadium Tang Po in November.

His TAKASE TOYA WORLD TOUR 2025-2026 "8", starting in Tokyo in July 2025, covered 19 shows including seven in Japan and ten Asian cities such as Beijing, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Taipei and Hong Kong.

In 2026 he welcomed Fumiya Sato and Matsuri to his label and management company TTT inc. and began producing them. He was named to Forbes JAPAN's "30 UNDER 30" on August 26, and it was revealed he signed a performance agreement with China's Alibaba Group in July, a first for a Japanese artist. In September his song "Climber" was chosen for the audition show THE OPEN CALL, and he was selected for YouTube's Foundry 2026.

Musical style

He says he gets bored easily and cannot stay in one genre. His influences include Hideyuki Kuronuma, Akio Kondo and Utamaro. He writes about 30% from real experience and 70% fiction, and is meticulous about phrasing, melody and pitch. In 2026 he handled composition, arrangement and mixing himself.