TUBE

Overview

TUBE (チューブ, Chūbu) is a Japanese pop rock band that made its debut on June 1, 1985. Its members are Nobuteru Maeda (vocals, lyrics, composition, leader), Michiya Haruhata (guitar, keyboard, composition, backing vocals), Hideyuki Kakuno (bass, backing vocals) and Ryoji Matsumoto (drums, percussion, backing vocals). The band is signed to Sony Music Associated Records and is strongly associated with summer, alongside acts such as Southern All Stars and Omega Tribe. Because most of its songs are released between April and July, the catchphrase "Summer comes with Tube" arose. The name comes from the surfing term "tube riding." TUBE holds records of 15 consecutive years of top-10 singles (1990-2004) and 27 consecutive years of top-10 albums, from 1986's THE SEASON IN THE SUN through 2012.

Career

Maeda, Kakuno, Matsumoto and Haruhata formed the amateur band Pipeline with a view to turning professional. After a debut convention live at the Tokyo Prince Hotel on May 30, 1985, the band debuted on June 1 as "The TUBE" with "Bestseller Summer." Its first album, HEART OF SUMMER, followed on July 1, and its first solo concert was held at Zushi Marina in November.

On April 21, 1986 the band became TUBE and released its third single, "Season in the Sun," written by Tetsuro Oda and used in a Kirin draft beer commercial; it sold over 300,000 copies. The album THE SEASON IN THE SUN reached No. 3 on the weekly Oricon chart. In 1987 Maeda (LOOSE) and Haruhata (Drivin') began solo careers, and the fifth single "SUMMER DREAM" cemented the "TUBE = summer" image, while "Dance With You" and the album Twilight Swim showed its appeal beyond summer. In May 1988 Kakuno's car accident led to a pause in activity, but the band decided to continue. From "SUMMER CITY" in 1989, the members wrote their own songs, mostly with lyrics by Maeda and music by Haruhata. In 1994 Kakuno formed his own band, Riding, which lasted until 1999.

In the 1990s the band was active almost only in summer, but in recent years it has released autumn and winter singles and holds a winter-only live tour. Since 2000, Hawaii has recognized June 1 as "TUBE DAY"; for its 15th anniversary TUBE became the first Asian act to play Aloha Stadium. On June 1, 2025, for its 40th anniversary, it performed at the Tom Moffatt Waikiki Shell.

Recent releases include the singles "BLUE WINGS" (2021), "Natsu Tachinu" (2022), "WeTube" (2023), "Sayonara no Kawari ni" (2024), "PERFECT SMILE" (2024) and "Onaji Sora no Shita de" (2025). On June 11, 2025 it issued All Singles TUBEst -White- and -Blue-, followed by the album TUBE× on August 6, 2025.

Musical Style

One of the leading acts of the "Shonan sound," TUBE is known for Maeda's soulful vocals. Its 1980s singles relied mostly on songs by outside writers, but from 1989 it moved to self-written material. Maeda and Haruhata have also composed for other artists under the Pipeline Project alias.