Love at first sight with a bass girl! The female bassist of a popular band
There are actually a lot of women who play bass in rock bands—like TOMOMI (SCANDAL), 345 (Ling tosite sigure), Hiromi Hirohiro (tricot), F Chopper KOGA (Gacharic Spin), junko (Uchikubi Gokumon Doukoukai), and many more! So in this article, we’re going to introduce a whole lineup of female bassists active on the Japanese music scene.
If you’re thinking about starting bass, this might be your chance to find someone to look up to.
Let’s dive right in!
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Love at first sight with bass girls! Popular bands’ female bassists (11–20)
Beautifulkurimoto hiroko (kegawa no marīzu)
Hiroko Kurimoto served as the bassist and an original member of Kinoko no Maries.
Like vocalist Ryohei Shima and guitarist Kazuma Koshikawa, she hails from Wakayama Prefecture.
During her time in the band, she took the stage with her long black hair tied back, delivering a very cool performance.
Within the band, she handled backing vocals and even took the lead on some songs.
After Kinoko no Maries disbanded, she also performed as a support bassist for illion, the solo project of Yojiro Noda from RADWIMPS, and for the dresscodes, Ryohei Shima’s band.
RealTOKIE（hea、ex.RIZE）
Bassists who get calls from a variety of units tend to be flexible while still having a solid core of their own, don’t they? One such female bassist is TOKIE.
She has been part of the trio HEA since 2018 and has been gaining attention.
It’s fascinating that you can hear a different side of her playing in other units as well.
TOKIE plays both electric and upright bass and also handles backing vocals, so she must have a wide range of skills to draw on.
That’s Fantastic!Fumi (POLISICS)
POLYSICS is a rock band that follows in the lineage of technopop and new wave.
Fumi, the band’s sole female member and bassist, joined POLYSICS in 1999 as a guitar support member and switched to bass when she became an official member in 2001.
The Yamaha SBV-550 is her trademark.
In addition to bass, she handles vocals, programming, vocoder, and, depending on the song, synthesizer as well.
HeroKIYOSHI
Just hearing the name might make you think they’re male, but the bassist Kiyoshi is a woman.
She studied piano from childhood and began playing bass at 15; she plays a five-string bass with considerable technique and also has the talent to compose and sing.
Many of her songs are built from multiple layers of recorded bass, and apparently she plays everything herself except the drums.
Of course, she likely loves the bass, but the strong impression is that her desired form of expression comes first, and that her musical sensibility and background are more than abundant.
Gather round! Party people!Aribobo (Yabai T-Shirts Yasan)
Shibata Aribobo is the bassist of the rock band Yabai T-Shirts Yasan, known for songs that pair humor-filled lyrics with classic melodic punk sounds.
She sometimes shares lead vocals alongside guitarist Koyama, and her sharp, high-tone voice is a big draw.
At live shows, she fires up the crowd by dashing energetically across the stage while playing bass.
She’s also known as a huge fan of Sayumi Michishige, a former member of Morning Musume, and her trademark is a pink T-shirt that says “Devoted to Michishige.”
Eternal GirlMIYA（ZAZEN BOYS）
Miya has been the bassist for Zazen Boys since 2018.
Until then, she worked in elder care while performing in a duo with her husband in Okinawa.
Apparently, on the very day she was thinking of quitting the bass to focus on childcare, she received an offer to join Zazen Boys.
What incredible fate.
You can feel her pouring her soul into the bass just from the music video.
Her playing shakes the entire band and drives it forward.
It’s clear she was exactly what this band needed.
Love at first sight with bass girls! Female bassists from popular bands (ages 21–30)
Taiwan FortuneAsahi Kyanako (Bakkudoroppu Shinderera)
Asahi Kanako, who plays bass for the rock band Backdrop Cinderella.
Many members of this band have quirky names, and the group originally formed after a coincidence in 2006: the band with the guitarist and bassist and the band with the vocalist and drummer both went on hiatus at the same time, leading to the creation of a new band.
Thanks to that stroke of chance, we’re really lucky to be able to enjoy their music.
Kanako, who steadfastly supports this eccentric band from the ground up, is said to have once worked as a hostess in Ginza.
She’s mysterious—and utterly fascinating.