[citation needed] Though rhythmically not as complex as Ruins, Kōenji Hyakkei still evokes a feeling of unfamiliarity due to non-standard modes and chanting in a nonsensical language.
[citation needed] According to the official website of the band,[3] maintained by Tatsuya Yoshida, the band was formed in 1991 with Tatsuya Yoshida (drums), Aki Kubota (vocals), Akio Izumi (guitar, ex-Aburadako), Chie Kitahara (keyboards, ex-Phaidia) and Kazuyoshi Kimoto (bass, ex-Ruins).
Also as the album cover art of the first album indicates, Hyakkei was borrowed from "Fugaku Hyakkei" (One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji) by novelist Osamu Dazai crossed with well-known series of Hokusai's ukiyoe wood prints, "Fugaku Sanjurokkei" (Thirty-Six Views of Mt Fuji).
[4] Yoshida has been the only consistent member of the band, with Sakamoto Kengo playing bass from their second album onward.
For the most part, lyrics are reminiscent of Christian Vander's Kobaïan language (a notable exception is the song "Zoltan" from their 1994 self-titled album Hundred Sights of Koenji, a Kyrie).