[5] Pata first played with X Japan (then named X) in 1987 as a session musician, on the songs "Stab Me in the Back" and "No Connexion" for the sampler Skull Thrash Zone Volume I.

They would become one of the first Japanese acts to achieve mainstream success while on an independent label,[7] and later widely credited as one of the pioneers of visual kei.

[13] Shortly after the release of 1993's Art of Life, which also topped the Oricon,[10] the members of X Japan took a break to start solo projects.

[10] In September 1997, it was announced that X Japan would disband, they performed their farewell show, aptly titled The Last Live, at the Tokyo Dome on December 31, 1997.

In 1993, while still in X Japan, Pata released his first self-titled solo album, which featured many veteran American musicians such as Tommy Aldridge, Tim Bogert, Mike Porcaro and James Christian.

[15][20][21] In 2003, Pata played live support for Miyavi at a couple of his concerts,[1] along with former Spread Beaver bassist Chirolyn, Seikima-II guitarist Luke Takamura and Luna Sea drummer Shinya.

!, as did DIE, Shinya, Dead End bassist Crazy Cool Joe and former Megadeth guitarist Marty Friedman,[22][1] they all supported her on the album's tour.

According to a report by the newspaper Sponichi, X Japan vocalist Toshi visited drummer Yoshiki in Los Angeles in November 2006 to work on a song as a tribute to Hide.

[23] In March 2007, Toshi announced on his website that he and Yoshiki had recently resumed working together, stating that a "new project" would commence soon.

[24] Rumors of a X Japan reunion subsequently began, and in June Yoshiki was reported as having expressed interest in a tour and that he was in talks with Heath and Pata regarding their participation.

[26] Their first world tour began with four gigs in Europe from June 28 to July 4, 2011, and was resumed from September to October with five shows in South America and five in Asia.

[30] For the Hide tribute album Tribute VII -Rock Spirits-, released on December 18, 2013, Pata reunited with Spread Beaver members Joe, INA and Chirolyn and Dope HEADz vocalist Shame to record a new version of "Pink Spider" under the name The Pink Spiders.

[3] Previously, he often used a yellow 1959 Les Paul Standard nicknamed "Ichi-Gō" (1号, "Number 1") or his "Honsai" (本妻, "legal wife").

[38] Since X Japan's reunion, Pata occasionally uses a wine red 1976 Custom, which has a Tom Holmes 453 pickup in the rear.

[38] In the mid-1990s, Pata received a signature model guitar made by Burny, the EX-85P or its higher-end EX-240P, based on the Gibson Explorer.

[38] Before X Japan's 2014 concert at Madison Square Garden, Burny presented Pata with the prototype of his former bandmate Hide's signature Kujira model.

[38] While recording Art of Life (1993) in America, he happened to buy La Bella HRS-010-048 strings at a local music shop and has used them ever since.