Urbangarde

Former members include guitarist Zeze Shin, known as Shinsama, drummer Kagiyama Kyoichi, known as Kyouchan and Yachimura Kei, known as Yashi, who was a keyboardist during the band's early stages.

Their numerous music videos often incorporate disturbing imagery such as blood, weapons, representations of suicide and a giant Kewpie doll that is often present in live performances as well.

Temma said, "There’s a “shoujo (girl)” religion unique to Japan which has the sailor uniform and straight black hair as its icons, and you can’t separate those from sexuality and gender.

[3] Urbangarde was created by lyricist, poet and man of the theatre Matsunaga Temma after meeting Hamasaki Yoko, who then sang old French songs.

The band performed at Paris' anime mega-fest Japan Expo in July 2013 [5] and then released their greatest hits compilation Koi to Kakumei to URBANGARDE featuring their new opus "Tokai no Alice".

The title "Utsukushii Kuni" (Beautiful Country) is a play on words, as the band intentionally used the incorrect Chinese character 鬱 (utsu=depression) instead of 美しい(utsukushii=beautiful) for the album's name.

The album features artwork by Makoto Aida, a contemporary Japanese painter renowned for his provocative works of manga, painting, video, photography and sculpture.