Hitorie , sometimes stylized in all caps or lowercase, is a Japanese rock band formed in 2011 by lead vocalist, guitarist and songwriter wowaka along with bassist ygarshy and drummer Yumao under the name . Backing vocalist and fellow guitarist Shinoda joined in 2012, and the band renamed to its current name the same year.
They made their major debut under Sony Music Japan in 2014 with their single Senseless Wonder, which peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and was selected for FM802's heavy rotation, and released four studio albums: Wonder and Wonder (2014), Deeper and Iki (2016), and Howls (2019), as well as three mini-albums: Imaginary Mono-Fiction (2014), Mono-chrono Entrance (2015), and ai/SOlate (2017).
After a brief hiatus between 2019 and 2020, due to wowaka's passing, the band released the greatest hits album 4 (2020), and returned as a 3-piece with guitarist Shinoda as the lead vocalist. They have since released three albums: Reamp (2021), Pharmacy (2022), and Friend Chord (2025). All their albums have charted on the Oricon Combined Albums Chart.
All of the band's members have also written and performed songs for other artists, such as Sakanamon, QU4RTZ, Suisoh, and Hiroshi Kamiya. As a band, they wrote the songs "Beauty For" and , for Morfonica and Soraru, respectively, and collaborated with Balloon (Keina Suda), and Ryushen, from Nijisanji.
Band members Source:
Current members Shinoda (シノダ, born June 6, 1985) is the lead vocalist and guitarist of Hitorie. He joined the band in 2012 as the lead guitarist and backing vocalist. Following the death of wowaka in 2019, Shinoda assumed the role of lead vocalist. The transition was initially proposed by bassist ygarshy during a band meeting. Although Shinoda was initially hesitant, he received encouragement from acquaintances and experienced a coincidental streak of good luck, such as winning multiple prize draws, which he interpreted as a sign that he was meant to take on the role.On the February 20, 2021, broadcast of Room No. 69, it was mentioned, "I won 6 out of 7 tickets," to which Shinoda commented, "I thought more would sound better." Outside of Hitorie, Shinoda is active as a Vocaloid producer under the pseudonym "" (Impulsive Person) and runs a solo music project named "cakebox". He was previously the guitarist for the Nagoya-based rock band JONNY. Additionally, he is a visual artist who has illustrated band merchandise and authored a manga series on the web media platform Meetia. He has also arranged and composed music for various artists, including Dialogue+, yutori, Satifour, Suisoh, and Itsuki Natsume. From October 2023 to January 2025, he embarked on a solo acoustic tour across all 47 prefectures of Japan titled "Shinotetsu" (シノ鉄).
ygarshy (イガラシ, born June 17, 1985) plays bass and provides backing vocals. He is known for rarely speaking during live performance MCs, and during wowaka's tenure, he was occasionally seen eating candy on stage while the other members handled lengthy discussions. Outside the band, he works as a support bassist for acts such as , Leo Ieiri, and Reol. He was previously the bassist for the Touhou Project band Sekken'ya (石鹸屋) and the music unit JUDGEMENT, alongside vocalist ichigo of Kishida Cult. He also composed the song "Beautiful Moonlight" and played bass on the debut single of the idol group QU4RTZ, "Sing & Smile!!", from the series Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club.
Yumao (ゆーまお, born December 6, 1988) is the drummer and backing vocalist. Prior to joining Hitorie, he was active in the band yasashikute (優しくして♪), which disbanded in 2012. He is a highly sought-after session musician, providing drum work for artists such as LiSA, natori, Ado, and Jin (including works from the Kagerou Project). He also serves as a support drummer for the band Pedro, for whom he has occasionally composed music.
Previous members wowaka (November 4, 1987 – April 5, 2019) was the band's founder, lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and primary songwriter from 2011 until his death.
Before forming Hitorie, wowaka was a highly influential Vocaloid producer under the alias "", a name originating from the description of his first video on NicoVideo, "In the Grey Zone" (グレーゾーンにて。). He rapidly gained popularity in the online music community following the release of viral hits such as "Rolling Girl" and "World's End Dancehall". In 2011, he released his debut Vocaloid album, Unhappy Refrain, under Balloom, a record label he co-founded, to widespread critical acclaim. Later that same year, he announced his departure from the Vocaloid scene to focus entirely on Hitorie.
As a songwriter, wowaka penned tracks for various prominent artists. He wrote and composed "Hitori Waratte", "Kakuseiya", and "Egoistic Shooter" for LiSA, and composed "antinotice" for the major-label debut of illustrator and singer Akane Aki. In the anime industry, he wrote the lyrics and music for "And I'm Home", the third ending theme for Puella Magi Madoka Magica, and arranged versions of "Secret Base (Kimi ga Kureta Mono)" for the ending theme of Anohana. He was also a close friend of musician Kenshi Yonezu (who produced Vocaloid music under the name Hachi). Following wowaka's death, Yonezu publicly expressed his profound respect for him, noting that his own musical style had been heavily influenced by wowaka's work.
He died in his sleep of acute heart failure on April 5, 2019.
History
2011–2013: Indie debut In an interview with Natalie, wowaka disclosed that after releasing "Unhappy Refrain", he became mentally exhausted and distanced himself from the scene to protect his well-being, feeling that the pressure for fame and success had overshadowed the authenticity of the music. He met Yumao and ygarshy online later that year and formed the band, previously named . In 2012, Shinoda, an acquaintance of both ygarshy and Yumao, was invited to join. They met via Skype, and Shinoda joined the band, which was renamed to Hitorie.
In December, they released their first mini-album "" independently at Comic Market 83 (C83).
In April 2013, they released their first EP "non-fiction four e.p." independently. Although an indie release, it reached over 10.000 copies sold. Later that month, they held their first one-man live named "hitori-escape" in Tokyo.
On November 4, they held their first sold-out show (Extraordinary Shibuya Edition)" at shibuya eggman. The same day, they announced their major debut under their own label, "", under the Sony Music umbrella.
2014–2015: Major debut and first album Wonder and Wonder On January 22, 2014, they released their first major single "", which played in radio stations all over Japan and was selected for FM802's heavy rotation.
Less than a month later, on February 19th, they announced their first mini-album after their major debut, titled ".
In April, they performed a one-man tour in Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka, named ", which sold out all venues, including the Ebisu LIQUIDROOM, one of the most popular live houses in Shibuya. They also participated in multiple rock festivals, such as the ROCK IN JAPAN FESTIVAL 2014, WORLD HAPPINESS 2014 and RISING SUN ROCK FESTIVAL 2014 in EZO, gaining more support from fans throughout the country.
On November 26, they released their first full-length album Wonder and Wonder, which featured their debut single "Senseless Wonder". wowaka described the album as:"I think that until now, I probably had some kind of ego in a bad sense of the word. I can say that now. But in a more pure sense, we have become a band with a one-of-a-kind coolness that only the four members of Hitorie can bring to the table. That is what I originally wanted to do. That's why I think this album has a cool, tingly, tense feeling as a band. In fact, the process of making it was quite stressful (laughs)."In December, they held their "WONDER and WANDER" tour, over 12 locations nationwide. In Tokyo, their performance at Akasaka Blitz was sold out.
On July 1, 2015, they released their 2nd mini-album . As promotion for the album, all of wowaka's posts on social media, especially Instagram, were in black and white. This went from March 1, to December 10. On the same month, they held their one-man tour "", with an additional performance in Sendai. Various venues were sold out.
On November 4, they released their new single ", and re-released their first 2 indie releases as " on streaming services. The release featured remasters of most of their old songs, as well as feature a re-recording of "Kara no Waremono", the first song to be written by wowaka for the band.
2016–2018: Deeper, Iki and Ai/Solate On January 27, their 3rd single " (stylized as one-Me two-Hearts)", was released as the opening theme for the anime series "". It was Hitorie's first song to be featured in an anime series. The anime received mixed reviews by fans and critics alike, citing a convoluted story and disappointing adaptation. However, Hitorie's opening theme was praised by many for being memorable, even outside the anime's context.
On February 24, they released their 2nd full-length studio album Deeper. The cover art is from an art exhibition called "STILLSCAPE" by photographers Tetsuya Nagato and Taro Mizutani. In March, they started their one-man tour "one-Me Tour "DEEP/SEEK"", over 14 locations nationwide. The tour final was held at the Studio Coast in Shin-Kiba, and was very successful. On August 8th, they released their first live movie and album featuring the performance.
On November 1, they started their one-man tour "HITORI-[E]SCAPE 2016 tour "5"" over 5 venues nationwide. On the 1st of December, they released their 3rd full-length studio album Iki, their 2nd full-length album release on the same year. A talk and autograph event to commemorate the release was held in Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka. The album's title, stylized in English, is based on the japanese word "生きる", which means "to live". It was previously named "Human". Tomoko Ariizumi of MUSICA, says:"This album "IKI" is a work in which wowaka, after a long period of trial and error since he formed the band Hitorie, was finally able to fully liberate himself in his music, and finally give birth to a pure and true voice. This human liberation inevitably led to the full flowering of his potential as a musician and expressive artist."A live album tour to commemorate the album's release, named ", was performed in over 20 locations nationwide starting on January 27th 2017.
On August 22, 2017, wowaka released his final vocaloid song, for Hatsune Miku's 10th anniversary compilation album Re:Start. A cover version by Hitorie featuring wowaka's vocals was released 2 months later, on October 22. The song was recorded with Hitorie on both versions, and wowaka sings the chorus on the original vocaloid version, while Miku can be heard on the Hitorie version.