is a Japanese songwriter and Vocaloid producer. As an independent artist, he produces the lyrics and music for each of his songs under his own record label, "Kikuo Sound Works," often with vocals provided by popular Crypton Future Media voicebank, Hatsune Miku. His unique style of high-tempo music production utilizes diverse instruments belonging to the folk music of various world cultures, as well as the childlike sounds of toys and toy pianos, to create colorful and upbeat harmonies, often juxtaposed by unsettling lyrics.
Additionally, Kikuo is best known for his song, which surpassed 100 million streams on Spotify in January 2023 and 110 million views on YouTube in July 2025, the first Hatsune Miku song to achieve this feat.Masahiro Saito (Japanese: ). February 26, 2023. .AikaRaika. September 1, 2023. . Kikuo is also known for his songs "You're a Useless Child" and "I'm Sorry, I'm Sorry".
Life and career Kikuo was born in 1988. He credits experiences in elementary school for inspiring him to be a creator, recalling how bullies would stop harassing him to take an interest in his creative works, such as "gamebooks," with some even calling him talented and lucky to have such creativity. In a 2023 interview with Japanese web magazine Freezine, Kikuo specifically discussed how bullying shaped his worldview and motivation to create:
Going back a long way, when I was in elementary school I was being bullied, but when I showed them a gamebook that I made by myself, they were like, "You're amazing," and the bullying stopped temporarily when I was playing with the gamebook, but as soon as I took the gamebook away, the bullying started again. From that situation, I realized, "Oh, I can't survive in this society without creativity," and in middle school I thought I had to find something I was good at, anything creative, so I tried a lot of different things, but I couldn't do the things I wasn't good at...There were a lot of things I didn't have, and I got bored very easily, so I got bored of everything, and in the end, the only thing I didn't get bored of was DTM.
Though Kikuo initially used his creativity to evade school bullies, he concluded that creativity would be necessary to survive in society, too. His passion for (DTM) led him to start creating music in 2003, uploading songs to 2channel while still in middle school.Archived 2024-08-06 at the Wayback Machine Noticing little interest in his early works, bright and flashy pop songs with dance tempos, he investigated the Vocaloid genre. Kikuo told Freezine that songs with more grotesque themes experienced greater success, leading him to make darker pieces himself.
Kikuo published his first Vocaloid song in 2010, followed by his 2011 debut studio album, Kikuo Miku. In 2016, he performed alongside other acts at Dwango's annual Nico Nico Cho Party (Japanese: , ) in Saitama Super Arena.Kikuo. 2016. . Kikuo's work gained popularity, even being featured in the Educational Arts Company high school textbook, "High School Music 1" (Japanese: ), as part of a section covering the Vocaloid genre. His song "Six Greetings" was referenced in the textbook along with a lead sheet featuring lyrics and notes from the song.Kyogei, pg 8. 2022. Kyogei High School Music Textbook 1 Kikuo was also featured in a documentary by the Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK) about Hatsune Miku. As of 2024, Kikuo has created more than a dozen albums and worked with various shows, film projects, games, and other media (see Affiliated works below). His three most streamed songs include:
The three songs belong to Kikuo's 2013 album Kikuo Miku 3 (Japanese: ), and have amassed over 340 million streams collectively on Spotify, as of 2025.Kikuo. 2024. Kikuo (Spotify) . "Love Me, Love Me, Love Me" in particular surpassed 100 million streams on Spotify in January 2023, making it the first Vocaloid song to achieve this feat, and most streamed song in the Vocaloid genre as a whole.
Artistry Music production
Kikuo's production process is well documented, having been recorded and highlighted in the 2012 "Miku Creator's Project" on Google+,Google+. June 10, 2012. Hangouts on airVol.1on Google+Project . and also on the online education website, Coloso.Coloso. 2023. . He uses a wide range of known and unknown instruments, effects, plugins, vocal synthesizers, and is known for using unorthodox samples such as crushing fruit, wrenches and machinery, squeaks of toys, and even sounds of childhood classrooms to enhance the settings of his songs. Preferring not to use MIDI keyboards to arrange notes, Kikuo points and clicks with a touchpad and mouse. When asked in an interview with Rittor's music magazine, Plug+, about how he chooses sounds to set his music apart he replied, "The philosophy I always follow when choosing sounds is that 'beauty is consistency'...For example, I believe that an orderly arrangement of bricks is more beautiful than a jumble of stones. In music, we feel that something is beautiful when the notes are arranged according to certain rules."
Japanese and Chinese software-voicebanks (colloquially referred to as Vocaloids) provide the main vocals and ad-libs in most Kikuo songs. Recurring Vocaloids used by Kikuo include the popular virtual idol, Hatsune Miku from Crypton Future Media, and Qi Xuan (Mandarin: ) from Beijing TimeDomain Technology's ACE Virtual Singer (Mandarin: ). He has also made demo songs for various Vocaloids running on the Vocaloid 3 engine, including Tone Rion (Japanese: ),vocaloidstore. January 11, 2012. New Vocaloid (Tone Rion) demo song . IA (Japanese: ),1st Place. April 25, 2012. IA Sample Tracks . and Anri Rune (Japanese: )NicoNicoPAWAH. June 29, 2013. 【Anri Rune DEMO】/ Hallelujah・Super Idol 【VOCALOID 3】+MP3 DOWNLOAD . (see Demo songs below). In addition to Vocaloids, Kikuo has also worked with traditional human voices as in the case of his lower-tempo, collaborative album Kikuo feat. si_ku, where his friend and repeat album cover artist, "si_ku", provided vocals.
Kikuo uses Studio One as his preferred DAW with VST plugins for instruments (VSTi) and effects (VSTfx). For VSTi, he is known to use Omnisphere, Kontakt, Massive, and Addictive Drums. For VSTfx, he is known to use Fabfilter, Glitch Machines, Waves Signature Series, Ozone, and Komplete. Additionally, Kikuo acquires samples from Splice and Loopcloud, utilizing the software "Reference4" for acoustic corrections. His hardware preferences include the A7X Active Studio Monitor speaker from ADAM Audio in conjunction with Focal's Clear MG Pro headphones. When asked by Plug+ about an effect he considers best for Vocaloid, Kikuo replied, "It's a pitch shifter. I think there's no point in using detailed and complicated effects because it won't be conveyed anyway. That's why I'm focusing on how to use old-fashioned retro plug-ins dynamically."
Lyrical themes Kikuo's lyrics typically explore dark topics. A recurring motif in Kikuo's most popular songs is that of the problem child, accompanied by lyrics which explore themes of suffering, escapism, and trauma. Kikuo often uses bright melodies, audio samples of toys, and the youthful voices of Vocaloids to juxtapose the dark subject matter of his songs.
Discography
Albums +Kikuo albums (groups included)English titleOriginal Japanese titleRomanizedNotesArtistFeatured artistsRuntimeSong countRelease dateNETJEEPネットジープNetjeepKikuoKokon Koko0:15:524April 29, 2007Bell of DreamInstrumentalKikuo00:22:4210December 31, 2009Kikuo MikuKikuo00:46:3712August 13, 2011KIKUOWORLDInstrumental, (stylized in all caps)Kikuo00:29:0811December 31, 2011Kikuo Miku 2Kikuo00:45:5912August 11, 2012KIKUOWORLD2Instrumental, (stylized in all caps)Kikuo00:22:537December 31, 2012Kikuo Miku 3Kikuo00:51:1912August 12, 2013KIKUOWORLD3Instrumental, (stylized in all caps)Kikuo00:38:241December 31, 2013Whereabouts of the Living Being's SoulCollaborative AlbumKikuo feat. si_kusi_ku00:37:287December 31, 2013Kikuo Miku 0Pre-Vocaloid songs from 2005 to 2011, special selection of 28 songs from over 1,000Kikuo. 2014. SCANS.Kikuo11 artists01:13:3528August 17, 2014Kikuo Miku 4Kikuo01:12:5915December 30, 2014Act ICollaborative AlbumKikuoHana (Japanese: )Hanatan00:45:3912March 30, 2016Kikuo LiveLive Album from Nico Nico Cho PartyKikuo00:27:544August 14, 2016Act IICollaborative AlbumKikuoHana (Japanese: )Hanatan00:48:0912March 31, 2017Kikuo Miku 5Kikuo00:49:5410December 29, 2017Kikuo Miku 6Kikuo00:47:4712November 6, 2019Kikuo Miku 7Kikuo00:42:0211March 21, 2023
Singles
+Kikuo singlesEnglish titleJapanese titleRomanizedNotesArtistFeatured artistsRuntimeSong countRelease date"Voices of Svaahaa"""""Promotional for Kikuo Miku 7Kikuo00:05:341October 2, 2021"Astral Travel"""""Promotional for Kikuo Miku 7Kikuo00:05:231March 21, 2022"Knife, Knife, Knife"""""Promotional for Kikuo Miku 7Kikuo00:03:241May 1, 2022"My Time OMORI ver. (Kikuo cover)"Collaborative Cover of Bo En's "My Time" from Omori, Promotional for Kikuo Miku 7Bo EnKikuo00:02:461October 19, 2022"In a Deep, Dark Forest"""""Promotional for Kikuo Miku 7Kikuo00:04:571November 24, 2022"Good Child and the Fox Spirit"""""Promotional for Kikuo Miku 7Kikuo00:03:531December 31, 2022"Kara Kara Kara no Kara STuPiD DaNCe ReMiX"""Kikuo00:06:371August 23, 2023"As it is, As it is, Without Change"""""Kikuo00:03:441August 28, 2023"Rainborn Menoko""天つ水のメノコ""Ama tsu Mizu no Menoko"Kikuo00:05:321August 30, 2025
Demo songs +Demo songs (Promotionals for VOCALOID3)English titleJapanese titleRomanizedNotesArtistPromoted VocaloidRuntimeSong countRelease date"Pokkan Color"""""Re-released as eighth song on Kikuo Miku 2KikuoTone Rion (Japanese: )00:03:221January 11, 2012"Dust Dust Curse"""""Re-released as seventh song on Kikuo Miku 2KikuoIA (Japanese: )00:03:461January 27, 2012"Hallelujah Super Idol"""""KikuoAnri Rune (Japanese: )00:03:561June 29, 2013
Other works
Minor works Works and side projects unrelated to Kikuo's mainstream discography are found below:
"Asian Melancholic" is a Kikuo side project debuted in 2015.Kikuo. August 2, 2015. Asian melancholic . Compared to other projects, Asian Melancholic's work is eponymously more pensive and low-tempo, often instrumental with minor exceptions. His EP At First was released August 17, 2015 and includes 5 songs with a runtime of 00:17:54. "I Want an Older Sister" (Japanese: ) is a manga created by Kikuo in 2013, available on the Japanese art site Pixiv.Kikuo. September 2, 2015. Kikuo Pixiv .Kikuo. January 9, 2014. Kikuo Post(Tweet) About Manga Debut . "Kikuostories Aishite Aishite Aishite" (Japanese: Kikuostories ) is a novel written by Kikuo and Ryoji Takamatsu (Japanese: ) in 2023, novelizing his two most popular songs, and into a love story and familial tragedy, respectively.Kikuo, Ryoji Takamatsu (Japanese: ). August 23, 2023. .
Affiliated works In addition to the above works, Kikuo has also supported various media projects including games, TV shows, movies, promotional content for Yamaha's Vocaloids (see Demo songs above), and musical productions by other artists. His roles across these projects include lyricist, composer (writing and arranging), audio master, mixer, etc. Projects where Kikuo is not the focus, and involvement is limited, are listed below:
Ikitama - Musical group headed by "si_ku" (Kikuo's friend, collaborator, and main artist). Kikuo helped compose and master. (si_ku). 2016. Ikitama . Kaikai Kitan/Ao no Waltz by Eve - String Arrangement alongside Nene Rio.Eve. December 21, 2020. - Eve MV . Love Death 555! (Japanese: ) - Composed main theme "Itsudoko!? Love☆Link de Go Go Go!!!" (Japanese: )Getchu. July 17, 2024. Love Death 555! ~v-Realtime Lovers~ . Touhou Project's 2012 video game - Composed much of soundtrack.Touhou Soushinenki. 2009? Touhou Arrangement . Chunithm New (2021 Sega arcade game) - Helped compose "Spider's Thread" on the OST.