, better known exclusively by his stage name Inoran, is a Japanese musician, singer and songwriter. He is best known as the rhythm guitarist and co-founder of the rock band Luna Sea since 1986. He started his solo career in 1997. Luna Sea disbanded in 2000, and he formed Fake? with Oblivion Dust vocalist Ken Lloyd a year later. In 2005 he left Fake? and founded Tourbillon with Luna Sea vocalist Ryuichi Kawamura and Hiroaki Hayama. He rejoined Luna Sea when they reunited in 2010, and in 2012 formed Muddy Apes with bassist Taka Hirose and guitarist Dean Tidey, both from Feeder, and 8otto's vocalist Maeson.
Career
In middle school through high school, Inoran became good friends with J, and they formed a band called Lunacy in 1986. In 1991, they changed their name to Luna Sea and released their first album. They went on to become very successful, having sold more than 10 million certified units in Japan, and are considered one of the most influential bands in the visual kei movement.
In 1993, Inoran and J teamed up with X Japan guitarist hide to form the group M*A*S*S. Their only material released was the song "Frozen Bug" on the sampler Dance 2 Noise 004 (the song would later be remixed by hide and put on his debut solo album Hide Your Face).
On September 25, 1997, Inoran released his first solo material, the single "Sou" on King Records. The following month his debut album, also titled Sou, was released on October 22. Inoran does not sing on the album (except the title track), instead it features several different female vocalists.
When Luna Sea "drew the curtain" in 2000, Inoran started Fake? in late 2001 with former Oblivion Dust vocalist Ken Lloyd. When he left Fake? in October 2005, citing musical differences with Ken Lloyd, he founded Tourbillon with former Luna Sea vocalist Ryuichi Kawamura and Hiroaki Hayama.
In the summer of 2006, he began his solo career again and released the album Photograph. After releasing the album Nirai Kanai in July 2007, he performed many live concerts and released the concert DVD Tour 2007 Determine along with The Best album, which covers his favorite music selected by himself and his fan-club. The album also features the new song "I Swear". On December 24, 2007, Inoran reunited with Luna Sea to play a one-night concert in front of an audience of around 45,000 people at the Tokyo Dome. One more reunion would happen again at the hide memorial summit on May 4, 2008.
In March 2008, Inoran released his first official book Monophonic. Inoran performed overseas for the first time in July in Taiwan and South Korea (for the Formoz Festival 2008 and Incheon Pentaport Rock Festival 2008, respectively). On September 21, he performed at D'erlanger's Abstinence's Door #002 event, along with Merry and heidi. His fifth original album Apocalypse was released on September 24. The tour for the album, entitled Butterfly Effect, incorporated an international extension to perform overseas again, this time in Hong Kong in November, before the tour finale back in Japan. He released his first instrumental album Shadow on December 24; it includes the title track for the movie A Symmetry.
Inoran performed on October 25 as part of the two-day V-Rock Festival '09.
In May 2010, Inoran and Orange Range guitarist Naoto created and released the song "Love For..." for the victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake. In August, he appeared with the other members of Luna Sea at a press conference in Hong Kong, where they officially announced their reunion and their 20th Anniversary World Tour Reboot -to the New Moon-. On September 19, Inoran joined British rock band Feeder on stage at the Tokyo Unit for a cover version performance of the Nirvana track "Breed". Feeder's bass player Taka Hirose played on Inoran's next single, "Hide and Seek".
Inoran released the album Teardrop on March 30, 2011, and went on tour in support of it. In April the song "Love For...", which he and Orange Range guitarist Naoto created in 2010 for the Haiti earthquake, was offered for download once again. This time with the proceeds donated to aid reconstruction of the area damaged by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. On September 21, his first album Sou was re-released with a new version of the title track, the bonus track "The Agenda", which was a B-side on his debut single and features American hip-hop artist Black Thought, and a DVD of the promotional video for "Sou".