On January 7, Wagakki Band announced that they planned to indefinitely pause their activities starting December 31, 2024 to focus on individual projects. 2024 marks the official 10th anniversary of the band’s debut.

Wagakki Band first caught the attention of audiences with their innovative take on music back in the early 2010s with how they combined traditional Japanese music with contemporary pop-rock. Composed of seven instrumentalists and a vocalist, the band covers the drums (Wasabi), wadaiko (Kurona), guitar (Machiya), bass (Asa), koto (Kiyoshi Ibukuro), shakuhachi (Daisuke Kaminaga), and tsugaru-jamisen (Beni Ninagawa) for a unique fusion. They are able to do unprecedented covers and reinventions of existing songs due to their wide range of uncommonly seen instruments in the music industry outside of the traditional Japanese genre. Vocalist Yuko Suzuhana is also an accomplished utaite (singers who cover Vocaloid songs), well-known for her kobushi-like vocal wavers, giving her music a bit of a traditional–and possibly enka, albeit fast–feel. She is also a poem recital teacher, songwriter, and pianist, and also part of the group Hanafuugetsu, pair Yuukari, and trio Asty. One of their most popular covers remains Senbonzakura.

Official website: https://wagakkiband.com/