From the tropical land of Tosa, a musician and band member from Kochi Prefecture.

When you think of bands and musicians from Kochi Prefecture, do any artists or bands immediately come to mind?

Mayo Okamoto and Ryoko Hirosue have had a lot of media exposure, so their names likely come up easily, but beyond them, it’s hard to think of many, right?

However, if you look into it, you’ll find that Kochi has produced quite a number of musicians—prompting reactions like “I remember seeing this band on TV back in the day!”, “That person from that band!”, and “That famous video game composer!”

Kochi Prefecture stretches long from east to west, and the regions—Shimanto City in the west, Kochi City and Nangoku City in the center, and Muroto City in the east—each have subtly different cultures and dialects.

In this article, we’ll introduce musicians who hail from Kochi Prefecture.