Yoshida Brothers

The Yoshida Brothers (吉田兄弟, Yoshida Kyōdai) are Japanese shamisenist musicians who have released several albums on the Domo Records label.

Yoshida Brothers
Background information
OriginNoboribetsu, Hokkaidō, Japan
GenresTsugaru-jamisen
Years active1999–current
LabelsDomo
MembersRyōichirō Yoshida
Kenichi Yoshida
Websitedomomusicgroup.com/yoshidabrothers/

The two brothers are performers of the traditional Japanese music style of Tsugaru-jamisen which originated in northern Japan. They debuted in 1999 in Japan as a duo playing the shamisen. Their first album sold over 100,000 copies and made them minor celebrities in Japan, a fact that surprised the Yoshida Brothers themselves.[1] They have since attracted an international audience.[2]

Their music has been a fusion of the rapid and percussive Tsugaru-jamisen style along with Western and other regional musical influences. In addition to performing songs that are only on the shamisen, they also use instruments such as drums and synthesizers.

The commercials for Nintendo's Wii video game console that began airing in North America in November 2006 featured the Yoshida Brothers song "Kodo (Inside the Sun Remix)".[3]

Members

Ryōichirō Yoshida (吉田 良一郎, Yoshida Ryōichirō, born 26 July 1977) and Kenichi Yoshida (吉田 健一, Yoshida Ken'ichi, born 16 December 1979) were born in Noboribetsu in Hokkaido, Japan. The two brothers have played the shamisen since a very young age. They both began to study and play the shamisen at the age of five under Koka Adachi, learning the Minyō-shamisen style; from about 1989 they studied the Tsugaru-jamisen style under Takashi Sasaki.

Discography

International albums
  • Move (2000)
  • Yoshida Brothers (2003)
  • Yoshida Brothers II (2004)
  • Yoshida Brothers III (2006)
  • Hishou (2007)
  • Best Of Yoshida Brothers (2008)
  • Prism (2009)
  • Ibuki (2010)

Nightmare Revisited

The 2008 Disney album, Nightmare Revisited, which consists of 20 remade tracks from the original The Nightmare Before Christmas, featured the Yoshida Brothers' remake of the track "Nabbed". The song kept true to the Yoshida Brothers' shamisen style yet contained added electronic elements.

12. "Nabbed" (7:35)

Japanese albums
  • Ibuki (1999)
  • Move (2000)
  • Soulful (2002) (a.k.a. Yoshida Brothers 2003)
  • Frontier (2003) (a.k.a. Yoshida Brothers II 2004)
  • Renaissance (2004)

Other appearances

References
  1. Yoshida, Ryoichiro; Yoshida, Kenichi (May 15, 2008). "Yoshida Brothers Interview". J-Pop World (Interview). Interviewed by Andrew. Indianapolis. Archived from the original on December 11, 2008.
  2. Byrne, Richard (April 17, 2014). "Japan's Yoshida Brothers – How do two Japanese brothers combine traditional Chinese music with global dance beats?". The Globalist. Washington D. C. Archived from the original on May 24, 2022.
  3. "Yoshida Brothers (profile)". Myspace. Los Angeles. Archived from the original on July 7, 2008.
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