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5 Years of YOASOBI: A Look Back at the Duo’s Unprecedented Rise to J-Pop Superstardom

YOASOBI, consisting of composer Ayase and singer ikura, launched its career in 2019 as a group that turns creative writing into music.

The “Idol” hitmakers have since released numerous hit songs and gained popularity that transcends generations and borders, expanding their reach worldwide as one of the biggest breakout J-pop acts in recent years. In February 2021, the pair held their first live show — entitled KEEP OUT THEATER — at a building under construction in Shinjuku, Tokyo (the current Tokyu Kabukicho Tower), filmed without an audience and livestreamed for viewers at home. That same year, they collaborated with four Naoki Prize-winning authors for a project called Hajimete no(“…for the first time”), and their song “The Blessing,” released in October, was featured as the opener for Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury Season 1 and became a huge hit.

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