Imagine having broken through as a music producer while still a teenager, with hit songs like Keijijougakuteki, Mahou, written for idol group Dempagumi.inc. Japanese musician Yukichi Kasaku/men has gone on to work with dozens of artists as a collaborator, singer, producer, and remixer, while also releasing music as a solo artist.
This child prodigy was influenced by J-pop stars like Sheena Ringo as well as more underground artists, Vocaloid music, and a healthy dose of otaku culture. The result was songs with catchy vocal melodies belied by complex song structures and deep lyrics.
Previously, the artist was signed to Toy's Factory, but they are currently unsigned, producing and releasing music alone. Recorded at home on a Mac, Yukichi Kasaku/men is nevertheless an in-demand collaborator. Over the past year or so, they provided the hit song L.U.V for Hatsuboshi Gakuen as part of the Idolmaster videogame series, sang gorgeous backing vocals on several songs on the latest album by Haru Nemuri, worked with rising production group Koh-Gaku on the song 2025 by SNJO, and even launched a radio-format podcast with actress and talent Satsuki Okumori.
Meanwhile, the now-22-year-old producer is working with Dempagumi.inc member Nagi Nemoto as a duo under the name Middle Estate. Their new song, "Chuko Tenshi Anti Emo," featured on Nemoto's "Mental Breakdance" EP in March.
As for the name Yukichi Kasaku/men, the "Yukichi Kasaku" part is a play on the kanji from the musician's mother's name. Fearing that a kanji-only name was a little too heavy to read, "men" was added in English as a flourish.
I chatted for an hour with this fascinating musician to hear more about their various roles from producer to performer, life post-teenage breakthrough, and a new album of instrumental songs planned for release later this year.
Excerpts Follow
Yukichi Kasaku/men
I first discovered you through your work with Haru Nemuri.
You sang backing vocals on several songs on her new album, ekkolaptómenos, including panopticon, which is currently my song of the year. The songs on the album could have become quite hard and spiky, and they are very political, but your backing vocals make them feel more rounded and pretty. What was that project like?
I first met Haru Nemuri over social media, as I was a fan of her music. And she invited me to join this album as a backing singer. I hadn't really done that before, but I liked how hard and noisy Haru Nemuri's songs can be. The songs on this album have a taste of fantasy, and the backing vocals helped to make that more pronounced, which I was really happy with.
After discovering you on that album,
I realized I had actually heard your music before – the songs you wrote for Dempagumi.inc in 2019. I've interviewed them several times and love them a lot, and I'd heard the songs 'Keijijougakuteki,' 'Mahou,' and 'Moshi Moshi,' 'Internet,' without realizing you had written them. How did you get involved with them?
When I was a third-grader in middle school, I was putting my own music on SoundCloud. And Dempagumi.inc's music director must have heard it and got in contact with me, and they asked me to write a song for them. I was a fan of Dempagumi.inc already, so I couldn't quite believe it! I had only just started making music, so I couldn't get my head around being invited to write songs for such a popular idol group. But we went ahead, and the songs turned out great. Overall, it was a wonderful experience.
How did it make you feel
To hear your songs for Dempagumi.inc brought to life by a full band and the singing voices of six members?
Even when I saw the music video, I couldn't believe it. Having someone else sing something you wrote is a special experience, because you hear something different in their voice than when you sing it yourself. It was very moving to write songs that reached so many people.
In addition to working with other artists,
You also have a solo career. Your music mixes strong pop music sensibilities with more avant-garde ideas. What are you aiming for artistically?
"I first started making music because I liked to sing. And also, I didn't really play any instruments beyond some piano lessons, which meant at first I focused on making songs that would be comfortable for me to sing. I don't have an academic music background, and I don't know about music genres, so I just make music I like.
So the J-pop that I found fun to sing along to, and my general disregard for any traditional music rules, meant it came together as something that other people find a little eclectic or complex. I don't really think about it, though.
What music did you like growing up?
I enjoyed singing because of hearing songs with strong vocal melodies, such as Sheena Ringo. Her songs were rich, but she had a lot of presence as a singer. I also listened to a lot of Vocaloid songs, especially Hatsune Miku. And since Vocaloid singers can sing things a human can't, it was almost like a challenge to try to sing those songs at karaoke.
Then, when I was in second grade at middle school, I discovered Cornelius, whose album Mellow Waves came out in 2017. The album has strong pop sensibilities, but the album taught me how to listen to music where the vocals were not the main focus, which was a strong influence for me.
Your YouTube account,
Spotify and SoundCloud seem to each feature a totally different set of songs. Does each account show a different side of you? Or did it just happen that way?
SoundCloud is where I first started publishing my music when I was still at school. And the songs I put there, now, are songs I wouldn't necessarily feel confident putting on a subscription streaming service. These are all songs made by only me, and I can freely put those songs on SoundCloud or add a video and put them on YouTube.
On streaming services, you'll find lots of collaborations I did with other artists, which are usually on their channel, not mine. [Yukichi Kasaku/men's first solo album for Toy's Factory is also available on streaming services.] So it just turned out that way.
On YouTube,
Your most recent videos are a set of minimalist CG music videos, with songs like '2 Seater,' using a vocal filter to change what could be a straight pop song into a dreamlike trance. You have a clear singing voice, but on some of these songs, you seem to deliberately cloud it with effects. What's the reason for that?
There are a few reasons. First of all, I record the songs at home these days, all by myself, and there is a limit to the quality I can achieve. But also, my own singing voice has a very clear and straightforward tone, which other people tell me is beautiful. But I personally feel it lacks character.
It's also a very typically "female" voice, which doesn't align with my views on gender. So between those personal reasons and artistic reasons, I think it's more interesting to distort my voice using effects on those songs."
Recently, the video for your song Move reached 100,000 plays on YouTube.
What is that song and the video about?
A friend of mine was playing a rhythm game in an arcade, and the movement of their hands was so fluid it looked like they were dancing. That inspired me to write the song. The music video was made by Shunsuke Sugiyama and kaki Jackson. It was also based on the idea of rhythm games and dancing – it ended up as quite an unusual video!
Let's get into some of your more recent music projects.
Tell me about Middle Estate, which is the duo you formed with Nagi Nemoto from Dempagumi.inc, and your new song together, 'Chuko Tenshi Anti Emo.'
When I was writing songs for Dempagumi.inc, the group member Nagi Nemoto really liked them, and we stayed in touch. Later, she sang on one of my songs, called 'Tabarareru ♡/Taberarenai?' That's where we started Middle Estate.
We're not extremely active as a duo; we just wanted to have a name for the times we work together because it's fun. We performed live together recently for the first time, and the new song on her EP is the first time we've worked together in a while, but it all came together quite naturally.
You've also started a podcast
Together with Satsuki Okumori, titled Yukichi･Satsuki no Chou Tsuushin. That was quite a surprise.
(Laughs) Yes! I met Satsuki Okumori recently, after she invited me to join a show she was hosting, and we became friends. She asked if I'd like to do a radio show together. I'm not used to talking that much, so I was nervous. But Satsuki is a great speaker, and I handle the music side and the jingles, so we just jumped into it. On the show, we chat about recent life events and respond to emails from our audience. It's fun.
Recently,
You also sang on a new song titled '2025' by SNJO, who is a producer within the Koh-Gaku production team, and the song is incredible. As someone who collaborates with a lot of other artists, what do you like about it?
I get to do things I wouldn't usually do. In that particular case, the members of Koh-Gaku invited me to sing with them, and it's rare that I sing on songs made by other people – a song I was not involved in producing myself. Sometimes the restrictions of working on someone else's song present a challenge to do something you wouldn't normally think to do, which is great.
Why do you think so many artists want to collaborate with you?
It's difficult to answer that! But from my perspective, I think that depending on whom I'm collaborating with, I'm able to pull out very different ingredients, different sides of myself. Perhaps they feel that I am someone who has many different facets. People often tell me that my sense of rhythm and melody is quite unusual, so perhaps they want to add a little bit of that to their music."
You are currently preparing a new album of instrumental songs, titled 'table tennis no game no refill.'
As someone who started out wanting to sing and who puts so much effort into their lyrics, an instrumental album is quite a surprise! What can you tell us about this project?
Well, this is my first full album release since leaving my record label, and I just wanted to make something to satisfy myself. This is my first time making instrumental music, but in a way, removing the vocals brings a level of freedom. I wanted to create a selection of songs that feel unified, and this is how it turned out. It's very different than what I've done until now.
I've always written music with a feeling of freedom, but this time I've really felt unrestricted. And I've started to appreciate longer songs that let you focus. Once you add vocals, you start to become restricted by conventions: verse, chorus, verse, repeat, and after a certain number of choruses, the song has to end before the listener gets bored. You don't have that problem with instrumental songs.
When will it be released?
"It'll be a digital-only release on October 22, with 16 songs. Maybe I'll make some videos as well. It'll all be handmade by me, so we'll see what happens!"
Learn More
For further information, follow Yukichi Kasaku/men on X, on YouTube, and on SoundCloud. New album "table tennis no game no refill" will be released on October 22.
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Interview by Daniel Robson
Read Daniel's artist interviews and his series Gamer's World on JAPAN Forward, and find him on X (formerly Twitter).
