MIYAVI
http://myv382tokyo.com/?aid=195
Born in Osaka in 1981, guitar prodigy Miyavi has established himself as one of Japan's foremost upcoming performers with his highly original pickless playing style. He has performed at over 200 gigs in over 30 countries as part of three world tours. His 2010 album WHAT’S MY NAME? was created using only guitar and drums and has an innovative sound that spans rock, funk, hip hop and dance music. In 2011 he began the SAMURAI SESSION WORLD SERIES with the intention of undertaking collaborations with various different artists. He has provided music for numerous music artists, as well as TV commercials for UNIQLO and Toshiba.

KEIICHI NITTA (Birthday Boy）
http://www.keiichi-nitta.com/
Born in Tokyo in 1975, Keiichi Nitta represents Japan’s pop culture. After graduating from Bunka College of Fashion, he moved to New York and became the assistant of Terry Richardson. He went freelance in 2006 after returning to Japan. “BOWERY BOYS”, the 120-page photo book he produced with artists who lived around the Bowery area, is nearly sold out!

CHIKASHI KASAI
http://twitter.com/kasaichikashi
Born in Tokyo in 1970, Chikashi Kasai is a graduate of Tama University of Fine Arts. He works on everything from fashion, music and culture magazines to CD jackets and swimwear shoots. His most famous published works are “TOKYO DANCE” (1997), “danse double” (1997) and “KARTE” (2010).

YASUYUKI TAKAKI
http://www.tkklab.com/
Born in Osaka in 1968. After working as a stylist, he began his career as a photographer in 1994. His work can be seen in men’s magazines like HUGE and BRUTUS as well as in fashion commercials, as well as CD jackets and other projects, for which he also works as the visual director. His monograph “TOTAL Exhibition Book” was published in July 2009.

P.M. KEN
http://www.pmken.com/
Ken began his career as a freelance photographer in 1990. He began to produce digital images with a Mac and Photoshop in 1996, making him an early adopter of the medium. He works for fashion magazines including VOGUE NIPPON and Num?ro Tokyo as well as clients from the music business. Recently his series of composite pictures of shopping streets he has visited in the past has been proving very popular.

KAZUNALI TAJIMA
http://www.tajimakazunali.com/
Kazunali Tajima was born in 1968 in Tokyo. He started his career as a photographer by working as the assistant of Akira Gomi, going freelance in 1990. After living in Paris and New York, he returned to Tokyo in 2002. He shoots for fashion magazines, ads, TV commercials, musicians and image production for movies. He did a monograph of Ryuichi Sakamoto titled “N/Y” in 1995 and one of Miki Nakatani titled “NAKATANI?Miki Nakatani” in 2001.

AKIRA KITAJIMA
http://www.sputnik.ne.jp/
Born in Hakata in 1962, Akira Kitajima graduated from the Kyushu Industrial University Art Faculty Photography course in 1987. He moved to Tokyo and began working at a studio. In 1990 he was selected for PARCO PROMISING PHOTOGRAPHERS 2, and won the Asahi Expression in Advertising Prize. In 1993 his first monograph, titled “UNTITLED” was published. He is the boss of photographer agency SPUTNIK and works on movie ads, jacket images, fashion magazines and catalogues.

NAOKI ISHIZAKA
http://www.naokiishizaka.com/front.html
Born in Sapporo, Naoki Ishizaka began teaching himself photography from the age of 23. After working at photography magazine S.H.I.N.C, he founded his own company and has since done shoots for numerous magazines including CUT, BRUTUS, SWITCH and Number, as well as commercials for SONY, HONDA, TOYOTA, SUNTORY and SHISEIDO. He also works on music videos and commercial films. He is the recipient of a Silver Award from New York’s ADC.

SANO☆YUTAKA
http://twitter.com/sanohoshi
Born in Tokyo in 1966, Yutaka Sano is a stylist-turned-filmmaker who operates in the advertising industry. He graduated from Keio University. In 2007 he won the Tokyo ADC Award. His clients include Kewpie, Shiseido, Honda, Suntory, Kanebo and many others. His commercial for sports drink Pocari Sweat featuring Beat Takeshi, which aired this June was extremely creative. Last year he traveled the world and the photos he took on his iPhone were exhibited.

YASUMASA YONEHARA
http://cexwork.com/
Editor/creative director/photographer. A celebrated figure in his native Japan, YONE has recent become a big celebrity in China and is in hot demand there and across the Asia-Pacific region. His seemingly effortless photos of seductively posing Japanese girls taken with the Cheki instant camera create a sense of intimacy that has won him many obsessive fans. YONE is also active as a writer, with columns in several magazines. He is the founder of legendary photo periodical “Our Photo”.

TAKAHIRO HASHIMOTO
http://www.shima-hair.com/
Senior stylist at legendary hair salon SHIMA, Takahiro Hashimoto makes occasional appearances as DJ.

TONGPAIN
http://twitter.com/tongpain
This unit is comprised of metal maniac Shinji Hagiwara and photographer Keiichi Nitta.