In the small pool of visual kei and visual kei-adjacent bands being brought overseas, there’s Fukuro with its self-proclaimed “piano-rock” sound. Embodying said sound, all while wearing suits and ties, are vocalist Yoshiatsu, pianist Daisuke, bassist Yutara, and drummer Lotto.
The quartet made their overseas debut back in 2024, performing at Anime Expo before embarking on their US West Coast tour. Fast forward to summer 2025, Fukuro embarked on the European tour “Fukuro ROAD TO EUROPE” where we had the chance to speak to them in the UK, at The Underworld in Londonâa sold-out show!
Come join us as we discuss the European tour, their journey, musical inspiration, and creative decisions.
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- Fukuro: pianist Daisuke, vocalist Yoshiatsu, bassist Yutara, drummer Lotto.
In our previous interview in the US, drummer Lotto said that he would like to go to Europe, and now, here you are on the âROAD TO EUROPEâ tour!
You guys are a few dates into the tour at this point. Whatâs been fascinating about the places youâve traveled and performed in, and the people youâve met so far?
Yoshiatsu: [In English] Very hot! Japanese audiences are a lot more chill; theyâre generally quieter than European and American crowds. The overseas fans’ passion is amazing. When we perform, the voices are so loud we can sometimes barely hear ourselves play [laughs]! That makes us really happy, and itâs a lot of fun.
What would you say are the differences and similarities between audiences in Europe compared to North America?
Lotto: One really big thing they have in common is the beautiful smiles they give us. That joy really comes through in their expressions, and we can truly feel it more than we do in Japan, both in North America and Europe. People are so dynamic. They are really straightforward with their expressions.
What is it about this tour that has made you appreciate Europe so far?
Yutara: One of the biggest differences touring here compared to Japan is that you really are touring a whole continent, and you can feel that. Within Europe, there are lots of different countries, all with different cultures. This is our fourth stop, but in Slovakia, Germany, and France, the people were all so different. We had a lot of fun and felt some of those differences, but everyone still smiled for us. These aren’t the kind of things you can experience in Japan. When we were on the train, and we crossed the northern border, it really hit that we weren’t in Japan. It was really eye-opening and very interesting.
What was the drive to tour the continent despite the hurdles presented?
Daisuke: Right now, we just want to go to as many places and meet as many people as we can. It just so happened that we were able to tour Europe this time, but there are a lot more countries we’d like to visit. It’s going to be pretty tough, but we’ll make it work.
This tour is also longer than the US tour, what preparations did the band make for the journey ahead?
Yoshiatsu: We didn’t really do anything to prepare. We just tried not to forget anything [laughs]. We didn’t want to change anything, whether it’s Japan or Europe, so we’re on stage with the same feelings, our usual, natural, default mindset. We just made sure not to forget our underwear [laughs].
Lotto: Oh, but this time, we’re visiting a lot of different countries, so our setlist is pretty much the same this time. When we toured America, we had a different setlist each time because it was the same country.
From keeping up with the band via social media, it seems that youâre all making the most of your time in Europe by sightseeing. What amazing sights have you seen so far?
Yutara: The freshest thing in my memory is Elizabeth Tower [also known as âBig Benâ] that we saw yesterday. It’s way bigger than I thought it would be!
Lotto: The Dom in Cologne. It was amazing!
Yoshiatsu: We walk and go sightseeing on the days that we don’t have shows, and they make us way more tired than days we perform [laughs]. We walk so much when we sightsee that our days off are more tiring.
This will be the bandâs debut performance in London. What comes to mind when you think of the UK?
Yoshiatsu: Punk-rock.
Yutara: Gentlemen.
Yoshiatsu: Harry Potter.
Yutara: UK rock and punk.
Whatâs the favorite thing you’ve eaten in each country so far? Did you try anything new or notice anything surprising?
Yutara: There was this soup that our first driver in Slovakia recommended to us. It was like beef stew.
Lotto: Oh, that one that was in the bread bowl?
Yutara: No, that one was good, but there was another one.
Lotto: I don’t remember what it was called… [Laughs]
Daisuke: The fruit. Well, wherever you go, fruit is good. The grapes in Germany were delicious. I’ve been eating grapes and watermelon every single day.
Yutara: The portions are huge!
Fukuro is a band full of multitudes, with your sound taking inspiration from jazz, rock, and funk, for example. How would the members describe the bandâs sound in two words?
Daisuke: Piano rock.
Fans can listen to setlists of previous performances through the band’s Spotify playlists. What did you consider when compiling songs for the tour?
Yoshiatsu: On our American tour, we played more of our harder songs, but on our European tour, weâre incorporating quieter songs and creating moments of silence. We made sure to include moments where itâs just the piano and vocals, so a little different from America.
Lotto: There was also the issue of not being able to bring certain instruments. We also rearranged some songs. In Japan, there are elements that I use in [the song] Texas Hold âem Poker, for example, that I couldnât bring with me overseas, and also songs with an electronic element. We got around that by rearranging songs or by using something else to make that same sound.
You released released your first album, “Minority Minority“Â over a year ago and then went on to release a retake of the fourth song, âMOM!â. What was the reason behind putting a fresh take on this song specifically?
Yoshiatsu: When we played in America, the audience had such a great reaction to âMOM!â. Everyone sang along, so we thought it had great potential to be a huge hit and have everyone all over the world sing along with us. So, we rerecorded it, filmed a music video, and released that before our Europe tour.
About the music video for the song âMOM!â, how do you feel the visuals feed into the message behind the song?
Yoshiatsu: The mysterious candy, the âdrugsâ in the video, is our music, and weâre giving it out to people all around the world. When you eat it, you get addicted to our sound, and we bring you into our world, so itâs an expression of our music.
In the time since the last overseas tour, the single “ROAD TO THE FUTURE” was also released. What would you say is the main appeal of the title track?
Daisuke: Weâre just trying to show the world how awesome Yoshiatsu is. That’s all. [Laughs]
Yoshiatsu also tap-dances in the beautifully in the music video for “ROAD TO THE FUTURE”. When did you learn to tap dance? That surprised us the most about the song!
Yoshiatsu: Iâve never tap danced before, but the other members wanted me to try it for our next song. I watched some YouTube videos on it. Iâve never had lessons, but the other members want to make Fukuro something even crazier. Theyâre always thinking about what I can do to make what we do cooler, which I totally understand. As such, I challenged myself to do it, to expand the way we express ourselves. They really ask a lot.
And for the B-side song, Tanteki Kofukuron, while it is playful, it’s also mysterious and creepy. What did you want to express with this song?
Yutara: We also wanted to show the world how crazy Yoshiatsu is with that song, in that one moment in time. Weâve got a lot of crazy songs, but we made this one to show a different type of crazy. It was also to have everyone sing along with us.
Yoshiatsu: Lyrically, itâs about how people are always fighting each other, and how those fights end up hurting other people. If all weâre going to do is fight, wouldnât it be easier if everyone were dead? And if you donât like that outcome, then you should make up. Itâs a message to the world to stop fighting. Isnât life better when you think of how to have fun and live alongside each other? We’re all about love and peace, not war.
In the span of nearly four years, the band has released mini-albums, singles, a full album, an acoustic album, and a photobook. Pianist Daisuke has also launched his own album, Bedtime stories. What roads would Fukuro and its members want to explore next that are different from the usual?
Yoshiatsu: World tour.
Yutara: We want to explore countries we haven’t had a chance to yet, but who knows where we’ll go after Europe! We’re also currently making a new [mini-album UTOPIA]. Actually, last night, after we walked around London, we all got together to talk about the album, the songs, the order, and the cover art.
Yoshiatsu: We’ve kind of decided on a title for it.
Daisuke: Well, it’s pretty much settled. We’d be in trouble if it changed after this.
Yoshiatsu: It was similar when we made the single “ROAD TO THE FUTURE”, we talked about the things we saw in America, and then made it when we got back to Japan. We’re doing the same on our Europe tour, for example, stuff we saw on the train or some graffiti we saw, using that as inspiration for the logo and whatnot. In America, a video we saw in the airport inspired the music video for ROAD TO THE FUTURE. We look at the world around us and turn that into inspiration, which is where we’re at right now.
Most of the band members in Fukuro perform in other bands or projects either full-time or as support, it must be difficult to organize time around all these commitments. How have the members managed to navigate each other’s schedules?
Yutara: We basically operate on a âfirst-come, first-servedâ schedule. Nothing has priority, we just handle things in the order theyâre booked.
It seems like Fukuro has accomplished a lot in the past year. How do you feel Fukuro has grown as a band during this time?
Yoshiatsu: We learned and grew a lot in America. We crowd-funded the tour because we wanted to go, and used the power of our fans to be able to do so. We’ve realized that people are waiting to see us all over the world. When we realized there were lots of people who smiled and cried to our music in many countries, our way of thinking changed quite dramatically. We thought we had to go see them and take a lot of care with our music, not just for our Japanese fans, but for everyone the world over. Our America tour really had a big impact on us.
Finally, the bandâs name, Fukuro, is owl in English. How did you come up with the name? How does an owl reflect your music?
Yoshiatsu: I decided on Fukuro for us. The initial concept of a lot of our music was “night”, and owls are kind of like the silent observer of all the things that go on at night in the forest, the night watcher. The true nature of humans comes out at night, so we’re the calm observers of people’s real feelings.
A huge thank you to KILLING DAZE Management for making this interview possible, and to Fukuro for allowing us to have this opportunity. We also thank Kaoru of Visual-Kei Night for helping with the live interpretation.
Fukuro’s fourth mini-album, titled UTOPIA, released on November 5, features songs like “Smells Like Human Diner”, and the retake of the song MOM!. It is readily available through the band’s online store and on streaming platforms.
- Picaresque NovelăăŤăŹăšăŻăăăł
- "Smells Like Human Diner"ăSmells Like Human Dineră
- Hysteric GlamourăăšăăŞăăŻă°ăŠăăź
- MOM! (Retake)MOMďź(Retake)
- UtopiaăŚăźăăă˘
- Missing MeMissing Me