Kashitarou Itou began as an “utaite,” a word unique to Nico Nico Douga, a Japanese video sharing website. Utaite is a term that refers to singers who (usually) cover previously written songs and post them to Nico Nico Douga. He first came into the music scene under the name “weezer” in 2012 with “Namida ga Koboreru Mae ni,” which was actually an original song (though he was still referred to as an utaite), and used the VOCALOID programme Hatsune Miku for the vocals. Still uploading as weezer, Itou continued to upload some acoustic covers and even more original VOCALOID-voiced music. For a while though, his work rarely had more than 10,000 views, even though it was well-received by those who did watch them.

Since 2012, though, that has certainly changed. These days, Itou’s videos have more than 80 million views. While he has since deleted his old Weezer account on Nico Nico Douga, his videos remain and continue to attract viewers and attention. By 2014, Itou was able to break out into the professional world and leave behind just being an internet sensation. He has released three albums and has been on the top ten Oricon rankings several times now with them. In 2018, Itou began to do live performances under the name “Kashitarou Itou,” both in Japan and in China. He now has ten albums out - often more than one in the same year - with music he has produced, written, or performed!

Kashitarou Itou has a few interesting facts about him. His name is actually borrowed from his favourite Edo period samurai, though he replaced one kanji with one that means “lyrics” to have more meaning to him personally. He also rarely reveals his face to the public. Because he began his career on Nico Nico Douga using mostly VOCALOID music, he always had an avatar or an illustration to represent his music. He continues to follow this theme, often using manga-style art instead of photographs of him for his albums. When he performs lives, he always wears a Japanese-style fox mask to hide his real features. This is not uncommon in Japanese music as it allows musicians to also live normal lives outside of their careers as no one is likely to recognise them.

We haven’t talked about anime yet, but that’s only because Kashitarou Itou is new to the anime scene! While he’s been a part of otaku circles for some time due to his work with VOCALOID music, he didn’t become an anisong artist until 2020. He has since performed “Kioku no Hakobune,” the ending theme for the anime DECA-DENCE. You can read more about his work with this anime on our recommended post below!