Kenshi Yonezu Releases New Single 'Garakuta - JUNK' Announces World Tour

Tokyo, Japan (August 20, 2024) – Gearing up to release his sixth studio album LOST CORNER digitally worldwide on Wednesday, August 21, global crossover J-pop artist KENSHI YONEZU today debuts a new track from the album entitled “Garakuta - JUNK” – available everywhere now. A theme song to the movie LAST MILE, which will be in theaters in Japan from August 23rd, today an event "Shared Universe Premiere" was held with the gorgeous casts all together with a premiere held in 5 cities nationwide. A shared universe movie directed by Ayuko Tsukahara, written by Akiko Nogi, with Hikari Mitsushima as the main character Elena and Masaki Okada as the team manager Ko Nashimoto, also connects to the worlds of the dramas that Yonezu has done theme songs for, “'Unnatural” and “MIU404.”

Also, Yonezu has announced today his world tour, additional shows to his already announced Japan tour “KENSHI YONEZU 2025 TOUR / JUNK”, total of 8 performances in 6 cities in Asia, Europe, and America. From March to April, tour in Shanghai, Taipei, London, Paris, New York, and his finals in Los Angeles. This will be Kenshi Yonezu's first performance in Europe and America, and in addition to his first dome performance in Japan, this will be his largest live tour ever.

Performance schedule (excl.Japan world tour):

3/08 (Sat) Shanghai
3/09 (Sun) Shanghai
3/15 (Sat) Taipei
3/16 (Sun) Taipei
3/30 (Sun) London
4/01 (Tue) Paris
4/04 (Fri) New York
4/06 (Sun) Los Angeles

Venues and ticket details will be announced soon

To celebrate this announcement, "Kenshi Yonezu 2023 TOUR / FANTASY" teaser video was out on his YouTube. All 23 songs including the encore, which is the full live footage of "Kenshi Yonezu 2023 TOUR / FANTASY", would be included in the "Video Edition" (First limited edition) of the coming 6th album LOST CORNER.

KENSHI YONEZU 2023 TOUR / FANTASY TEASER WATCH HERE

The "Kenshi Yonezu 2023 TOUR / FANTASY" teaser is a video of the tour's final performance held at Yokohama Arena on July 2, 2023. With the theme of "FANTASY," 24 performances at 11 venues across the nation, and at the final stage of the tour, Yonezu performed "Chikyugi - Spinning Globe ", the theme song for Hayao Miyazaki's film The Boy and the Heron, which had not yet been revealed at all at that time was performed as a secret track. The teaser includes "Chikyugi - Spinning Globe ", "KICK BACK", "Kanden", and "Uma to Shika", “Lemon”, “M87”, “Uchiage Hanabi”, and “Haiirotoao ( + Masaki Suda )” are included.

With global expectations high since STRAY SHEEP, Yonezu's long-awaited 6th album LOST CORNER will be released worldwide digitally on Wednesday, August 21, along with physical versions released locally on Friday, August 23. LOST CORNER is richly packed with total of 20 tracks, including an illustrious collection of songs Yonezu has released in the last 4 years: “Sayonara, Mata Itsuka! – Sayonara” (theme song to the NHK Morning Drama The Tiger and Her Wings), “Garakuta – JUNK” (theme song to the film LAST MILE), “Chikyugi - Spinning Globe” (theme song to Oscar winning Studio Ghibli film The Boy and the Heron), “M87” (theme song to the film Shin Ultraman), “Tsuki Wo Miteita – Moongazing” (theme song to FINAL FANTASY XVI), “KICK BACK” (opening theme to the anime series CHAINSAW MAN), and more. Rounding out the collection are eight never-before-heard tracks, including a vocal song duet with Japanese singer, actress, idol and former member of BiSH, Aina The End.

LOST CORNER marks Yonezu's highly anticipated follow-up to 2020's STRAY SHEEP, which broke previous IFPI Global All Format Chart records and became the highest-placing Japanese artist ever to appear on the IFPI year-end global ranking chart, shipping over 1.9 million cumulative CD units. When STRAY SHEEP was released, Yonezu attracted attention across the world with “Yonezu Kenshi 2020 Event / STRAY SHEEP in FORTNITE.” This event made him the first Asian artist to have a virtual concert in FORTNITE, a battle royale game that reaches 370 million players worldwide. That same day, New York's Fifth Avenue UNIQLO storefront featured Yonezu's self-drawn illustrations, trending not only in the U.S. but worldwide. The storefront collaboration displays also took place in Japan and China, totaling 8 UNIQLO stores worldwide.

KENSHI YONEZU – LOST CORNER
TRACKLISTING –

1. RED OUT
2. KICK BACK
3. MARGHERITA + Aina The End
4. POP SONG
5. Shinigami
6. Mainichi - Every Day
7. LADY
8. Yumeutsutsu - Daydream
9. Sayonara, Mata Itsuka! - Sayonara T
10. omaremiyo - Stop Look Both Ways
11. LENS FLARE
12. Tsuki Wo Miteita - Moongazing
13. M87
14. Pale Blue
15. Garakuta - JUNK
16. YELLOW GHOST
17. POST HUMAN
18. Chikyugi - Spinning Globe
19. LOST CORNER
20. OHAYO

ABOUT KENSHI YONEZU

After taking the Vocaloid scene by storm under the moniker Hachi, Kenshi Yonezu began releasing materials under his real name in 2012.

In 2023, Yonezu wrote “LADY” for the TV commercial of Georgia coffee product line, followed by “Tsuki Wo Miteita - Moongazing”, as the theme song of the action role-playing game FINAL FANTASY XVI. In July, he wrote “Chikyugi - Spinning Globe” for The Boy and the Heron, Studio Ghibli's latest movie directed by Hayao Miyazaki. The song also turned out to be the 100th song released under Kenshi Yonezu's real name. He also appeared in fashion brand LOEWE's FW23 men's collection campaign, coinciding with the brand's 50th anniversary in Japan. August saw the gold certification of “KICK BACK” by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America), which allowed the artist to achieve such a feat “for the first time in history” as a song “with Japanese lyrics.” He was selected as the first and only Japanese artist to be a part of the “RIAA Class of 2023”, with which the association summarized the artists who had flourished in the year; the news was widely picked up and reported as a highlight of 2023.

In April 2024, Yonezu wrote “Sayonara, Mata Itsuka! – Sayonara” as the theme song of NHK Morning Drama The Tiger and Her Wings and in May released “Mainichi - Every Day” featured in another Coca-Cola Japan, Georgia commercial. New song, “Garakuta – JUNK” - the theme song of the movie LAST MILE will be coming in theaters in Japan from August 23rd.

Yonezu announced his sixth studio album LOST CORNER will be available worldwide on Wednesday, August 21. Included within the 20-track collection are selections from Yonezu's creative output the last four years, including “Chikyugi - Spinning Globe,” his theme to Hayao Miyazaki's Oscar-winning film The Boy and the Heron, “KICK BACK,” his history-making track that became the first-ever Japanese language song to reach RIAA Gold certification, plus eight brand new never-before-heard songs.

LOST CORNER marks Yonezu's highly anticipated follow-up to 2020's STRAY SHEEP, which broke previous IFPI Global All Format Chart records and became the highest-placing Japanese artist ever to appear on the IFPI year-end global ranking chart, and shipped over 1.9 million cumulative CD units. That same year, he became the first Asian artist ever to collaborate with FORTNITE for a virtual event – “Kenshi Yonezu 2020 Event / STRAY SHEEP in FORTNITE” in Fortnite. The innovative and global virtual concert, which reached the game's audience of over 350 million players, is just one of the many contributing factors to Yonezu's ever-growing acclaim both within and outside of Japan.

As for Yonezu's music videos, “Lemon” has surpassed 870 million views, continuing to break the records of Japanese artists. It is one of the 16 music videos of his songs that garnered him a commanding record of surpassing 100 million views each (“Lemon,” “Eine Kleine,” “LOSER,” “Peace Sign,” “Haiirotoao (+Masaki Suda),” “orion,” “Flamingo,” “Kanden,” “Fireworks,” “Paprika,” “Shunrai,” “Uma to Shika,” “Spirits of the Sea,” “KICK BACK,” Foorin's “Paprika” and Masaki Suda's “Machigaisagashi”). He has over 7.22 million subscribers on his official YouTube channel.