Base Ball Bear

Base Ball Bear came together in 2001 as a Japanese group that initially set out to cover songs by Oasis under the name Planet. Yusuke Koide on vocals and guitar, Shiori Sekine on bass and vocals, Shohei Yuasa on guitar, and Daisuke Horinouchi on drums were all students at the same high school when they formed the project specifically to perform at a festival. Within a year the members switched the band’s name to Base Ball Bear and began recording early demos. They secured a deal with the independent imprint Blitz Pia in 2003, issuing the mini-album Yugata Generation that same year. Their first full-length release, High Color Times, arrived in stores during 2005, after which the quartet moved to Toshiba-EMI in 2006. The following year Base Ball Bear completed its inaugural tour and delivered the album Jyunanasai, which reached the top twenty on the Japanese charts.