Ikimono Gakari

kimono-gakari (いきものがかり also "Ikimonogakari") is a Japanese pop rock band from Kanagawa. The group started in February 1999 with Hotaka Yamashita and Yoshiki Mizuno, and was joined by vocalist Kiyoe Yoshioka in December. The group's name is a reference to ikimono-gakari (生き物係), a group of children who are responsible for looking after plants and animals in Japanese elementary schools. In 2006, the group released its first single on Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Epic Records label. Several of its albums have reached number one on the Oricon Weekly, and its songs have been featured on various media from anime shows such as Naruto to the Olympic broadcast theme song for NHK and the set piece for a national junior high music competition.

MEMBERS:
 
Hotaka Yamashita (山下穂尊, Yamashita Hotaka?, born August 27, 1982) is from Ebina-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture. He is a graduate of Atsugi High School and the Faculty of Social Sciences, Hosei University. He plays the guitar and harmonica, and has written lyrics and melodies to some of the band's songs. His nicknames are Hocchi and Yama-chan.
Yoshiki Mizuno (水野良樹, Mizuno Yoshiki?, born December 17, 1982) is from Ebina-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture. He is a graduate of Atsugi High School and the Faculty of Social Sciences, Hitotsubashi University. He is the leader of the band, and plays the guitar and vocals. He has also written lyrics and melodies to some of the band's songs. His nickname is Yocchan.
Kiyoe Yoshioka (吉岡聖恵, Yoshioka Kiyoe?, born February 29, 1984) is from Atsugi-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture. Her parents are farmers. She is a graduate of Ebina High School and the Showa Academia Musicae Junior College. She is the band's lead vocalist, and has written lyrics to some of the band's songs. Her older brother was a classmate of both Hotaka and Yoshiki at high school. Her nicknames are Yosshie, Kiyoe-chan and Kiyorasu (by Shouko Nakagawa). She joined the band in high school when she suddenly saw Yamashita and Mizuno singing in front of the train station. She used to belong to a children theatrical company.

Musical style
 
Ikimono-gakari's musical style stems from their original lounge rock style found on their first three mini albums under Cubit Club. Their primary instruments were the acoustic guitar, the electric guitar, and the harmonica. Their initial music was considerably slower; "Natsu Koi" on Sakura Saku Machi Monogatari is considerably faster in tempo compared to the same song on Makoto ni Senetsu Nagara First Album wo Koshirae Mashita.... Guitarist and band leader Yoshiki Mizuno also sang considerably more on their indie albums.
With the release of their first major-label album, Sakura Saku Machi Monogatari, their style changed to a more conventional rock style, but still keeping with their traditional guitar-harmonica combination. They also began to add other elements to their songs, such as strings and tambourines, as evidenced by "Sakura" and "Kira Kira Train". Additionally, they recorded songs with faster tempos, such as "Ryūsei Miracle" and "Hinageshi".
Ikimono-gakari began to shift to a more mainstream pop sound with their second and third albums, Life Album and My Song Your Song. Songs like "Kimagure Romantic" differed greatly from their songs during the Sakura Saku era. Life Album saw the revival of a couple of songs from their indie albums; "Hana wa Sakura Kimi wa Utsukushi" from Makoto ni Senetsu... and "Chikoku Shichau yo" from Jinsei Sugoroku Dabe. "Kuchidzuke", also from Jinsei Sugoroku Dabe. was revived on My Song Your
source:
http://www.jpopasia.com/group/ikimonogakari/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikimono-gakari