Sawao Yamanaka (山中 さわお, born December 7, 1968) is a Japanese singer-songwriter. His real name is Sawao Yamanaka (山中 沢男), pronounced the same. He was the leader, vocalist and guitarist of the alternative rock band the pillows, active from 1989 to 2025. He was born in Sapporo, Hokkaido, and raised in Zenibako, Otaru.
Bands
- The Pillows - current member
Credited On
- The Pillows - Wake up! Stand up! and Go! - The Pillows, released January 30, 2008 (
AVBD-91501). Guitar, Vocal.
Biography
Translated from the ja.wikipedia article 山中さわお (CC BY-SA 4.0), revision 111087984.
Overview
He writes and composes most of the pillows' songs. His principal works include “Strange Chameleon” and “Hybrid Rainbow”. His solo works have also been included on compilation albums released by DELICIOUS LABEL. He has occasionally provided songs for artists outside his own band, including Chihiro Yonekura (米倉千尋), The Collectors (ザ・コレクターズ), V6, PUFFY, and Takeshi Tsuruno (つるの剛士).
From around 2001, he primarily used a Fender Cyclone guitar, but began using a Squier Cyclone around the winter of 2011. The body and neck were refinished in white and black. He has also produced DELICIOUS LABEL artists such as noodles and monokuro.
He appeared as a character called “Intellectual Yakuza” in Colors of Life (CLUB Que 9th Anniversary Film), directed by Tokuhiro Nii (二位徳裕), the operator of the live music venue CLUB Que. The film features numerous artists associated with CLUB Que, including Naosumi Masuko (増子直純) of Dohanyuten, while its music director was Kenji Ueda (上田ケンジ), the pillows' first leader.
He occasionally holds a solo acoustic performance event called “SAWAO SING ALONE”.
Personal Life
His name was derived from gymnast Sawao Kato, who won 12 Olympic medals, including a gold medal at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, the year Yamanaka was born.
After graduating from high school, he joined Tahara Tekkin Kogyo but resigned after one month. Balancing musical activities, including punk fashion, with work proved more difficult than he had expected, and he continued his band activities while moving from job to job. After being hired following an interview at the silk-screen printing company San Art, he continued working there part-time for the two years until the start of the pillows. Yamanaka has said in several interviews that meeting the company's president, Kato, was a major experience in his life.
He is one of three brothers and has two older brothers. His second-oldest brother, who lives in Otaru, is also a musician and was active in a unit called SPIKY BROTHERS from 2000 to 2001. The son of his oldest brother, who lives in Sapporo, is a classmate of the nephew of Kenji Ueda, the pillows' first bassist.
He is known for shouting “Auiye!” during songs and when addressing fans. This spelling is also sometimes used in official announcements, such as fan-club newsletters. When performing “Hybrid Rainbow” live, he first asks the audience, “Can you feel?” He also has set phrases intended to unite with the audience, such as “Come on, Little Busters!” during “LITTLE BUSTERS” and “I LOVE IT FUNNY BUNNY HEY!” during “Funny Bunny.”
While pursuing rock music, he is also committed to remaining “pop.” For Yamanaka, the condition for being pop is being “universally good,” and he considers it something that should be distinguished from “pops” or “catchy” music.
At the time of the band's formation, the other members were concerned about Yamanaka Sawao's guitar-playing ability, which led to Yoshiaki Manabe joining the pillows as a guitarist. Yamanaka himself has acknowledged this episode. Even now, when the twin guitars of Yamanaka Sawao and Yoshiaki Manabe have become indispensable to the pillows, he sometimes makes self-deprecating remarks during live performances to draw laughter, describing his own guitar by saying, “Mine is a necklace.” He made this remark during the GOOD DREAMS tour at Kobe Chicken George on December 19, 2004. In THE PREDATORS, a three-piece band, Yamanaka's abilities as a guitarist are also fully demonstrated.
He still associates with the members of Mr.Children, who debuted at the same time, and he and fellow songwriter Kazutoshi Sakurai were said to have been mutually conscious of each other's presence. Sakurai was deeply influenced by the pillows at the time of Mr.Children's debut, while Yamanaka said that he had “some kind of complex” toward Sakurai, whose sales and name recognition grew in contrast to those of the pillows. However, their relationship is said to have become one of equals around the time Mr.Children covered the pillows' signature song “Strange Chameleon.” “Prism,” the B-side of Mr.Children's single “Owarinaki Tabi,” was written by Sakurai with Yamanaka in mind.
When writing songs, he first composes the music and then writes lyrics that feel good when set to the melody. He is able to remember songs that come into his mind without forgetting them, but since the latter half of the 2000s, he has carried an IC recorder and recorded them to prevent sudden lapses of memory.
He is the only member of the pillows to hold a standard driver's license, although he is an inactive driver. The promotional video for the single “Kanojo wa Kyou,” includes a scene in which Yamanaka drives a car.
Career
1986
Yamanaka passed the first-round preliminary screening in the junior division for Hokkaido of the CBS/Sony audition. At the live screening in the second round, he met Kenji Ueda, who had temporarily left KENZI & THE TRIPS. Although the final audition result was that no entrants qualified, Yamanaka was selected as an artist in development.
He began his musical career as a member of The Coin Locker Babies (コインロッカー・ベイビーズ).
1987
After graduating from high school, Yamanaka joined Tahara Tekkin Kogyo (田原鉄筋工業), considering it a job that would make it easy to pursue band activities. However, he resigned after one month because business trips were announced the day before, interfering with his activities. After moving between several part-time jobs, he continued working part-time at a printing company until the start of activities by the pillows.
1989
In February, Ueda telephoned Yamanaka and invited him to form a band together. In April, The Coin Locker Babies disbanded. On September 16, the pillows were formed.
1993
Ueda, the original leader of the pillows, left the band. At the same time, Yamanaka assumed leadership of the band.
1998
Yamanaka formed a band named Hideo Hayashi with former MY LITTLE LOVER member Kenji Fujii, Keisuke Nakagawa and Hideya Suzuki of Mr.Children. Yamanaka served as vocalist, and the band performed songs with a sound entirely different from that of the pillows.
1999
To introduce noodles to the public, Yamanaka established his own label, DELICIOUS LABEL. NINE MILES, monokuro, THE BOHEMIANS, Shurispayrof (シュリスペイロフ), and others subsequently joined the label.
2005
Yamanaka formed THE PREDATORS with JIRO of GLAY and Shinpei Nakayama of Straightener. As with the pillows, he handled vocals and guitar, and wrote and composed several songs.
2010
He released his first solo album in June.
2016
Yamanaka formed the bassless alternative rock band Casablanca with yoko of noodles and Shinya Kusube of Radio Caroline. The songs were written by Yamanaka and yoko, either individually or in collaboration. On songs for which yoko is the main vocalist, Yamanaka often limits his role to guitar and backing vocals, although there are also songs featuring Yamanaka as the main vocalist and songs with twin vocals by Yamanaka and yoko. Casablanca released its first album, Another Story, in 2016 and its second album, BREAK AN IMAGE, in 2017, and has performed on album tours and at festivals.
2020
Yamanaka released his first solo album in seven years, ELPIS, in May. A tour was also planned, but was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In August, he released the album Rock 'n' Roll wa Iranai (ロックンロールはいらない), beginning an increased pace of releases. He also released collaborative recordings with Mari Uchida of Fukurozu and Ryosuke Sasaki of a flood of circle, respectively, releasing five original and collaborative recordings in total over four months.
2023
Yamanaka formed the collaborative band Sawao to Shiori with Shiori Sekine, bassist and vocalist of Base Ball Bear. Their first album, Private loophole, was released exclusively at venues on October 28, 2023. Kiyoyuki Yamazaki of CONFVSE participated on drums.
2025
On January 31, the pillows disbanded.
In August, Yamanaka announced his first joint tour, “JOINT TOUR 2025 ‘COME ON, BOOTY!’”, which was held from October to December. From September 12, he also changed the name used for his band activities to Sawao Yamanaka & ELPIS.
Sources
- Wikidata entity Q6122207.
- ja.wikipedia, 山中さわお (revision 111087984), CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Photograph: Sawao Yamanaka - Delicious Bump Tour in USA 08.jpg on Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0, by Jerrad Neff.
