Friends

Friends is a Japanese music unit comprising singer-songwriter Emi Okamoto and Hirose Hirose. In 2015, Hirose Hirose, formerly of the rock band "THEラブ人間" (THE LOVE NINGEN), left the band to fully commit to his solo career. He formed the band "フレンズ" (Friends), recruiting Tomoyuki Natsume of "シャムキャッツ" (Siamese Cats) on vocals, A-chan of "きのこ帝国" (Kinoko Teikoku) on guitar, nakayaan of "ミツメ" (mitsume) on bass, and Masahiro Fueguchi, formerly of "森は生きている" (Mori wa Ikiteiru), on drums. However, due to Natsume's ill health and the other members' busy schedules, the band naturally dissolved. Despite this setback, Hirose did not give up on his aspirations for a band, and in late 2015, he approached Emi Okamoto to form a new iteration of Friends.