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Rock Band Janne Da Arc Breaks Up After Bassist's Departure

Rock band Janne Da Arc announced its disbandment on Monday due to a pending legal matter related to bassist ka-yu, and the bassist's subsequent departure. The bassist formally left the band on Sunday, March 31, but the band members had been thinking about what to do beforehand. Vocalist and band leader yasu also decided to cease activities in order to focus on his health, and the band ultimately could not think of a concrete plan with how to proceed with the remaining band members, and so decided to disband.

The announcement by agency Uprise Product elaborated on the circumstances of ka-yu's departure. It noted that while the band was preparing the announcement of its new album and a live tour last September, it had received documents addressed to ka-yu from a law firm. The announcement noted that "if the contents of the document were true," then it represented "acts that went against society and what was right." The band decided to cease activity with any projects involving or related to ka-yu.

Uprise Product refrained from discussing the contents and details of the document as the matter could develop into a court case, but the announcement noted that the band hoped for a swift legal resolution to the matter.

While the band had told ka-yu that they wanted to focus on music, ka-yu had told them that he had found something more important than the band, and decided to leave.

The band was active from 1991 until 2007, and made their major debut single in 1999 with "Red Zone." The band has released a total of 26 singles, with the majority from 2002 onwards ranking in Oricon's top 10 weekly single chart. The band released six albums, the last four of which also ranked on Oricon's top 10 weekly album chart. The band performed theme songs for such anime as Sci-Fi Harry, Asobotto Senki Gokū, One Piece (eighth ending song), Black Jack and Bakegyamon.

Source: Janne Da Arc website via Hachima Kikō