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Hitsujibungaku
Hitsujibungaku
Origin	Tokyo, Japan
Genres	Alternative rock
Years active	2011–present
Labels	Sony Music Japan
Members	Moeka Shiotsuka; Yurika Kasai; Hiroa Fukuda;
Website	www.hitsujibungaku.info

Hitsujibungaku (羊文学) is a Japanese alternative rock band formed by Moeka Shiotsuka (vocals, guitar, songwriting), Yurika Kasai (bass) and Hiroa Fukuda (drums).

Career

Moeka Shiotsuka grew up in a strict household, where she spent her childhood focused on her studies. Her passion for music first emerged during her school years through her school's music club, where she joined a Scandal cover band and collaborated on a duo project with a friend.

Shiotsuka formed Hitsujibungaku in 2011 at age 15, during her first year of high school. The band worked around their school schedules, recording primarily during breaks and vacations. She later attended Keio University in Tokyo.^[1] During this period, she found herself torn between her interests in fashion and alternative music, which led to changes in both the band's lineup and activity level.

The band's drummer, Hiroa Fukuda, came from a different background. By his own admission, he was never particularly invested in academics and went to college mainly to play music in campus bands. Before joining Hitsujibungaku in 2015, he played as a backup drummer for Regal Lily [ja]. His love of shoegaze and alternative music made him a perfect fit for the band. Being a year younger than Shiotsuka, he initially addressed her formally as "Shiotsuka-san" until she insisted on dropping the formalities.

The band's bassist, Yurika Kasai, first encountered Hitsujibungaku when both performed at the same school music festival - she as a guitarist in another act. Impressed by their performance, she started following them on social media. When the band posted a bassist wanted ad in 2017, Kasai picked up the bass specifically to audition. Though she was the only applicant, the band knew they'd struck gold - Hiroa recalls how her melodic style enhanced their sound from the very first rehearsal.^[2]

The band released their debut album To the youth (若者たちへ, Wakamono-tachi e) in 2018, featuring "Step" with a music video directed by Shunji Iwai. Their second album, Powers, followed in 2020. In 2021, they wrote and performed "Hikaru Toki" (When the Light Shines) as the opening theme for The Heike Story.^[3]

In April 2022, they released their third album, Our hope, which went on to win the Blue Grand Prix at the 2023 CD Shop Awards.^[4]

The band's profile continued to rise when they contributed "More Than Words" as the ending theme for the Shibuya Incident Arc of Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 in September 2023. They rounded out the year with their fourth album, 12 Hugs (Like Butterflies), released in December.

In May 2024, Fukuda announced he would be taking a break from performing, with the band continuing to use support members for live shows.^[5]

The following month, on June 6 (Japan's Sheep Day), they released their version of the Shaun the Sheep theme song "Life's a Treat."^[6] In July, they released "Burning" as the ending theme for season two of Oshi no Ko.^[7] The band made their U.S. debut with a performance in Honolulu on December 14th, 2024.^[8]