Good meowning, everybunny! Today's Bento Box Artist of the Week is Koji Tamaki!
Koji Tamaki (玉置浩二, b. 13 September 1958) is a Japanese singer-songwriter and actor. He has been well-known as a frontman of the band Anzen Chitai (安全地帯) that debuted in 1982 and enjoyed their successful career particularly during the 1980s.
As a vocalist and a songwriter of the band, Tamaki spawned multiple successful compositions, which were mostly co-written by lyricists including Matsui Gorō (松井五郎) and Inoue Yōsui (井上陽水), by the time that the group went on hiatus in 1993.
In 1987, Tamaki released his first solo single, "All I Do," and continued his solo career after Anzen Chitai went into hiatus (1993-2001, 2004-2009). Throughout his solo career, he has released 23 singles and over a dozen of studio albums. His song "Den-En," released as a single in 1996, became a massive hit, reaching #2 on the Japanese Oricon charts and selling more than 900,000 copies. In 2008, he was diagnosed with acute pancreatitis, and announced that he would be taking a break from entertainment to focus on his health. He returned to the entertainment industry in 2010. In 2016, he had surgery for diverticulitis, and took a one month hiatus from entertainment to recover. He has been active ever since.