Ryokuoushoku Shakai cherish their songs like their own children, but once a song is released, they believe what happens to it is up to each listener. That idea is part of the meaning behind their sixth album, ‘Atamago’, whose title is a word the members coined during the recording process.
Released on September 9th 2026 through Epic Records Japan, ‘Atamago’ follows 2025’s ‘Channel U’ and brings together 12 tracks, including six previously released songs. Songs such as ‘Algorithm’ and ‘TABOO’ ask how people might live in an increasingly automated world, while ‘Wakarinikui’ and ‘Utamago’ are more personal.
Vocalist and guitarist Haruko Nagaya, guitarist Issey Kobayashi, keyboardist peppe, and bassist Shingo Anami formed Ryokuoushoku Shakai, also known as Ryokushaka, in Aichi Prefecture in 2012. All four members write songs for the band, and with each coming from different musical roots, their pop rock can head off in almost any direction.
‘Mela!’, their 2020 breakthrough, has surpassed 500 million cumulative streams, while 2023’s ‘Be a Flower’ has passed 300 million. ‘Shout Baby’, ‘Character’, and ‘Summer Time Cinderella’ have each exceeded 100 million.
Their music has also reached anime audiences worldwide. ‘Shout Baby’ became an ending theme for My Hero Academia, ‘Be a Flower’ opened The Apothecary Diaries, and ‘Party!!’ served as an ending theme for Delicious in Dungeon. Their most recent anime tie-in, ‘Riding the wind’, was written for the 2026 animated film L’étoile de Paris en fleur and appears on ‘Atamago’.
Electric Bloom Webzine spoke to the band about the songs on ‘Atamago’ and why they want to perform for more listeners overseas.
What makes ‘Atamago’ different from your previous album?
The first major difference from our previous album is that the title itself is a completely original word coined by us. We also came up with the title while we were already in the middle of making the album, which was another first for us.
The title treats the songs as things born from your heads that can take on lives of their own. What did that idea capture about this particular album?
As the number of songs we create continues to grow year after year, we’ve come to cherish them like our own children. At the same time, we see them as “eggs”, and how those eggs are handled is ultimately up to each listener. That’s part of the meaning behind the title ‘Atamago’, which also reflects Nagaya’s wish to “give the album a proper name”.
Compared with ‘Channel U’, what changed most in the way the four of you approached making ‘Atamago’?
Communication. The biggest change was that, as we’ve all matured, we have become better at exchanging constructive opinions with one another.
Why was ‘Someone’s Country’ the right song to open ‘Atamago’?
Until now, we’d always included an overture as the opening track. This time, we initially thought there wasn’t going to be a song like that. Then, toward the end of the album’s production, ‘Someone’s Country’ came together, and there was a moment when everyone’s feelings naturally gravitated toward this song as the opening track.
Five of the six previously released tracks first reached listeners through dramas, anime, advertising, or television. What changes about those songs once they become part of your own album?
‘Tsuzuku’ is the second-to-last track on the album, at number 11. The lyric, “What we have entrusted to you…” connects with the meaning behind ‘Atamago’, so I think the way the song is heard and understood changes when it becomes part of this album.
You explore so many different sounds, yet they still feel distinctly Ryokushaka. What is that ‘Ryokushaka-ness’ to you?
All four of us write songs, but what brings everything together is Nagaya’s voice. I think that’s what makes us who we are.
‘Algorithm’ describes being trapped in an endless digital loop. What concerns you most about the growing influence of algorithms and AI on everyday life?
In this day and age, I feel that worrying about these things may almost be beside the point. The evolution of AI has already reached a level beyond human reach. What we need to value is living as human beings. I think that means making sure we have time that is completely separate from AI.
That doesn’t mean we should avoid using AI. It means we shouldn’t allow ourselves to be used by AI.
‘TABOO’ asks whether minority voices can be discarded as everything becomes more optimised. When you wrote that, what kind of people or situations were you thinking about?
Minorities exist in every society. Humanity could never have progressed without the ability of minorities to break through barriers and come up with new ideas. It’s always people in the minority who make major changes in the world.
However, I imagined a future where everything becomes increasingly optimized, creating a rational society in which people’s happiness increases dramatically and crime rates decrease significantly. In such a society, I felt that minorities might find it even harder to make their voices heard.
So rather than being a song about the people living today, it may be more like a warning addressed to children who will live in the near future. I think people should fully enjoy those impulses that have no logical explanation and those seemingly foolish risks and bets.
Hiroaki Yokoyama has worked with you for years, and co-arranged ‘TABOO’, ‘My Answer’, and ‘Resisdance’ with Shingo on this album. After that long together, what does he bring to a Ryokushaka song?
I feel that every time, he deliberately creates prominent parts for each of the four members. At the same time, he always gives the songs sophisticated arrangements by stripping away sounds right down to the very last moment.
Which song on ‘Atamago’ surprised the other members most when they first heard the demo?
We were surprised by ‘Wakarinikui’, a song written by Nagaya. This is actually quite typical of the album tracks Nagaya writes. She rarely talks openly about her own feelings, so when we receive a song from her that expresses her emotions so candidly, it always surprises us. At the same time, we also think, “What a great song”.
Whose songs tend to change the most once the rest of the band get involved?
Songs written by me (Nagaya) and peppe tend to change more. That’s because Shingo and Issey often build the arrangements themselves when they write songs, and they already have a clear vision of where they want to take the song when they hand it over to an arranger.
‘Utamago’ looks back at a time when you felt like you could do anything. Fourteen years into Ryokushaka, do you still recognise that feeling?
I do remember it. It feels somewhat distant now, but I remember having that feeling that we were invincible when we were teenagers.
What did you take away from your first Asia tour in 2025, and from playing your first headline shows overseas?
We received so many heartfelt comments from fans on social media, and I’d always wanted to give something back to them in some way. So being able to hold our Asia tour and meet the people who had been waiting for us made me genuinely happy, and it made me want to come back again for sure.
After all, nothing compares to meeting people in person and performing live for them. Thank you always.
Looking ahead, where would you like Ryokushaka to go next?
Whether in Japan or overseas, if there are people listening to our music, we would like to go and perform live for them in person whenever possible. We believe that this is the greatest form of communication we can offer as a band and as musicians.
So, to all our fans overseas, we would be very happy if you continue to make your voices heard and let us know that you want us to come to you.
For someone overseas discovering Ryokushaka through ‘Atamago’, which song would each of you choose to show them who the band are now?
Nagaya: ‘TABOO’
Kobayashi: ‘merry-go-round’
peppe: ‘My Answer’
Anami: ‘TABOO’
Ryokuoushoku Shakai’s sixth album ‘Atamago’ is out now through Epic Records Japan. Listen on Spotify or Apple Music. Their ARENA TOUR 2026 “Atamago” continues in Aichi and Kanagawa until December 2026.
About Ryokuoushoku Shakai
Ryokuoushoku Shakai (緑黄色社会), commonly known as Ryokushaka (リョクシャカ), are a Japanese four-piece pop-rock band from Aichi Prefecture. Formed in 2012, the group comprises vocalist and guitarist Haruko Nagaya, guitarist Issey Kobayashi, keyboardist peppe, and bassist Shingo Anami. Nagaya, Kobayashi, and peppe were classmates at high school, while Anami was a childhood friend of Kobayashi. All four members contribute to the songwriting, shaping a catalogue that draws on Japanese pop and rock. Nagaya's clear, powerful vocals are a defining part of the group's sound. Their recordings include the singles 'Mela!', 'Shout Baby', 'Character', 'Summer Time Cinderella', and 'Be a flower', with songs used in Japanese television, film, advertising, and anime. Ryokuoushoku Shakai released a self-titled album in 2018 and made their major-label debut with the mini-album 'Afureta Mizu no Yukue' later that year. Subsequent full-length records include 'Singalong' (2020), 'Actor' (2022), 'pink blue' (2023), and 'Channel U' (2025). Their sixth original album, 'Atamago', arrived on September 9th 2026, featuring 12 songs including 'My Answer', 'Shirushi', and 'Riding the wind'. Key live milestones include the band's first headline performance at Tokyo's Nippon Budokan in 2022, arena touring in 2023 and 2024, and their first Asia tour in 2025, visiting Seoul, Taipei, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Jakarta, and Singapore. They appeared on NHK's Kohaku Uta Gassen in 2022, 2023, and 2024, and received an Excellent Work Award at the 2023 Japan Record Awards for 'Summer Time Cinderella'. They launched their Ryokuoushoku Shakai Arena Tour 2026 'Atamago' in September 2026.
