Közi is a Japanese musician, singer-songwriter and DJ. He is best known as one of the guitarists for the 1990s visual kei rock band Malice Mizer. After they went on indefinite hiatus in 2001, he formed the industrial rock duo Eve of Destiny and also started a solo career. Közi is currently in the bands Dalle, XA-VAT, ZIZ and Vamquet, while occasionally performing solo shows. During his time in Malice Mizer, Közi often assumed the role of a pierrot doll, dressing in clown-like costumes with large ruffs, always in shades of red, his favorite color. In music videos and on-stage he would often make movements reminiscent of a marionette. Közi has continued this visual style to some extent, but his contemporary stage costumes are more gothic. His work on the Izayoi no Tsuki project was reminiscent of carnival music, and artwork for his projects usually follow a dramatic, theatrical theme. Very few details about his private life are known. Biography Early life Közi first learned to play bass guitar because everyone else wanted to play guitar. But after seeing guitarist Seiji Watanabe play songs by Los Angeles heavy metal bands like Mötley Crüe and Ratt, he began dabbling in guitar and wanted to form his own band. He performed bass, and occasionally vocals due to revolving lineups, in many cover bands around his hometown in Niigata. He started playing guitar when he moved to Tokyo at eighteen years of age. Career Közi's career began in 1989 at 17 years old in the underground band Beyond the Rein Sight, and, later, as a member of Girl. Information about both of these bands, however, is very scarce. In late 1991, he joined with Mana and released two demo tapes. Közi and Mana left Matenrou after deciding they both had similar ideas about creating music, they formed Malice Mizer in 1992. After Malice Mizer disbanded in 2001, Közi joined Haruhiko Ash (from The Zolge) and created Eve of Destiny, an industrial rock band that toured outside Japan several times. In 2002, Közi collaborated with Japanese author Minako, to provide the soundtrack to her book, Izayoi no Tsuki. He then performed a special singing event, which cemented the fact that he was following a solo career. Közi's first solo release was the two-disc, double-single package, "Khaos/Kinema", released on November 1, 2003. On March 11, 2004, he released his debut album, Catharsis. Közi's second single,