Sign Language Japanese Rock Band Marks 35 Years

Nagoya, Oct. 16 (Jiji Press)--A four-piece Japanese rock band with three members who have impaired hearing has marked the 35 years since it began performing music expressed also through sign language.

To keep rhythm for their performances, the three members feel the vibrations of the music. Masaaki Kimura, 55, the band's leader and guitar player, says, "We want to show listeners that they can enjoy music in your own way."

The band, "Bright Eyes Super-Duper," was formed in the central Japan city of Nagoya in May 1989, shortly after Yoshifusa Narita, 59, the drummer and the sole member without any hearing loss, began working as a teacher at Aichi Prefectural Nagoya School for the Deaf. Kimura, then one of Narita's students, expressed his wish to launch a music club.

Kimura and Tomohisa Yamamoto, 52, the bass player, have serious hearing loss and are unable to hear the sounds of conversations. They watch the movements of the drummer and feel the vibrations of the music to keep rhythm during their performances.

The vibrations of the drum and the bass are all the more important for vocalist Shunsuke Suzuki, 53, because he wears a head microphone and stands with his back to the other members as he sings while translating songs into sign language.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]