Ichinomiya town, known for its high production of peach (at the time, the highest in Japan) and other fruits, in Higashi-yatsushiro county of the Yamanashi prefecture combined with nearby towns to create city of Fuefuki on October 12, 2004.Not many people were happy with this policy, and nine young men stood up against this irrational combination by their original music.They called themselves "stillichimiya."The main members of stillichimiya are 田我流 (Den-ga-ryu), MMM, Young-G, and BIGBEN.Their highly addictive tunes are produced by "おみゆき CHANNEL (Omiyuki CHANNEL),"a producer unit consisting of Young-G and BIGBEN.They have created their first album “stillichimiya” including “一宮町合併反対音頭 (Music that resist combination of Ichinomiya town)” followed by second album “One Peach” in 2006. In 2007, mix album “Place 2 Place” was released, and in the following year, 田我流’s first solo album “Just” had been produced. The name of “Ichinomiya” is gradually spreading all around Japan as stillichimiya continue their efforts in live concerts and new album releases.
The band’s first album “stillichimiya” includes already local-town-classicized “一宮町合併反対音頭 (Music that resist combination of Ichinomiya town)” as well as a song for a local supermarket that had fallen into bankruptcy, “サンマートを弔うガキ共の鎮魂歌 (A requiem of the kids that mourn for Sun-Mart).” The lyrics of stillichimiya not only verbalized their love to Ichinomiya, their hometown in the rural area, but expressed the hardships and feelings of the townspeople of Ichinomiya. This emotionally moved many people in Yamanashi prefecture and as a consequence, few more members joined the band to form current stillichimiya.
“One Peach” was stillichimiya’s second album released in July, 2006. It contained songs such as: “D.N.I.,” a cover song of “だっちもねえこんいっちょし (Don’t be silly)” by Yoshiteru Harada, a rap song in Koushu (Yamanashi prefectural) accent that shook the area in 1995; “Computer Familia,” it sings old-day memories of forever loved Family Computer; “呑めし (Drink up)” shows the everyday lives of Ichinomiya through wine, farming, and the nightly meetings. In the second album “One Peach,” stillichimiya was able to express their original visions of the world as well as keeping its local color. Although they have kept their local color, they were also able to go beyond the borders to the legendary place. “D.N.I.” was used in a mix album “CONCRETE GREEN. 3” by SEEDA and DJ ISSO, and gained high popularity among the youngsters.
After the release of “One Peach,” solos of田我流along with BIGBEN, MMM, Young-G, KTY, and PONY were gathered to make a mix album. “Place 2 Place” was the name of the album and it was mixed by DJ NAS, one of the most famous DJs in Yamanashi prefecture. The message “Place 2 Place” gave was, in a way, highly toxic and contaminated many youngsters in the rural areas of Japan.
In 2008, 田我流a.k.a. “Super ace of Ichinomiya” announced the release of his solo album “JUST.” 田我流’s life-size lyrics and music of おみゆき CHANNEL and other producers of other prefectures influenced the audience better than ever. One of the songs, “墓場のDigger feat. & prod. by BIGBEN (Graveyard Digger feat. & prod. by BIGBEN)” was used in the mix albums of Mary Joy’s “The TBS Project” and Yukichi Records’ “YUKICHI DE PYRAMID.” Its music video was one of the hot topics in many fields at the time.
All of the members agreed to assemble the tunes they had been working to create a new album in 2009. “天照一宮(Heaven shines Ichinomiya),” the second original album will be released from Mary Joy Recordings in May, 2009, and おみゆき CHANNEL’s album will be released in the summer of 2009. Not only is stillichimiya standing up for Ichinomiya town, but they stand as a symbol of rural and small townspeople. “The future of the music, especially Japanese Hip Hop is inside the hearts of local town,” one of the members say, “and stillichimiya is the band that leads the way.” At the moment, 田我流 is playing live concerts all over Japan.