Laputa was a Japanese visual rock band from the city of Nagoya, Japan and w… Read Full Bio ↴Laputa was a Japanese visual rock band from the city of Nagoya, Japan and was formed in July of 1993 by Aki and Tomoi, high school friends who were previously in the band AI SICK FACE together. Their member lineup from 1994 to 2004 was Aki on vocals, Kouichi on guitar, Junji on bass, and Tomoi on drums.

When Laputa was originally formed in 1993, the band's lineup was Aki on vocals, Hiro on guitar, Kusuba on bass, and Tomoi on drums. With that member lineup Laputa released their first demotape "Saddistの夢 (Saddist no yume)" in September. In November of 1993, Hideno, previously in AI SICK FACE, joined Laputa as an additional guitarist. Laputa then released their second demotape "奈落の底 (naraku no soko)" in December of '93. Hiro left Laputa shortly thereafter. Junji, formerly of visual indie band Ad de Vidar, then joined Laputa in January of 1994 as a guitarist replacing Hiro. Laputa then released their first single "私が消える (watashi ga kieru)" in May of 1994. Hideno left Laputa in July of 1994, later joining visual band Merry Go Round. Kouichi, formerly in popular indie visual band Silver-Rose, joined Laputa in the same month replacing Hideno. Laputa released an indie video titled "Paradoxical Reality" in September of 1994. Kusuba left Laputa on January 7th of 1995, and would later be in the bands Lúcide and Kraidhearz. Junji then switched instruments and became Laputa's bassist, and Laputa then had the lineup they would keep for the rest of their career. In February of 1995 Laputa released their first indie album "眩～めまい～暈 (memai)" which met with success in the visual indie scene. Laputa shot a music video for the song "Vertigo" from "眩～めまい～暈 (memai)". In February of 1996 Laputa released the indie mini-album "眩めく廃人 (kurumeku haijin)" which featured three new songs and new versions of the popular songs "Vertigo" and "Insatiable" from the "眩～めまい～暈 (memai)" album. In July of 1996 Laputa released an indie live video titled "箱庭 (hakoniwa)" featuring performances from a concert at SHIBUYA ON AIR WEST from their Paradoxical Reality TOUR IV that year.

With their increasing popularity in the visual indie scene, Laputa caught the attention of big record companies and signed to the major label Toshiba-EMI in August of 1996. Laputa released their first major single "硝子の肖像 / GARASU NO SHOUZOU" in September of 1994, which peaked at #34 on the Oricon singles chart. In October Laputa's first major album "蜉～かげろう～蝣 / KAGEROU" was released, peaking at #24 on the Oricon albums chart. Laputa released their second major single "eve ~Last night for you~" in May of 1997, peaking at #33 on the Oricon singles chart. Laputa's second major album "絵～エマダラ～斑 / e.m.a.d.a.r.a" was released in June of 1997, peaking at #24 on the Oricon albums chart. In July of 1997 Laputa released a live video called "MOV(i)E ON DARKNESS" featuring performances from a concert at SHINJUKU LIQUID ROOM in April of that year. In November of 1997 Laputa released their third major single "meet again", peaking at #20 on the Oricon singles chart. In February of 1998 Laputa released their fourth major single "揺れながら… (yurenagara)", peaking at #25 on the Oricon singles chart. Laputa's third major album "麝香 / Jakou" was released in February of 1998, peaking at #10 on the Oricon albums chart. On the same day of Jakou's release, the video "CLIPS OF CRUNCH LOOP" was released, featuring Laputa's music videos for their first four major singles and one for the song "麝香 (Jakou)". From September of 1998 to May of 1999 Laputa released the four major singles "Feelin' the sky", "Breath", "Chimes", and "Virgin cry", which peaked on the Oricon singles chart at #15, #29, #25, and #23 respectively. Laputa's fourth major album "翔～カケラ～裸 / c.a.k.e.r.a" was released in June of 1999, peaking at #10 on the Oricon albums chart. On the same day of its release, the video "CLIPS OF CRUNCH LOOP II" was released, featuring Laputa's music videos for the four singles from the "翔～カケラ～裸 / c.a.k.e.r.a" album along with bonus videos for the songs "WITH the WIND" and "Pink animals". In February of 2000, Laputa released the album "Coupling Collection + xxxk [1996-1999 singles]", a collection of the c/w songs (B-sides) from their eight major singles, along with the new song "xxxk animals" and a new version of the song "BUZZ" which was originally featured as a hidden song on their "揺れながら… (yurenagara)" single from 1998. "Coupling Collection..." peaked at #43 on the Oricon albums chart. In October of 2000, Laputa released the three-disc best-of album "3DISC BEST ~1995-1999 except Coupling Collection~", which featured 32 songs in all including Laputa's eight major singles and 24 other songs ranging from their first indie album "眩～めまい～暈 (memai)" from 1995 to their "翔～カケラ～裸 / c.a.k.e.r.a" album from 1999. "3DISC BEST..." peaked at #41 on the Oricon albums chart. That was their last release for the Toshiba-EMI label which the band left, then signing to the smaller major label Nippon-Crown. Laputa released their ninth major single and their first single on Nippon-Crown, "Shape ~in the shape of wing~" in October of 2000, peaking at #26 on the Oricon singles chart. In December of 2000 Laputa released the video "CLIPS OF CRUNCH LOOP III", featuring music videos for all three songs on the "Shape ~in the shape of wing~" single and a Director's Cut version of the music video for "Shape ~in the shape of wing~". In February of 2001 Laputa released their tenth major single "Silent on-looker", peaking at #43 on the Oricon singles chart. In March of 2001 Laputa released their fiifth major album "楽～ヘブン～園 / Heaven", peaking at #50 on the Oricon albums chart. In November of 2001 Laputa released the live video "Heaven to Perfection [Tour001 Programized-Heaven final-mission]", which featured performances from their tour that year. In March of 2002 Laputa released the mini-album "glitter", surprising many by showing the band changing styles and moving in a more electronic-oriented direction. "glitter" peaked at #66 on the Oricon albums chart. A music video for the song "POPular UPrising" from "glitter" was released. In June of 2002 the band released the dance single "深海 (shinkai) / Brand-new color", peaking at #58 on the Oricon singles chart. A music video for the song "深海 (shinkai)" was released. In July of 2002 the band released the album "誘～New Temptation～惑", peaking at #50 on the Oricon albums chart. Kouichi, who had been Laputa's lead songwriter since the "蜉～かげろう～蝣 / KAGEROU" album writing about 80% of the band's music, was reportedly in a hospital or clinic for much of this time in 2002. Because of this, he wrote only two songs on the "誘～New Temptation～惑" album, and Laputa's tour for the album consisted of less than ten concert dates. Junji wrote more of the songs on "誘～New Temptation～惑" than any other member, and would remain Laputa's lead songwriter for the rest of their career. Tomoi even wrote his first vocal songs for Laputa on the "誘～New Temptation～惑" album, the music and lyrics for the song "Dummy", and the lyrics for the song "Last". Up until then Tomoi had only co-written the instrumental song "BUZZ" with Junji. In April of 2003, Laputa released the mini-album "Sparks Monkey", peaking at #75 on the Oricon albums chart. After a year of on-and-off touring, Laputa released the mini-album "Material Pleasures" in March of 2004, peaking at #89 on the Oricon albums chart. In May of 2004 Laputa announced through their fanclub that they were disbanding, citing a desire for each of them to evolve. They released a best-of CD+DVD of their material from their years on the Nippon-Crown label titled "BEST AL+CLIPS 2000~2004" on July 28th, 2004, toured from August to September, and played their last live on September 5th, 2004 at Shibuya Koukaido. A DVD of the last live titled "ALL BURST" was released on December 15th, 2004.

Since Laputa's disbandment, Aki opened an official site at akiakiaki.com, and has written in his site's diary about writing music for an upcoming solo-project. Kouichi has a solo-project called Everlasting-K which will release its first CD on March 30th, a five-track mini-album titled "voulez-vouz". Junji has an upcoming solo-project called HALATION with a website at halation.jp. Tomoi has a website called Tomoi's Room #34, though his future activities remain unclear.

迷子の迷子
Laputa Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

閉ざされたのは僕の方だよ
君は泣かなくてもいい

そこはかとなく悲しい感じ
出口はまだ見つからない

In the hole&hole
背かないのは

僕自身僕の為と

届かない声に
耳を傾けていた

何時の日か
現れし群れにそっと

偽善者の丘から始まった
もう戻れないよきっと

役に立たないそのコンパスは
いつも同じ場所を指す

Get back&back
Go home 帰らないのは
君自身君の為と

味気ない過去を
ずっと噛み締めていた

忘れない
この敗北全て

もしもここで僕が
ここで僕が帰らないとしても...

誰も捜さない捜さない
迷子の迷子

届かない声に
耳を傾けていた

何時の日か
現れし群れに

もしもここで僕が
ここで僕が帰らないとしても

誰も捜さない捜さない
迷子の迷子

そしてそこで僕は
そこで僕は出口を見つける

誰も捜せない捜せない...
迷子の迷子

今は何もしない
何もしない何も出来なくて...

僕は戻れない戻れない
迷子の迷子

Overall Meaning

The verses of Laputa's song 迷子の迷子 convey a sense of being lost and trapped without a clear way out. The first verse suggests that the singer feels responsible for their own isolation and sadness but reassures another person that they do not have to cry for them. The second verse paints a picture of an endless search for an exit, with a vague and persistently sad feeling overshadowing everything else. The lyrics then shift to a second person perspective in the chorus, suggesting that the singer's companion may also be lost but for different reasons, and that neither of them can find their way home. The repetition of "迷子の迷子" (maigo no maigo) throughout the song further emphasizes this feeling of being lost.

The lyrics of 迷子の迷子 can be interpreted in a number of different ways, but they seem to speak to a sense of hopelessness and confusion. The repeated references to being lost and unable to find one's way suggest a fundamental lack of direction or purpose, while the idea that the singer and their companion are each lost for different reasons implies that everyone has their own unique struggles and perspective on life. The final lines of the song, in which the singer declares that they can never return and must accept their defeat, suggest a kind of resignation or fatalism that concludes the song on a somewhat ambiguous note.

Line by Line Meaning

閉ざされたのは僕の方だよ
I am the one shutting myself in

君は泣かなくてもいい
You don't have to cry

そこはかとなく悲しい感じ
There is an inexplicable sadness there

出口はまだ見つからない
The exit has not been found yet

背かないのは
Not turning away

僕自身僕の為と
Is for myself, for my sake

届かない声に
Listening to the voice that can't reach me

耳を傾けていた
I was paying attention

何時の日か
Someday

現れし群れにそっと
To the quietly appearing crowd

偽善者の丘から始まった
It started from the hill of hypocrisy