Perfume is a Japanese pop girl band from Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan, consisting of NOCCHi, KASHIYUKA and A~chan. The band was initially formed in 1999 with Kashiyuka and A~chan (both Actor’s School Hiroshima students at the time) plus another ASH student named Yuka Kawashima (“Kawayuka”).

In 2001, Kawayuka left Perfume to focus on her studies, and was replaced by Amuse Audition 2000 grand prize winner Nocchi (another ASH student at the time), resulting in the band’s current long-lasting lineup.

In 2002, Perfume’s first ever single – “Omajinai Perori” and “Kareshi Boshuuchuu” – were released to local audiences in Hiroshima Prefecture, with all three members moving to Tokyo and signing with Bee-Hive the year after, where they started being produced by 中田ヤスタカ (Yasutaka Nakata) for all releases from the “Sweet Donuts” single onwards.

In 2005, Perfume signed to Tokuma Japan Communications, under which “Linear Motor Girl” (the first single in the band’s “Near Future Trilogy”) would receive a nationwide release and peaked at #99 on the Oricon weekly charts. 2007 became the group’s breakout year as “Polyrhythm” became Perfume’s first-ever Oricon Top 10 hit, peaking at No. 7 in 2007 and propelled their follow-up album Game to No. 1, triggering a streak of 9 consecutive No. 1 albums.

The band was once described by MTV as “one of Japan’s most thrilling pop acts;”

there’s the music, which is an infectious batch of chart-topping melodies built upon a foundation of intricate maximal house production that would give Daft Punk a run for their money, with heavily processed vocals that stutter robotically yet always sound hundred percent human. On top of that, they have an impeccably designed retro-futuristic image and punishing, innovative choreography that they nevertheless render effortless. Where all of this truly comes together, of course, is on stage.