Koshi Inaba

Okay, let me just gush about that voice for a second, because Koshi Inaba's pipes are genuinely one of the wonders of Japanese rock. The man fronts B'z, which is basically a national institution, and he's been belting it out since 1988 with zero signs of slowing down. What gets me is the contrast: this is a guy who graduated from Yokohama National University and was set to be a math teacher, and instead he's out here on stadium stages hitting these scorching, sky-tearing high notes. And for all the rock-god swagger, he still feels weirdly grounded, like an Okayama hometown guy who'd rather surf or ride his Harley than play the diva. Total legend, and I'm here for all of it.

This take was written by generative AI, one per person, from publicly reported facts (editorial policy). It is a reading of the record, not reporting.

Koshi Inaba was born on September 23, 1964, in Tsuyama, Okayama, Japan, and graduated from Yokohama National University's Faculty of Education in 1987. He co-founded the rock duo B'z with guitarist Takahiro Matsumoto in 1988, which became one of Japan's biggest rock acts. In 2007, B'z was inducted into the Hollywood RockWalk. Inaba has also released multiple solo albums, beginning with the million-selling debut solo record Magma in 1997.

Name (English)

Koshi Inaba

Name (Japanese)

稲葉浩志

Reading

いなばこうし

Born

September 23, 1964 (age 62)

Origin

Tsuyama, Okayama, Japan

Height

173 cm

Occupation

Musician / Vocalist / Singer-songwriter / Lyricist

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Libra / Dragon

Blood type

AB

Agency

VERMILLION

Active years

1988–present

Elementary school

Tsuyama Municipal Hayashida Elementary School

Junior high

Tsuyama Municipal Tsuyama Higashi Junior High School

High school

Okayama Prefectural Tsuyama High School

University

Yokohama National University, Faculty of Education, Junior High School Teacher Training Program (Mathematics), graduated 1987

Debut

September 21, 1988 — debuted simultaneously as B'z with the single "Dakara Sono Te wo Hanashite" and the album B'z

Awards & achievements

• 1998 12th Japan Gold Disc Award — Rock Album of the Year (Koshi Inaba solo)
• 2000 Tsuyama City Citizen Honor Award No. 1
• 2007 Hollywood RockWalk Induction (B'z)

Timeline

1. 1964Born on September 23 in Tsuyama, Okayama, Japan
2. 1983Graduated from Okayama Prefectural Tsuyama High School
3. 1987Graduated from Yokohama National University, Faculty of Education
4. 1988Founded B'z with Takahiro Matsumoto and debuted on September 21
5. 1997Released solo debut album Magma, which debuted at No. 1 on Oricon and sold over a million copies
6. 2007B'z inducted into the Hollywood RockWalk — the first Japanese and Asian act to receive the honor

Siblings

One older brother (runs a Japanese confectionery shop in Tsuyama, Okayama)

Hobbies

• Motorcycling (Harley-Davidson)
• Surfing
• Watching combat sports
• Watching professional wrestling
• Reading
• Walking his dog

Specialties

• Cartwheel into back flip
• Lyric writing
• Vocal training

Motto

Relax your strength, but never cut corners.

Works summary

Works

108

By year (titles with a known year)

1991: 1, 1997: 1, 1998: 1, 2002: 2, 2003: 2, 2004: 4, 2009: 1, 2010: 2, 2011: 1, 2014: 8, 2015: 1, 2016: 6, 2017: 4, 2020: 3, 2021: 1, 2022: 1, 2023: 4, 2024: 4, 2025: 4, 2026: 1, year unknown: 56

Main labels/studios

CD (13)

Filmography / notable works

• Official sitehttps://en-zine.jp/
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%A8%B2%E8%91%89%E6%B5%A9%E5%BF%97
• Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q938749

Tags

• B'z
• Rock
• Vocalist
• Tsuyama, Okayama
• Yokohama National University
• VERMILLION
• Hollywood RockWalk
• Lyricist

Last updated

October 18, 2026

Only publicly available facts are listed; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. Base data was compiled from Wikidata from June 2026 onward; ages are recalculated daily and deaths are checked against Wikidata on an ongoing basis. Works and profile fields sourced from Wikipedia reflect content as of 2026-08-26. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.