In Japan, Tokumaru performed live at such places as the Ginza Apple Store and Shinjuku Tower Records, and his music started being featured in commercials for companies such as Shiseido and Japan Airlines. was also released in Europe and New Zealand, with Tokumaru performing on a French and Spanish tour. During this time, his music started to become more recognized globally. Tokumaru released his second album, L.S.T., in 2006, and his third, Exit, in 2007. It was released in Japan in August 2004 through the independent label Compare Notes. Night Piece originally planned to be just an American only release, but due to strong sales on internet sites, it was released in other countries. He created an entirely new album, which was released under the label in the United States on May 11, 2004. The label was impressed with the CD, and wanted to release the demo album just as it was however, Tokumaru did not like the idea. He gave this demo CD to a friend who was an acquaintance of Trevor Sias, owner of the US independent record label Music Related. Debut Īfter returning to Japan in 2003, Tokumaru finished recording a 10 track demo album called Fragment. While staying in America, he was a part of a jazz band, and recorded songs in his home. Īfter finishing high school, Tokumaru traveled overseas for 2 and a half years, spending most of his time living in Los Angeles. At this point, Tokumaru developed an interest with multi-instrumentalization, thinking that just the guitar/bass/drum set of a standard band wasn't enough. He started writing songs at 17 for the band, however had not had much of a need to earlier, as the other guitarist of the band was the chief songwriter.

The band formed around 1994 and at the very beginning, Tokumaru was not a member.

He joined a band called Gellers, made up of people he had known throughout his childhood. Much later on in junior high school, Tokumaru started playing the electric guitar, originally playing songs only by The Clash. His first instrument was the piano, which he started between 5–6 years old after seeing a friend playing it. Shugo Tokumaru was born and raised in Tokyo. Tokumaru's 2010 album Port Entropy was his most commercially successful album in Japan, breaking into the top 40. Tokumaru is also a member of the Japanese rock band Gellers. He is known for the variety of instruments he uses in his music, using over 100 different traditional and non-traditional instruments in his recordings. He creates every aspect of his music, including the lyrics, music, arrangements, recording and mixing.

Shugo Tokumaru ( トクマルシューゴ, Tokumaru Shūgo, born May 29, 1980) is a Japanese singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, who debuted in May 2004 in America with his album Night Piece.

Shugo tokumaru in focus zip