Tokyo Jihen was formed by the singer Shiina Ringo, who strove to make a turn in her career, abandoning the showy image and the flamboyant pop she specialized in with her solo work. The new approach involved a more stripped down sound that took cues from rock and smooth jazz, and although it held many elements unconventional for J-pop, it still proved to hold a strong commercial appeal, even if less than that of Shiina Ringo's solo records. Shiina formed the band in 2003, after releasing three solo records, and the group featured four more members, all of whom played in Shiina's live band. Tokyo Jihen had two #2 singles in the same year, and their debut album, Kyouiku (written entirely by Shiina) came out in the end of 2004, also reaching #2 on the Oricon charts. In 2005 the band was slowed down by the departure of the two members: guitarist Hirama Mikio, who went to work solo, and HzM (Hiizumi Masayuki), who returned to his old band PE'Z. However, they were replaced by Ukigumo and Izawa Ichiyou, and soon the band had another top 10 hit single Shuraba, tied in with a TV drama Oh oku hana no ran, and their 2006 album Adult reached #1 on the charts. Toky Jihen followed it by another Japanese tour and then slowed down again while Shiina was working on her solo soundtrack for the movie Sakuran, but in the second half of the year Tokyo Jihen released their 3rd LP Variety, for the first time transferring all the songwriting duties from Shiina to the rest of the band. ~ Alexey Eremenko, All Music Guide