UQiYO

UQiYO is a music unit and project based in Tokyo, Japan

Blending everyday sounds with otherworldly textures, UQiYO creates music that gently permeates the body—layering clear, emotive vocals over richly woven soundscapes. Their style, often described as “Human Electro,” merges the cool precision of electronic music with a warm, human touch.

Driven by a desire not just to create sound but to offer music as a lived experience, UQiYO has continuously sought innovative ways to deliver their art. With a deep commitment to expanding the possibilities of sound, they have collaborated across disciplines with visionary creators from diverse industries.

While gaining recognition through performances at major festivals such as SUMMER SONIC, ARABAKI, and RISING SUN, UQiYO has also explored the acoustic and emotional potential of unconventional venues—designing immersive sound experiences in forests, temples, warehouses, factories, and libraries.

Their extensive body of work includes music for global brands and cultural institutions such as Google, Global Work, Starbucks, J-WAVE, Nippon Life Insurance, MOTHER HOUSE, Nikkei Newspaper, LG, and various animations and theatrical productions.

Spring. Approximately 8.5M plays on Spotify, 5M plays on Apple Music, 1.8M for the latest album “東源京 (Tokyo Utopia)”, and 1M for the single “Somber”.

・2025
Released the single “KoToHoGi”, inspired by Nihonga painter Sho Ura’s Nagasaki project
Composed theme music for Little Mother House’s new chocolate collection
Created the theme for a Calorie Mate x Sundai Prep School TV commercial
Released “Shirahae”, a song capturing the ephemeral breeze that signals the start of summer

・2024
Departed from the talent agency after two years of affiliation
Marked the return of UQiYO with the self-mixed Dolby Atmos single “Giiirl”
Released “Nagoriyuki (Last Snow)”, a collaboration with Italian pianist Alberto Pizzo
Launched the Timescape project—a contemplative series intentionally kept off mainstream streaming platforms, crafting time through sound.
Released “Calm Ambient Timescape” and “Calm Xmas Timescape” in autumn and winter respectively

・2023
UQiYO goes on Hiatus, continues to explore new ways to deliver his music, with relentless creativity and planning.

・2022
In winter, he left Namy& and became independent. He released the collaborative single “途中” with Taiwanese friends I mean Us. UQiYO held “東源京の夜のとばり (Night shade of the Tokyo Utopia)” to present the message of his previous album “Tokyo Utopia” in a live format. The event was a culmination of UQiYO’s activities, featuring a high-quality live performance in collaboration with especially important musicians, sound engineers, artists, and staff.

・2021
From the beginning of the year, he released a series of single tracks: “Crescent,” “Utopia,” and “Invisible” co-written with Malaysian artist Froya. He released an album “Loom” containing these tracks.
In spring, he held the online live event “Impromptu-magma”.
In autumn, he released the folklore album “Tokyo Utopia” created with spatial audio and inspired by his hometown Chofu. He performed at Taiwan’s music festival “The Nobleman’s Walk.”
At the end of the year, album “Tokyo Utopia” was selected as the Best Folk Album by the American music magazine POP MATTERS. The song “アヲイノカラス (Horse Boar Crow)” from “Tokyo Utopia” ranked in the Apple Music JAPAN Annual BEST 100 Songs.

・2020
Released the single “RA!!i!!NY.”
At the beginning of the year, he signed an agent contract with Namy&Inc. and began collaborating with Asian musicians.
Released the single “FLY.”
In autumn, “UQiYO” became the name of Yuqi’s solo project.
Held the live streaming event Impromptu__雪 “音楽小説 (Music Novel).”
Released “lo V er (feat. MARICELLE)” with Singapore’s MARICELLE and “6000°C” co-produced with Taiwan’s I mean Us.

・2019
In spring, released the single “BLiNK.”
In summer, performed alongside Hikari Mitsushima, Kentaro Sakaguchi, Shinnosuke Mitsushima, and Yoichi Nukumizu in Hiroshi Kumabayashi’s play “As You Like It” at Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre.
In autumn, keyboardist Mica Bando joined the group.

・2018
In spring, released their third album “Stones” containing all tracks from “月刊少年ウキヨ (Monthly Shonen UQiYO)” and held a nationwide tour.

・2017
In spring, started “Monthly Shonen UQiYO.” Released new songs consecutively for 13 months through subscription services and iTunes. Collaborative works with Taiwan’s Zooey Wonder and India’s Ajay Pohankar gained attention.
In autumn, keyboardist Phantao left the group.

・2016
At the beginning of the year, released the mini-album “Black Box OTOGi vol.01” including “Ship’s” featuring Chitose Hajime and “Lost in Wonderland” with Kate Sakai.
Held a nationwide tour from spring to autumn.
In early autumn, joined Spotify and released music for overseas audiences before the service’s launch

・2015
In spring, they released their second album “TWiLiGHT,” featuring tracks created in collaboration with various creators from different industries. They held a commemorative tour, visiting 12 locations across Japan. In winter, drummer Sima officially joined the group.

・2014
In summer, their album “UQiYO” was released nationwide for the first time. They held live performances in diverse venues such as live houses, coworking spaces, and temples. At the same time, they started the “151A” project, in which people delivered, hand-in-hand, a single CD to locations from Hokkaido to Okinawa(It didn’t make it to Okinawa)

・2013
In spring, after their demo CD from the previous year, they received support from design studio TWOTONE and released the single “At the Starcamp.” The excellent music video gained popularity. The encounters resulting from this music video and visuals produced with Augment5 led to the creation of “TWiLiGHT.” They released their first album titled “UQiYO.”

・2010
In winter, vocalist/composer Yuqi began activities with keyboardist Phantao. Following the advice of Yuqi’s brother, they sent a large number of demo CDs to video creators and studios across Japan and waited for feedback.