Babymetal’s Kami Band member Mikio Fujioka dead at 36

By Scott Munro
( Metal Hammer )
published

Babymetal report that their Kami Band member, the guitarist Mikio Fujioka, has died at the age of 36

Mikio Fujioka, centre
Mikio Fujioka, centre

Babymetal have confirmed that their Kami Band guitarist Mikio Fujioka has died at the age of 36.

The band posted a message on Twitter which reads: “The ‘Little’ Guitar Kami of Babymetal’s Kami Band has passed away in the metal galaxies.

“We hope that he is now with his guitar master Allan Holdsworth and enjoying an epic guitar session with him.”

Using Fujioka’s Twitter feed, his wife gave further details, reporting that he accidentally fell from an observation deck while star watching on December 30 and passed away in hospital on January 5 due to his injuries.

His wife added: “We are fortunate to have fans and people concerned. I hope you will continue to love him. Thank you.”

Fujioka was also a lecturer at a Japanese music school and published more than 10 guitar textbooks.

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Scott Munro
Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent more than 30 years in newspapers and magazines as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. After initially joining our news desk in the summer of 2014, he moved to the e-commerce team full-time in 2020. He maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, scouts out the best deals for music fans and reviews headphones, speakers, books and more. He's written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog and has previous written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to video games, travel and whisky. Scott grew up listening to rock and prog, cutting his teeth on bands such as Marillion and Magnum before his focus shifted to alternative and post-punk in the late 80s. His favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Ned's Atomic Dustbin and Drab Majesty, but he also still has a deep love of Rush.