Tickets for Stockholm Japan Expo 2009 (May 22-24) are on sale at Ticnet.se starting today. According to the SJX official site, Demon Kogure will be a special guest of the event, as an ambassador of Japanese music.
There are only 3000 tickets available, so you'd better book yours now. ;)
Shinjas of Europe, unite! =)

His Excellency's upcoming album is already available for pre-order at CDJapan. Limited edition comes with a bonus DVD, and first press of regular edition (at least, at CDJapan) comes with some special coupon.
See here for links and details.
Source: CDJapan

The "atsuku nare" / GIRLS' ROCK "Tiara" page at the official site of Demon Kogure now displays cover images for both editions of the upcoming single.

The second part of CANTA best-of compilation had been released today: "meramera" is the Ballade Best, while the first part "kirakira" is the Rock Best.
Release was marked by a new "media blast": new video message from Luke and "Everyday" PV at band's official MySpace and another "feature" page at Barks.jp, with interview, illustrations to songs and even more videos. Also, Luke's message at official site says that CANTA will be featured in Arena 37C magazine again.

http://www.myspace.com/seikimaiiofficial - it had been there for some time and nobody knew for sure, but now that the official site of Demon Kogure links to it, it's real.

I know I'm not meant to post much opinions here, this is a news page after all, but... I wish they hired a web-pro. Ok, I know it's damn expensive, but they could've asked any skilled shinja and get it done right and for free... Seikima-II deserves a way better web-place than that.

But - the mere fact that Seikima-II are expanding their presence on the Web means that they're up to something again. And that is definitely the most exciting news since D.C.7!

His Excellency Demon Kogure will appear at the Stockholm Japan Expo 2009. It's not certain yet whether he will perform or not, but he will give lecture about "Japanese music history, Sumo wrestling and Godzilla" and take part in the opening and closing ceremonies of the event.
Source: Official Site of Stockholm Japan Expo 2009

All info on the upcoming single & album was finally moved to the separate page. Nothing new there, just the previously disclosed info rearranged neatly. No cover images yet.
To get to the GIRLS' ROCK "Tiara" page, go to H.E. Demon Kogure's Official Website and click on the long black banner placed at the index page just below the news frame and above the two "Hakurai" banners.

...And "Theatrical Rock" is a very good name for His Excellency's music style. :)

B-sides for "atsuku nare" are "ONE WAY TICKET TO HELL" (regular edition only) and "The Phantom of the Kabuki / 美学と品格" [The Phantom of the Kabuki / bigaku to hinkaku] (both editions, but in different versions). Limited edition bonus DVD contains "atsuku nare" PV.

And new album is titled GIRLS' ROCK "Tiara", it will feature 11 songs that reached #1 in charts in B.D.19s ('80s) and B.D.9s ('90s).

• 「夢見る少女じゃいられない」 [yumemiru shoujo ja i rare nai] by 相川七瀬 (Aikawa Nanase)
• 「CAT’S EYE」 by 杏里 (ANRI)
• 「PIECE OF MY WISH」 by 今井美樹 (Imai Miki)
• 「熱くなれ」 [atsuku nare] by 大黒摩季 (Ohguro Maki)
• 「DEPARTURES」 by globe
• 「そばかす」 [sobakasu] by JUDY AND MARY
• 「私は嵐」 [watashi wa arashi] by SHOW-YA
• 「地上の星」 [chijou no hoshi] by 中島みゆき (Nakajima Miyuki)
• 「絶対絶命」 [zettai zetsumei] by 山口百恵 (Yamaguchi Momoe)
• 「BELIVE IN LOVE」 by LINDBERG
• 「フレンズ」 [furenzu] by レベッカ (REBECCA)

See here for some details.
Source: H.E. Demon Kogure's Official Website (section "other")

Raiden-sama's birthday. Banzai!

His Excellency Demon Kogure, "a wizard of Japanese popular culture while being a virtuoso of traditional culture" will appear as a katsuben (a narrator in Japanese silent cinema) at the SHITA COME festival tomorrow. He will be accompanied bu the lute player Kakushin Tomoyoshi.
The SHITA COME, a side event of the 21st Tokyo International Film Festival is Japan's first full-scale international comedy film festival which "spotlights comedies not merely as entertainment to provide people with laughter, but also as a multifaceted art form which is entertaining, cultural, historical and social."
See more: SHITA COME Official Site (English ver.)

Release dates and disc IDs for the upcoming single "atsuku nare" and the yet-unnamed album were published at the official site today. Also it was revealed that the difference between limited edition and regular edition of the single would be more than just cover image and bonus DVD.
See here for some details.
Source: H.E. Demon Kogure's Official Website (section "other")

His Excellency new single '熱くなれ' [atsuku nare] (release date: 14.01. D.C.11) is available for pre-order at CDJapan. Limited edition version includes DVD, and the first press for both regular and limited editions comes with a poster.
See here for some details.

Waga kimi wa chiyo ni yachiyo ni, Your Excellency! May you reign this world for many generations to come!

D.C.10 had been just great for us shinjas so far (except for the worries about Yuzawa-san's condition of course, but it seems he's okay now).

His Excellency started to pay more attention to the Web and internationalization. English subs on "Hakurai" DVD, English profile at the official site, a new blog and even audio-blog! Maybe we'll even see him on Last.fm by the end of this year? Of course I'm kidding... :)

Their official site seems to be temporarily closed for a reconstruction, and official MySpace is used in its stead.

Their new DVD "070414 - 5th Anniversary LIVE AT THE LIQUIDROOM" is already available from official store. Unfortunately, it seems that this new DVD, just like the previous ones, won't appear in any stores that do international shipping (like CDJapan or HMV).

Just a few days after release of "√Hakurai－CULTURE ROCK SHOW!－" DVD, and Demon Kogure already had a photosession for the next album, that will be released next year (D.C.11 or 2009) in February. No additional info is given yet.

Source: official site ("revelations" section).

Release of 'きらきら' [kirakira] is marked by a pretty big update at Barks.jp (an interview, illustrations to each of the 16 songs drawn by the band members, and a new video message) and also a long-awaited update of their label promo-site, now it features new awesome background photos.

CANTA didn't confine themselves to one release this year. There are just a few days left till release of their best-of compilation 'きらきら' [kirakira], but CDJapan already offers to preorder the next one - 'めらめら' [meramera], scheduled for release on the 3rd of December.
It wasn't a secret to the fan-club, but the rest of us didn't knew anything about it until it became available for pre-order.

More details at CDJapan.

His Excellency started a cross between a web-radio and audio-blog, デーモン小暮の"地獄のWebTalk" (Demon Kogure's "Hell's Web Talk").
The first 'issue' is already available for a direct download, its topics being the "√Hakurai" album, tour and upcoming DVD, and "ココロノカケラ" [kokoro no kakera] musical (dedicated to the 20th anniversary of Avex Group label).

Is it Conquer-the-Web year or what? CANTA started an official MySpace page. Check it out!

The ongoing drug scandal in the sumo world had caused great distress to many fans, including, of course, His Excellency Demon Kogure, who is known for his long-standing love of this ancient sport. He commented on those events in his official blog, mentioning that he feels shocked and offended. For sumo, a sport of ancient traditions interlaced with the Shinto religion, drugs is something really unheard-of.

The official site of His Excellency had finally been updated with some details on the upcoming live DVD release, including tracklist and cover image.
See here for links and details.

Revolution (has come), it contains not just some interesting facts, but also some personal views and opinions of the die-hard Japanese fan. And it's really welcome - the more, the merrier! All hail Seikima-II!

Their new release turned out to be a 'best-of' compilation 「きらきら」 [kirakira]. It was announced at their official site about 10 days ago and is already available for pre-order at CDJapan! Tracklist is available at CANTA web-site in the News section.

It's called デーモン閣下の地獄のWEB ROCK [demon kakka no jigoku no WEB ROCK]. It's launch had been announced today at the official site (see news section at the main page and a button under the main menu on the left).

The upcoming live DVD of Demon Kogure "Hakurai -Culture Rock Show-" available for preorder at CDJapan since yesterday. Release is scheduled for the 24th of September. There's no info on His Excellency's official site yet.
See here for links and details.

Birthday of Doctor Xenon Ishikawa, the great wise winged bassist and calligrapher, also known as Shunsuke Ishikawa. Banzai!!!

His Excellency's official web-site now features a few pages in English, including profiles on both Demon-sama and Seikima-II and their discographies.

And Face to Ace are releasing new mini-album on the 4th of July. It's titled 風と貝がら [kaze to kaigara] which translates to "wind and shell". For more info check out their official page or CDJapan.

His Excellency's profile is already available in English - go check it out! More pages to come about the 6th of June, on the Devil’s Celebrating Day.

The official web-site of His Excellency Demon Kogure will have an English version soon. At least, there's a message in the news section that says English pages will probably be uploaded 'until the first day of this June'.

In other news, the next 'Collaboration' show (vol.25) will take place at June 28th, in Izena village (Okinawa prefecture).

According to the Daily Sports Online, 2 days ago His Excellency Demon Kogure paid a courtesy visit to the Swedish ambassador in Japan, Stefan Noreén. Demon and ambassador seemed to get along quite well, they spent about an hour discussing various topics, which reportedly included sumo (no big wonder, though, especially when such an exciting basho is underway).

No official info yet, but the rumor has it that it was announced on the last show of the tour on the 17th of May in SHIBUYA-AX.

According to the messages on CANTA web-site, Raiden was unable to play at the anniversary live, but Luke Takamura said recently that Raiden is okay and getting better now.

Ok, these news are not directly related to His Excellency, but since all Seikima-II members are still on friendly terms with each other, and since many shinjas are interested in all their projects, and since there are not many other sources of such news in English...

CANTA will play live in SHIBUYA O-EAST today and judging by all their messages and recent activity, it's gonna be a really great event. They also made their own tiny official online-shop to sell some amazing new goods (and no shipping overseas, just as usual - do they know they have fans outside of Japan?). Their anniversary logo says 'au printemps de la vie - CANTA - le sixième anniversaire', that is French for 'in the spring of life - CANTA - the sixth anniversary'.

Vive la CANTA! Banzai sanshou!! No - banzai rokushou!!!

Half of Seikima-II members will participate in "Classic Rock Jam" event this October: O'Hashi Takashi (aka Jail OHashi), Luke and Raiden, and His Excellency!
See the official site of Demon Kogure or the Classic Rock Jam project for details.

"G.G.G.", Seikima-II version of the "Ge Ge Ge no Kitaro" anime song, was included into recently released ''ゲゲゲの鬼太郎・コレクション" (GeGeGe no Kitaro - Collection).
See here for details.

The last bit of good news so far is that CANTA have announced their decision to release a new album in early summer. No more details were given yet, but the message itself can be seen at the first page of their official web-site.

Raiden-sama is still feeling the lasting effects of the heatstroke he suffered in July of last year, so he won't be able to participate in Demon Kogure's next tour that starts in April. He apologized for that in his message at the CANTA official web-site yesterday.

Let's wish Raiden-sama to get well soon, but of course he shall take his time to recuperate instead of risking his health just to please the fans.

Regarding His Excellency's 'GIRLS' ROCK Hakurai' tour - it will start on the 20th of April.

Starring:

• Guitar: Takashi O'hashi (better known to Seikima-II fans as Jail O'hashi)
• Guitar: Ola af Trampe (from the Swedish band CODE, he played guitar for GIRLS' ROCK album)
• Bass: Anders Rydholm (from the Swedish band CODE, he played bass and keyboards for GIRLS' ROCK album and also produced and arranged all songs there)
• Drums: Kohta Igarashi
• Keyboards: Yuichi Matsuzaki (better known to Seikima-II fans as Kaijin Matsuzaki-sama)

His Excellency Demon Kogure was participating in the Yoshimoto Kogyo (a huge famous entertainment office in Japan) Director's 100, where 100 Yoshimoto acts each direct and/or write and/or star in a short film.

One of those films, entitled "コナ・ニシテ・フウ" [KONA-NISHITE-FUU] was written and directed by His Excellency.

The plot is based on true events as yet unshared with the media. Short summary goes like this: in B.D.2 (1997), Demon-sama's provisional human father died suddenly. Because the deceased hated religious events, His Excellency must figure out how best to come up with a fitting and dignified ceremony that would suit his father while still taking into consideration his demonic public image and dealing with the media.

Starring:

• hip-hop artist MCU (formerly of Kick the Can Crew)
• the 54th Yokozuna Wajima Hiroshi
• Kogure Kuniko
• Kogure Yumiko
• Kogure Seiichi
• ...and His Excellency himself

For more info check out His Excellency's official site and the official page of YOSHIMOTO DIRECTOR'S 100.

Cover images of His Excellency's next album "GIRLS' ROCK √ HAKURAI" were published yesterday at the official site. Rich and glamourous again, and with a wonderful portrait for the limited edition version.

New album will be accompanied by a new PV, filmed in Sweden again, just like the last one, "Return to Myself".
Check out great photos and an interview with Demon Kogure (in Swedish) here, to get an idea what the article is about try SysTranBox online translation service.

Title and tracklisting for the new Demon Kogure album had been disclosed.

More details and links here.

It will be another cover album, just like 'GIRLS' ROCK', but this time from foreign hits popular in Japan. Release is scheduled for D.C.10 (2008),  January 30th. This new album is yet untitled, but already available for pre-order at CDJapan.

More details and links here.

May His Excellency continue to brighten up this world for at least another 100000 years, may he be as brilliant and magnificent, as radiant and unique, as energetic and fascinating as he is now! Many new songs and other interesting and challenging projects, lots of fun and new fans all around the globe!

This site went live on that day, as a kind of a e-greeting card for Demon-sama. =)