Debut In the late 1960s, Takanaka joined a band called Escape, performing regularly at U.S. military bases around Tokyo. His first professional break came in his senior year of high school during a concert by the band
Apryl Fool. One of the members, drunk onstage, shouted to the crowd, "Can someone play guitar for me?" Without hesitation, Takanaka, still wearing his school uniform, jumped onstage and played. That spontaneous moment marked the beginning of his professional music career. He soon joined Hiro Yanagida's group and performed as a backing musician at
Nobuyasu Okabayashi's "Kurui-zaki" self-written/self-performed concert at Hibiya Open-Air Concert Hall in July 1971. In August, he supported Strawberry Path, a band led by Shigeru Narumo and Hiro Tsunoda, at the Hakone Aphrodite rock festival. A month later, he officially joined the group, which was then renamed Flied Egg. Although he wanted to play guitar, he was initially assigned to bass, against his will. Under Narumo's mentorship, Takanaka received daily lessons in music theory and guitar technique, which laid the foundation for his later style. Simultaneously, through Narumo's introduction, he began working as a studio bassist, and later guitarist, kicking off his professional life in the recording industry. The band's second album “Kurofune” was recorded in England and released on November 5, 1974. The album sold poorly but is now considered a milestone in Japanese rock. In September 2007,
Rolling Stone Japan ranked it number 9 on their list of the "100 Greatest Japanese Rock Albums of All Time". The band fragmented after the divorce of two of its main members. After the Sadistic Mika Band disbanded in 1975, he formed the Sadistics with remaining band members
Yukihiro Takahashi,
Tsugutoshi Goto, and Yutaka Imai. The following year, in 1976, he released his first solo album,
Seychelles, and since then he has continued to pursue Sadistics and solo activities. The other members also began to place more emphasis on their solo activities.
Solo career After the Sadistics disbanded, he began working as a solo artist, releasing one or two solo albums every year, consisting mainly of his own original songs and guitar instrumental songs. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Takanaka continued his output, releasing over twenty albums and singles under
Kitty Records until 1984 and
EMI from 1985 to 2000. In 1982,
Saudade reached number one on the
Oricon Albums Chart. In 2000, he formed his own record label,
Lagoon Records. Takanaka is known for his flashy guitars, including a gold colored
Fender Stratocaster. He also has a trademark "lagoon-blue"
Yamaha SG guitar that he plays during live performances. In 2004, at his performance in Crossover Japan '04, Takanaka unveiled his iconic custom-made surfboard guitar. In this performance, the surfboard is painted light blue with his name in cyan text, however it would later be changed to be painted red with white text. This guitar was used in a 2008 performance of "Beleza Pula" at Super Takanaka Live, one of Takanaka's most popular concerts, and has since become highly famous across the world due to its unique design. In 2014, at the 13th Tokyo Jazz Festival, Takanaka also demonstrated a custom-built guitar which featured a model train set. He has collaborated with several other musical acts, notably
Little Richard,
Santana, and
Tina Turner.
21st century Takanaka has enjoyed a
global resurgence in popularity since the mid-2010s, driven largely by younger audiences outside Japan discovering his music online. His 1981 song "Penguin Dancer" was sampled by
Grimes on her song "
Butterfly" in 2015. His 1979 song "Blue Lagoon" was named the 14th-best guitar instrumental by
Young Guitar Magazine in 2019. In 2025, he performed two sold out shows at the
Wiltern Theatre in
Los Angeles in his first US performance in 40 years. Takanaka was visibly surprised and entertained by his frenzied reception. ==Discography==