Name: Koji Iwata (岩田こうじ)
Birthday: July 23, 1968
Birthplace: Otoru-shi, Hokkaido, Japan (北海道小樽市)
Koji was born in Otaru-shi, Hokkaido, Japan on July 23, 1986. Koji has has worked with music his whole life and been a member of several bands. He has worked closely with Sawao Yamanaka of The Pillows for years, as they grew up together and were friends in middle and high school. In 1984 he graduated from Hokkaido High School and moved to Sapporo. He debuted in 1986, when he and Sawao formed The Coin Locker Babies with Koji as the bass player and back up vocals, but Sawao later went on to form The Pillows. He was also temporarily the bass player for the band Ash. In 1991 he became the guitarist of The Chewinggum Weekend. The band lasted for 9 years and released 2 albums and 7 singles until breaking up in 1999 due to disagreements between Koji and vocalist, Takashi Hashimoto. Since then in 2001 Koji went on to perform as a solo artist under the name HERMIT. In 2003 he joined Sawao Yamanaka’s record label, Delicious, and his songs were featured on several compilation albums. Koji released his own album, Frequence Eater, in 2003. His most recent work is a 2008 released single, Evil My Plan / Demon Tracks vol. 1. Since then, his activities have slowed due to his declining health. Koji has struggled with a fatal disease since a young age. He was even committed to a psychiatric hospital at age 21. Nowadays he is regularly going in and out of the hospital for treatment. There has been no word from him since 2009.
