Planned as the final showAsty Tokushima

Chatmonchy's last show: Konasonson Fes 2018 at Asty Tokushima, July 22, 2018

On July 22, 2018, at Asty Tokushima in the city of Tokushima, Chatmonchy closed the second day of their own two-day festival, *Chatmonchy no Tokushima Konasonson Fes 2018 ~Mina, Oide Nashite yo!~*, and with that set brought the band to what they called its "completion." Eriko Hashimoto and Akiko Fukuoka had announced the previous November, without using the word breakup, that Chatmonchy would be completed in July 2018. Their last one-man concert was at the Nippon Budokan on July 4, and the hometown festival had been billed in advance as their last live show. On that final stage the two played eight songs, opening with a jingle they had written for a Tokushima radio station and handing the drum stool, song by song, to four drummers from that day's bill. The last song was "Shangurira" ("Shangri-La"). Afterwards the pair danced through the crowd with an Awa Odori troupe, and former drummer Kumiko Takahashi joined the line.

Illustration of a guitar, two microphones, a drum kit and a bass in a beam of light from above, with four pairs of drumsticks standing on a small table beside the drums
IllustrationFour pairs of drumsticks lined up on a small table beside the drums.

Performance data

Date [3][19][27][23]
VenueAsty Tokushima (Tokushima)
EventChatmonchy no Tokushima Konasonson Fes 2018 ~Mina, Oide Nashite yo!~ (チャットモンチーの徳島こなそんそんフェス2018 ~みな、おいでなしてよ!~) [12][27][3]
All datesJuly 21, 2018, July 22, 2018 [12][19][3]
CategoryPlanned as the final show
Why it endedBreakup [10][14][15]
LineupEriko Hashimoto, Akiko Fukuoka, Misaki, Morris, Hiroyuki Kubo, Tatsuo Sakiyama [3]
Attendance UnverifiedNo official attendance figure was found. Both days sold out (festival site), and the official report says 5,000 people sang together at the close.[3][19]
Last song performedシャングリラ “Shangurira” (Shangri-La) [3][6]
Songs performed8 songsSee the setlist ↓
Video releaseYes [6][22][17]

About the artist

Chatmonchy formed in Tokushima in 2000.[1] By spring 2004 the lineup was Eriko Hashimoto (vocals, guitar), Akiko Fukuoka (bass) and Kumiko Takahashi (drums), and on November 23, 2005, they made their major-label debut with the mini-album chatmonchy has come, produced by Junji Ishiwatari, formerly of SUPERCAR.[1][2] Its six songs included "Hana no Yume," "Tsumasaki" and "Saraba Seishun"; thirteen years later the first two would be played on the band's last stage and the third would close its last one-man show.[2][3][4]

Their second album, Seimeiryoku (October 24, 2007), collected "Shangurira," the closing theme of the Fuji TV anime Hataraki Man; "Sekai ga Owaru Yoru ni," the theme of the film Funuke Domo, Kanashimi no Ai o Misero; and "Mayonaka Yūenchi."[5] They played the Nippon Budokan on April 1, 2008.[6]

Takahashi's departure was announced on July 29, 2011, and she left at the end of September.[7] As a duo, Hashimoto and Fukuoka released the album Henshin in 2012, then expanded in 2014 with two support units, the men's "Danjin" (Akira Tsuneoka, Ryosuke Shimomura) and the women's "Otomedan" (Yuko Sebu, Aiko Kitano).[8] A tenth-anniversary Budokan show in November 2015 sold out.[1] To mark the anniversary they held their first festival at home, at Asty Tokushima on February 27 and 28, 2016,[9] and from that September they were performing as a duo again,[1] adding programmed sounds on their 2017 tour.[8]

Why this was the last show

The announcement came on November 24, 2017. The statement, signed by both and posted on Sony Music's site, opened by saying they intended to complete Chatmonchy in July 2018, and it never used the word breakup.[10] While thinking about their next steps during that year's national tour, they wrote, they had come to feel that taking off the name Chatmonchy might let them reach somewhere new. They had no concrete plan yet and wanted to value their own days for a while. Looking back over the trio years, the duo years, the years with a large support band and the return to a duo, they said that every earlier change had held more hope than worry, but that this time, shedding their skin, worry and hope weighed about the same. They could not end without doing something, they added, so there would be news on New Year's Day; they asked fans to keep cheering until they crossed the finish line smiling.[10] Three days later came word of a tribute album for spring 2018, with an open call for contributors.[11]

On January 1, 2018, the last plans were laid out. On July 4 they would play CHATMONCHY LAST ONEMAN LIVE ~I Love CHATMONCHY~ at the Budokan, their third one-man show there after 2008 and 2015. On July 21 and 22 they would hold the second Konasonfes at Asty Tokushima, mixing music and comedy, with tickets at 10,800 yen a day and no two-day pass. A last album would follow in June.[12]

The tribute album CHATMONCHY Tribute ~I Love CHATMONCHY~ came out on March 28; the artists, chosen and approached by the two and their staff, included Hump Back, the band that would open the festival's second day.[13] On April 17 the last album, Tanjō, was dated for June 27 and the festival lineup was announced, in a notice that called Konasonfes the hosted festival that would be their last live show.[14] Tanjō, their seventh studio album, had seven tracks built entirely from programmed sounds, including "Cooking Lala" with DJ Misoshiru to MC Gohan.[14] KAI-YOU's review noted that it opened with techno and had little of their earlier "girls' rock" feel.[15]

On June 1 the pair played TV Asahi's Music Station, billed on the official site as their last TV performance.[16] On June 27, the day Tanjō came out, SPACE SHOWER TV won exclusive rights to broadcast the festival, which the notice called "Chatmonchy's last live show."[17]

The July 4 Budokan show went out live on WOWOW.[16] According to the track list of the film released later, the first half was the two of them playing mostly Tanjō, the second added strings and a support drummer, and the 20 songs ended with the encore "Saraba Seishun."[4] Shinji Hyogo, reviewing for Real Sound, wrote that Fukuoka broke down first in the encore and Hashimoto, in tears, thanked the crowd for thirteen years of support. Lyric sheets had been handed out in case they could not sing "Saraba Seishun"; Fukuoka began it at a grand piano, and when Hashimoto's voice gave out the audience carried the song.[18] Hyogo argued that the Budokan show, the broadcast and the cinema screenings existed only because of the "completion," and that holding Konasonfes afterwards, as an after-party, was the only form left.[18] After the last one-man show, one more stage remained.

What is known about the day

On the first day, July 21, the host was Kazutoyo Koyabu of the Yoshimoto Shinkigeki comedy troupe, and the bill included Tamio Okuda, Base Ball Bear and EGO-WRAPPIN'. Closing that night, Chatmonchy brought in a different guest for each song, and for the final "Shangurira" Kumiko Takahashi kicked off the beat on her own drum kit, brought out of the management company's storeroom, as silver streamers fell.[3]

July 22 was bright and clear in Tokushima. Doors opened at 11:00 for a 1 p.m. start, and both days had sold out.[19] According to Yuko Honma's report on the band's official site, the hall and the outdoor food area were crowded well before the start. Five minutes before showtime Hashimoto and Fukuoka came out to say hello: Hashimoto remarked that it was perfect weather for a completion, and Fukuoka told everyone they had better burn themselves out too. The day's host was Maki Utsunomiya, also of Shinkigeki.[3] The official timetable ran Hump Back, Yonhoshidama, Amagami Inter, THE Inazuma Sentai, Tetsu and Tomo, Naotaro Moriyama, a break, Spitz, a Shinkigeki comedy duo, and Chatmonchy, with the Awa Odori troupes Kamoshi-ren and Hachisuka-ren to follow.[20]

Opener Hump Back had started out as a Chatmonchy cover band, and they began with "Yuge," the song they had recorded for the tribute album. Singer Momoko Hayashi said Chatmonchy had been her entire youth and promised that, having been given so many dreams, her band would now be someone else's youth. Yonhoshidama, friends since the two bands' university club days, called Hashimoto up to sing "Hotaru no Kage" with Yasuo Kitajima. THE Inazuma Sentai arrived fifteen minutes before their slot after a cancelled flight, and their singer introduced Chatmonchy as his juniors at the same management company. In Naotaro Moriyama's set, Chatmonchy's "Sekai ga Owaru Yoru ni" was sung by Hashimoto with Moriyama harmonizing and Fukuoka on bass.[3]

During the hour-long break the screens showed an Awa Odori lesson and Tokushima tourism films. Spitz opened the second half and covered "Shangurira"; Masamune Kusano said he had covered it once before, seven years earlier in Kochi, and closed by wishing the two a happy future and hoping to play together again.[3]

When Chatmonchy came on, Fukuoka held back tears to announce that the festival had safely reached its last band, then said she had better not talk too much, her face crumpling, and handed over to Hashimoto. Hashimoto said that if a band ever found itself breaking up, ending at an event rather than a one-man show was worth recommending, because you received messages in music from the other artists as well as from the audience and the crew.[3]

They opened with "Kikkyon," the jingle they had made for FM Tokushima, playing on into its second part, "Yanryon"; Fukuoka explained that they had written it unasked, sent it in, and had it accepted. FM Tokushima was one of the festival's organizers.[3][19] Then the drummers rotated: Misaki of Hump Back on "Yuge"; Morris of Yonhoshidama on "Awa no Tanuki," the theme song of a local festival, and "Hana no Yume," the first track on their debut; and Hiroyuki Kubo of THE Inazuma Sentai on "Kaze Fukeba Koi" and "Mayonaka Yūenchi." The two were struck by how much the band's sound changed with each drummer.[3][2]

Fukuoka asked the crowd whether it hadn't all gone by too fast, and when Hashimoto said there were two songs left, people screamed. For the seventh song, "Tsumasaki," Tatsuo Sakiyama of Spitz took the drums. Hashimoto admitted she was nervous, and Fukuoka said they would finish as "Spitzmonchy." Partway through, Hashimoto's voice shook and Fukuoka's backing vocal dropped out for a moment.[3]

The last song was "Shangurira," the song Takahashi had drummed the day before and Spitz had covered earlier that evening. This time, Honma writes, they sang it all the way through, with the audience singing at full voice.[3] "Kikkyon," "Mayonaka Yūenchi" and this final scene were later included in the video collection BEST MONCHY 2 -Viewing-, where the day's last track is listed as "Shangurira ~ MC."[6]

Then the Kamoshi-ren Awa Odori troupe came out, and the two danced with them through the audience, joined by Takahashi as a special guest, so that the three who had debuted together were side by side. In the farewell they thanked everyone who had supported them, wishing them happiness to come and hoping the day would be a new start. As Chatmonchy's own "Seishun no Ichiban Fudasho" played over the speakers, 5,000 people sang it together and the two waved their way off the stage. Honma read the long applause as a celebration of two people who had seen their work through.[3]

What the show left behind

SPACE SHOWER TV had promised the day's performances along with a documentary following the two through it,[17] and the official media listings show a Konasonfes 2018 special on December 19, 2018.[16]

Releases followed the completion. The Budokan film came out on October 24,[4] the best-of album BEST MONCHY 1 -Listening- on October 31,[21] and on December 26 BEST MONCHY 2 -Viewing-, which the label described as covering thirteen years: every music video that exists in full, plus live footage chosen by era.[6][22] On the Blu-ray's track list the live footage begins at Tokushima JITTERBUG on October 15, 2005, passes through "Seishun no Ichiban Fudasho" at the Tokushima City Culture Center in 2011 and Asty Tokushima in 2016, and ends with "Shangurira ~ MC" on July 22, 2018.[6] The record that began in a Tokushima live house closes on the last scene of the Tokushima festival.

Shinji Hyogo, after the Budokan show, wrote that in 33 years of watching farewell and pre-hiatus concerts he had never felt the way he did that night. In his reading Chatmonchy never took on anything that did not excite them and rebuilt their format every time, so asking for more would have meant asking them to stop being Chatmonchy; the completion was inevitable.[18]

The three carried on in their own ways. On April 21, 2019, NHK Radio 1's Utakotoba ran a Chatmonchy special hosted by Kumiko Takahashi as a former member.[16] Eriko Hashimoto put out digital EPs in October 2021 and her first solo album, Nikki o Moyashite, on December 8, while SPACE SHOWER TV reaired Chatmonchy highlights and a Konasonfes special.[23] A January 2022 profile described Akiko Fukuoka working as a songwriter and player between Tokyo and Tokushima and running the event space OLUYO in Tokushima; she recalled thinking of nothing but the band, 24 hours a day, right up to the day of completion.[24]

On November 23, 2025, twenty years to the day after the debut, vinyl editions of chatmonchy has come, Mimi Nari, Seimeiryoku and Kokuhaku were announced for April 1, 2026, with a lottery for buyers of all four: a papier-mâché good-luck rake made with Awa washi paper from Tokushima, supervised by Fukuoka.[25]

As of November 2026, no stage under the Chatmonchy name after July 22, 2018, has been found. The top of the official site reads "Chatmonchy is Forever."[21]

Context for readers

Completion, not breakup. Japanese bands usually announce a kaisan (breakup) or katsudō kyūshi (hiatus). Chatmonchy chose a third word, kanketsu, the word used when a story or series is completed, and their statement avoided the usual one.[10] A "one-man" show is a headline concert with no other acts; the Budokan date on July 4 was their last, while their actual last stage was at a festival of their own.[12] A hometown festival. Konasonfes was held in Tokushima, where the band formed, and it mixed rock acts with comedians, including members of the Yoshimoto Shinkigeki troupe. During the break the screens taught the audience Awa Odori, Tokushima's dance, and each day ended with Awa Odori troupes dancing through the hall.[12][3]

Setlist

8 songs [3][6]
1. きっきょん2. 湯気3. 阿波の狸4. ハナノユメ5. 風吹けば恋6. 真夜中遊園地7. ツマサキ8. シャングリラ9. 青春の一番札所

Main set Encore Last song

  1. きっきょん “Kikkyon” (a station jingle written for FM Tokushima) · Songs and order follow Yuko Honma's report on the band's official site. A jingle the two had sent to FM Tokushima, which the station adopted; they played it through to its second part, "Yanryon." The report does not name a drummer here. The fan-edited LiveFans lists nine songs including "Koi no Kemuri" in a different order, but in the official report "Koi no Kemuri" was played the day before (with Base Ball Bear's Daisuke Horinouchi on drums). Earlier that day Eriko Hashimoto sang "Hotaru no Kage" in Yonhoshidama's set, and Hashimoto and Akiko Fukuoka played "Sekai ga Owaru Yoru ni" in Naotaro Moriyama's set; those are not counted here.
  2. 湯気 “Yuge” (steam) · Misaki of Hump Back on drums.
  3. 阿波の狸 “Awa no Tanuki” (the raccoon dogs of Awa (Tokushima)) · Morris of Yonhoshidama on drums. The theme song of a Tokushima festival, the Furusato Carnival Awa no Tanuki Matsuri (official site report).
  4. ハナノユメ “Hana no Yume” (a flower's dream) · Morris of Yonhoshidama on drums.
  5. 風吹けば恋 “Kaze Fukeba Koi” (when the wind blows, love) · Hiroyuki Kubo of THE Inazuma Sentai on drums.
  6. 真夜中遊園地 “Mayonaka Yūenchi” (midnight amusement park) · Hiroyuki Kubo of THE Inazuma Sentai on drums.
  7. ツマサキ “Tsumasaki” (tiptoes) · Tatsuo Sakiyama of Spitz on drums.
  8. シャングリラ “Shangurira” (Shangri-La) · The last song. The report does not name the drummer (before "Tsumasaki," Fukuoka said they would finish as "Spitzmonchy").
  9. 青春の一番札所 “Seishun no Ichiban Fudasho” (youth's first pilgrimage temple) · Recording. Played as the closing music after the Awa Odori and the farewell, while the crowd sang along (official site report). A Chatmonchy song; not counted as performed.

Another final curtain

More last nights of bands who had decided to break up or go on hiatus.

TimelineCareer span, final show and later events, limited to what sources confirm.
200020052010201520202025October 24, 2018 The film of the July 4 Nippon Budokan show, CHATMONCHY LAST ONEMAN LIVE ~I Love CHATMONCHY~, is released (DVD KSBL-6325 and other formats).October 31, 2018 The best-of album BEST MONCHY 1 -Listening- is released.December 26, 2018 The video collection BEST MONCHY 2 -Viewing- is released, with all the music videos and live footage from Tokushima JITTERBUG in 2005 to Asty Tokushima on July 22, 2018.April 21, 2019 Kumiko Takahashi hosts a Chatmonchy special of NHK Radio 1's Utakotoba as a former member.December 8, 2021 Eriko Hashimoto releases her first solo album, Nikki o Moyashite.January 2022 Akiko Fukuoka works as a songwriter and player based in Tokyo and Tokushima and runs the event space OLUYO in Tokushima (January 2022 article).November 23, 2025 For the 20th anniversary of the major-label debut, vinyl editions of four early and middle-period albums are announced for April 1, 2026.July 22, 2018200020102020October 24, 2018 The film of the July 4 Nippon Budokan show, CHATMONCHY LAST ONEMAN LIVE ~I Love CHATMONCHY~, is released (DVD KSBL-6325 and other formats).October 31, 2018 The best-of album BEST MONCHY 1 -Listening- is released.December 26, 2018 The video collection BEST MONCHY 2 -Viewing- is released, with all the music videos and live footage from Tokushima JITTERBUG in 2005 to Asty Tokushima on July 22, 2018.April 21, 2019 Kumiko Takahashi hosts a Chatmonchy special of NHK Radio 1's Utakotoba as a former member.December 8, 2021 Eriko Hashimoto releases her first solo album, Nikki o Moyashite.January 2022 Akiko Fukuoka works as a songwriter and player based in Tokyo and Tokushima and runs the event space OLUYO in Tokushima (January 2022 article).November 23, 2025 For the 20th anniversary of the major-label debut, vinyl editions of four early and middle-period albums are announced for April 1, 2026.July 22, 2018
  1. Active years (2000 – July 22, 2018)
  2. Final show
  3. The film of the July 4 Nippon Budokan show, CHATMONCHY LAST ONEMAN LIVE ~I Love CHATMONCHY~, is released (DVD KSBL-6325 and other formats).
  4. The best-of album BEST MONCHY 1 -Listening- is released.
  5. The video collection BEST MONCHY 2 -Viewing- is released, with all the music videos and live footage from Tokushima JITTERBUG in 2005 to Asty Tokushima on July 22, 2018.
  6. Kumiko Takahashi hosts a Chatmonchy special of NHK Radio 1's Utakotoba as a former member.1 year later
  7. Eriko Hashimoto releases her first solo album, Nikki o Moyashite.3 years later
  8. Akiko Fukuoka works as a songwriter and player based in Tokyo and Tokushima and runs the event space OLUYO in Tokushima (January 2022 article).4 years later
  9. For the 20th anniversary of the major-label debut, vinyl editions of four early and middle-period albums are announced for April 1, 2026.7 years later

Watch / buyPR

We may earn a commission if you buy through these links. Details

  • BEST MONCHY 2 -Viewing-

    BEST MONCHY 2 -Viewing-

    PartialBlu-ray · Released December 26, 2018 · Cat. no. KSXL-265

    Limited-edition two-disc Blu-ray. The last three tracks (44–46) of the live disc are from Asty Tokushima on July 22, 2018: "Kikkyon," "Mayonaka Yūenchi" and "Shangurira ~ MC" (Sony Music). Four songs from July 21 are also included.

  • BEST MONCHY 2 -Viewing-

    PartialDVD · Released December 26, 2018 · Cat. no. KSBL-6317

    Limited-edition four-disc DVD (KSBL-6317–6321); the fourth, live disc includes the 2018 Asty Tokushima shows (Sony Music). The content appears to match the Blu-ray, but the DVD page was not checked for the July 22 song titles.

Supported by Rakuten Developers

Sources

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