After playing in bands such as CACOPHONY, he joined MEGADETH in 1990. He led the band to become a super band with mega-selling albums all over the world, supporting the band in its heyday and becoming a guitarist with enthusiastic fans all over the world.

 

He became a Japan connoisseur as he visited Japan on live tours, and learned Japanese through correspondence courses while on world tours. After leaving MEGADETH, he moved his base of activities from LA to Shinjuku, Tokyo Japan in 2004.

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Since 2005, he has appeared regularly as the main MC on the legendary rock variety show “Heavy Metal-san” (TV Tokyo). And not only astonished heavy metal fans in Japan, but also the world through YouTube. 2007- "ROCK FUJIYAMA," the sequel to the show, is still receiving a great response from all over the world through YouTube.

 

From 2006 to 2008, he was the image character of the Japan Iron and Steel Federation.

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Since then, he has appeared on numerous NHK and commercial TV programs, serialized his work in magazines and newspapers, and published his first book, “Cool ! J-POP: That's Why I Came to Japan” and it became a bestseller. In the same year, he appeared in the movie “Gugu datte Neko de Neko de Aru,” co-starring Kyoko Koizumi. While demonstrating his talent as a super guitarist and one-of-a-kind Japan lover, he is currently not only a guitarist, composer, and music producer, but also appears in events, TV, radio, commercials, and films, transcending borders and industry boundaries.

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In 2017, he was appointed as a Japanese Heritage Ambassador by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, and is active as a multi-talented artist in cultural activities to introduce Japan at home and abroad.

 

On February 27, 2023, he performed with MEGADEATH for the first time in 24 years at the Nippon Budokan.