The name sounds harmless. The résumés do not. Every member of DESSERT had already been through some of the most respected names in Japanese punk before the band played a note.

Sendai to Tokyo

The roots go back to Sendai in the early 1980s, to bands such as DISARRAY and 責任転嫁 (Sekinin Tenka). By the late 1990s the musicians had moved to Tokyo, and in 1998 they formed DESSERT.

The lineup:

  • RYUJI, vocals: ex-COCOBAT, BACK BONE and DISARRAY, and later of BB
  • JUN GRAY, bass: ex-責任転嫁, BLOODVERY and KENZI & THE TRIPS, and a member of Ken Yokoyama’s band since 2008
  • KASUGA, guitar: of THE POGO, ex-LAUGHIN’ NOSE and THE RYDERS
  • MUROCHIN, drums: ex-ABNORMALS, COCOBAT and INHEIL, and in WRENCH since late 2003

Six Years

DESSERT was active from 1998 to 2004. The first EP, WORLD OF FANTASY, came out in 1998 on Ranch Records, as a seven-inch and a CD. The album SOUL SEARCHING followed in 2000.

Then came a split CD with the Osaka band MINOR LEAGUE, also on Ranch. MINOR LEAGUE’s two singers added backing vocals to a DESSERT track. The connection went back further: MUROCHIN knew MINOR LEAGUE through INHEIL, and both bands had been on the label Megaforce.

PIZZA OF DEATH, the label behind the 2025 complete recordings, describes DESSERT as hardcore punk that left a strong mark on the Japanese hardcore scene.

Two Returns

In 2004 the band stopped. It came back once in 2018, for two shows raising money for recovery from the floods that hit western Japan that summer.

The real revival came in 2025. On 11 August 2025 the original four revived their own event, IGNITE, with vol.13 at Shindaita FEVER. IN FOR THE KILL, NO EXCUSE, END ALL and THE DEAD PAN SPEAKERS were also on the bill, and the flyer was drawn by the artist USUGROW.

1998-2001+1

On 22 October 2025 PIZZA OF DEATH RECORDS released 1998-2001+1, a CD of DESSERT’s complete recordings. It has 21 tracks, and the “+1” is a new song, “RISE UP.” It was the band’s first official release in 24 years.

In April 2026 DESSERT toured with MINOR LEAGUE and T.C.L, and the band is on the bill for MINOR LEAGUE’s thirtieth-anniversary show at Shindaita FEVER on 29 November 2026.

Why It Matters

Japanese punk has a long memory, and DESSERT is a good example of how it works. Four players from the Sendai and Tokyo scenes of the 1980s made a band in 1998, stopped, and came back with the same four people a generation later.

Start with “RISE UP,” then play the rest of 1998-2001+1 from the top.