Miyavi, born as Takamasa Ishihara, is a Japanese singer-songwriter, guitarist, record producer and actor. Noted for his finger-slapping style of guitar-playing, Takamasa began his career as the age of 17 with the stage name, ‘Mayabi’. He initially served as a guitarist for the now-defunct band, Dué le Quartz. Three years after his debut, when the group disbanded, he embarked on a solo career and released his first album, ‘Gagaku’. Now he has changed his stage name to ‘Miyavi’. Continuing to release singles and albums, he changed his style of music to acoustic/pop around the age of 24, which disappointed many of his old fans, but expanded his fanbase greatly. At 25, wishing to reach out to a wider audience by learning English, he moved to the USA for six months. A year later, he went on his first world tour. As of 2019, he has released 11 albums, apart from two EPs and numerous singles. He also distinguished himself as an actor with the 2014 film, ‘Unbroken’.