Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on October 2009

“There’s nothing left that I want to do,” Kazuhiko Kato wrote to a friend shortly before committing suicide at the age of 62 in mid-October. The musician and producer, who was found hanged in a hotel room in Nagano Prefecture, had fought a long battle against depression. His personal troubles were far removed from the glorious pop songs that he penned, starting with the Folk Crusaders’ hit 1967 debut, “Kaette Kita Yopparai” (released in English as “I Only Live Twice”). Kato (above, second from left) would go on to find a measure of international success with the Sadistic Mika Band, fronted by (and named after) his then-wife. The group was responsible for some of the most glorious Japanese pop nuggets ever recorded, including “Time Machine ni Onegai” and “My Baby.” Though he would later retreat from the spotlight, Kato continued to write songs for other artists, often in collaboration with his second wife, the late Kazumi Yasui. Sadistic Mika Band reformed on a number of occasions, most recently in 2006, when they were fronted by Kaela Kimura.