Kyo

In July 2015, Kyo announced a new poetry collection book titled Gasou no Shi, which would be released on August as the first volume in a series.

With a tenor voice spanning just below five octaves, Kyo's vocals are considered a pivotal aspect of Dir en Grey's music. He has gained wide recognition for his large range and versatility, being able to "howl, croon, emote cleanly, scream, shriek, growl, bellow, and make nearly inhuman sounds." Loudwire wrote "Sporting incredibly low death metal gutturals, Kyo can also turn a complete 180 as one of metal's highest shriekers." Dane Prokofiev of PopMatters said that his "natural ease at and inclination towards striking such a stark contrast between the two opposite ends of the human vocal spectrum can be obtained as only a kind of pre-birth winning lottery ticket—you know, that much coveted prize we call 'talent'."

In 2013, Kyo gathered artists from various visual kei rock bands to form the supergroup Sukekiyo. The band opened the first show for Sugizo's tour Thrive to Realize, and performed the next day for the Countdown Japan 13/14 festival. Their first album, Immortalis, was released in 2014. The band has subsequently released an EP, Vitium, in 2015, and a second studio album, Adoratio, in 2017. Kyo provided vocals for the song "Zessai" on Sugizo's 2017 album Oneness M.

Kyo has released two volumes of poetry, published through Media Factory. Both books are accompanied by short bonus CDs. In 2013, Kyo launched a new website and released two collections of photography, "Shikkaku", which features Kyo as the subject and "For the Human Race", which features photography by Kyo himself.

While in a 2010 North American co-headline tour, Kyo performed with Apocalyptica, singing "Bring Them To Light" along with Tipe Johnson. Later that year, he recorded vocals for Daisuke to Kuro no Injatachi's debut album.

His stage performances became known in the mid 2000s for their shock elements such as full-body makeup resembling heavy burns, fake vomit of varying color and consistency, and various acts of self-mutilation. The authenticity of the latter is debated, given how frequent certain practices occur, sometimes firmly in place within a tour's usual set-list. For example, Kyo would regularly engage in fish-hooking during the performance of "Kodoku ni Shisu, Yueni Kodoku" throughout the "It Withers and Withers" and "Inward Scream" tours. However, after 2008's Uroboros, he largely removed these shock value elements from his performance; while he still sometimes wears costumes on stage, he no longer performs self mutilation, real or simulated.

Throughout his career, Kyo has been hospitalized multiple times: once in 2000, due to hearing problems (remaining partially deaf in his left ear) and again in 2006 and 2009 with edema of larynx (inflamed vocal cords). In late 2011 to early 2012, Kyo had yet another problem with his throat and vocal cords. After being diagnosed with vocal nodule dysphonia, Dir en Grey was forced to pull out of the "Still Reckless" tour which was set to begin in March 2012. Although Kyo had been diagnosed and hospitalized many times, this time he faced the possibility of surgery. In an interview, Kyo stated that his vocal polyps were treated with medication. Right after a May 2013 show in Shinkiba Studio Coast, he was again hospitalized with tonsillitis.

Kyo (Japanese: 京 , Hepburn: Kyō, born February 16, 1976 in Kyoto) is a Japanese musician, singer, lyricist and poet. He is best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the metal band Dir en Grey. He was formerly in a string of visual kei rock bands, with the most notable being La:Sadie's from 1995 to 1997. He then started Dir en Grey in February 1997, following La:Sadie's disbandment with three of its members, and formed the experimental rock band Sukekiyo in 2013. Kyo was inspired to become a musician when he saw a picture of Buck-Tick vocalist Atsushi Sakurai on the desk of a junior high school classmate. When he then discovered X Japan he was particularly fond of hide and had his parents buy him the guitarist's black signature model guitar. However, after realizing how difficult it was to play guitar and then bass, he then switched to vocals.