Amaterasu was created in 2001 by Akira on vocals and Daishi on guitars and production. The only members of the band throughout its activity, the enlisted support members to perform with them during live shows.
They made their live debut on August 4, 2001, at Roppongi Y2K. Their first recordings, a free promo disc and a 1000 yen mini-disc, were distributed during that live. Before the year ended, they had also released their first VHS.
In January 2003, they organized their first event, ee janai ka x 2 yamataika, and in December of that same year, they played their first one-man live at Ikebukuro Cyber.
Their second one-man was held on March 13, 2004 at ESP11, followed by the release of a new promo CD the next day. In June, they set off on their first tour through Northern Japan, with performances as far as Hokkaido. Finally, on September 5th, Amaterasu released their first single, akatsuki.
On October 2nd they held their third one-man at Shibuya O-WEST. For this live, the famous Japanese wadaiko (traditional Japanese drums) player Motofuji Hiroshi joined them on drums. He performed with them several more times following this live. Three days later, on October 5th, the second press of akatsuki was released.
In March 2005 they played a special charity one-man live. It wasn't the first time they'd done such a thing, having hosted a charity auction of the day of their second one-man and donated the proceeds to the restoration of the virgin forest in Shirakami Sanchi, a habitat for wild animals included on the list of World Heritage sites.
In June, Amaterasu, along with other bands, performed at Shinkiba Studio Coast, a show that was later aired on TV. In the following months, they made a few more TV appearances to promote their new single, kibou ga oka, which came out on August 24, 2005. The summer ended with one-man performance on September 25th at Nagoya Heartland. Fans attending the band's lives in December were able to pre-purchase their upcoming DVD single, harukanaru daichi e no sanka. It was officially released on January 25, 2006 and entered the Oricon charts at number ten.
April 2006 saw the release of another single, itsutsu no umi no monogatari, and in September, they released their first full album, amakakeru hoshi no tsukai. Sadly, shortly after the release, in November, they announced that the band would be suspending activities indefinitely. At the end of 2006, Daishi also started supporting aki (ex-Laputa) on his live tours.
Amaterasu held their last live on January 26, 2007 at Shibuya O-EAST. In May 2007, a live DVD containing the recording of that final live was released.
At the end of 2007, Daishi single handedly revived Amaterasu as his solo project, He released his Takamagahara singles, which featured Yuki Sakurai of Rice as guest vocals, on January 26, 2008.
Shortly after Daishi's revival of the name Amaterasu, he announced the formation of his new band, MaitoreiA, the concept of which would differ from that of Amaterasu. They held their first one-man lives on February 13th and 14th of 2009 at Meguro Rokumeikan and have been working hard ever since.
Whether the future will see a true revival of Amaterasu is uncertain. However, the unique style the unit created shows the potential that music has to be diverse and dynamic. Fans of the band can keep an eye on MaitoreiA and wait patiently for the possible end to Amaterasu's hiatus.
