X Japan is a popular Japanese band founded in 1982 by Toshimitsu "Toshi" Deyama and Yoshiki Hayashi. Originally named X ( ), the group achieved its breakthrough success in 1989 with the release of their second album Blue Blood. They started out as a power/speed metal band and later gravitated towards a progressive sound, at all times retaining an emphasis on ballads. After three more albums, X Japan disbanded in 1997.

Besides being one of the first Japanese acts to achieve mainstream success while on an independent label, the group is widely credited for pioneering the visual kei movement, though most of the group's members toned down their on-stage attire in later years. See the On the Verge of Destruction and The Last Live Video releases for comparison. As of 2007, the band has sold over twenty million records and over two million home videos.

On June 4, 2007 it was announced the band would reunite with a new song released via digital download in January 2008 and live performances scheduled for March and May.

X (later changed to X JAPAN in 1992 to avoid confusion with the American punk band X ) is arguably one of the most influential metal bands in the history of the Japanese music scene. Formed by childhood friends YOSHIKI and Toshi in 1976, X was originally founded to play high energy metal music in the vein of Japanese metal legends LOUDNESS , and Western bands like Iron Maiden . The band consisted of Toshi (vocals), YOSHIKI (drums, piano, composer, lyricist), hide (guitar), Pata (guitar), and Tai