"HINOTAMA" are a Japanese singer-songwriter duo, consisting of Yuto Shiroma and Mizuho Fukuda. They formed the group in Los Angeles in 2008. They feature R&B sounds predominantly, and the peculiar melody line of Yuto Shiroma from Okinawa is incorporated into HINOTAMA's music.

They are the graduates of Musician's Institute in Hollywood. They got acquainted at friend's party and started to get together and jam.
They first debuted as HINOTAMA at the cafe live in the spring of 2009. At that time, they performed as trio including drums. The base was built while regularly performing in a local events.They relocated to Tokyo in the spring of 2010 and started musical activity.

The band name "HINOTAMA" means "Burning soul" in Japanese. Since the band was formed in US, they wanted to use a simple word which is easy for everyone to remember and symbolizes their identity as they were from Japan. The band name also symbolizes their musical genres such as soul, funk, and R&B.

For more info, please visit the website http://www.myspace.com/hinotamamusic

Yuto Shiroma
uto was born in Okinawa, a southern prefecture in Japan. Music became center of his life quite early, he began to play Trumpet and Percussion in elementary school's brass band. At the age of 11, he performed as a solo singer at the biggest music festival in Okinawa. When he was 13, he encountered with a song "The Bridge Over Trouble Water" by Simon&Garfunkel and was impressed by the sound of the Piano. And then he started playing the piano and admired those who sing and play the piano such as Stevie Wonder and Billy Joel. When he was a college student, he started writing original songs and performing as a solo artist at live shows in Shimokitazawa,Tokyo. After he graduated, he worked for a music label as promoting foreign music, then relocated to Los Angeles to study music in 2007. In his duo band "HINOTAMA" features an R&B and groovy sound predominantly but his songwriting combines a lots of other musical styles. We can also see a glimpse of his music identity from Okinawa in his songwriting. His original song "I Believe" was made in LA, contains a message that "Happy energy is brought up if there is a belief in each other's mind even if the language, the culture, and the race are different."

Miz Fukuda
Miz first became interested in a musical career at the age of 11, after watching popular singer-songwriter Masaharu Fukuyama perform on TV.
During junior high school, Miz’s musical style was heavily influenced by the J-Rock band, B'z.
Enthralled by the incessant backbeats and catchy melodies of rock, Miz began to explore rock’s musical roots. Then he started listening to American Rock bands such as Nirvana, Metallica, and Aerosmith.
At the age of 18, Miz set out to travel across the United States. He heard Blues music in Chicago and Jazz and Soul in New Orleans. Miz was deeply moved by the emotions and feelings that were at the heart of these musical genres. He decided to embody this passion and exude it in his music as well as his everyday life. Since then, Miz has been grooving to the Blues and Soul rhythms of artists like Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Earth Wind and Fire. Currently, it’s John Mayer, with his conscious mixing of musical genres, that has captivated and influenced Miz’s musical style.
Time passed, and Miz ended up studying sociology at a University in Japan. Never forgetting what he felt as he listened to the Blues and Soul performances in the United States, he struggled to live everyday to its fullest. Miz felt that a change was necessary and decided to take his studies to the United States. After just a short time in the “Land of Free," Miz’s ardor for music and life was renewed. He transferred to the acclaimed Musician's Institute in Hollywood.
Miz brought his sleeping bag in the school and spent every night and day developing and refining his skills on the guitar for about 2 years. Since graduating, Miz has recorded in studio sessions and performed live with various musicians. He is currently recording, performing, and writing music professionally.