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Elephant Kashimashi

Japanese rock band (1981–)

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMay 24, 2026
Entity authorityQ847421 ↗
Source-derived summary

Elephant Kashimashi (Japanese: エレファントカシマシ, Hepburn: Erefanto Kashimashi), sometimes abbreviated as Elekashi (エレカシ, Erekashi), is a Japanese rock band from Kita, Tokyo, formed in 1981. It has consisted of vocalist and guitarist Hiroji Miyamoto, guitarist Toshiyuki Ishimori, bassist Seiji Takamidori and drummer Yoshiyuki Tominaga since 1986.

In 2007, Rolling Stone Japan ranked their album The Elephant Kashimashi II number 50 on a list of the greatest Japanese rock albums of all time.

History

Elephant Kashimashi was formed in 1981 by Akabanedai Junior High School classmates Toshiyuki Ishimori and Yoshiyuki Tominaga on guitar and drums respectively. Vocalist and guitarist Hiroji Miyamoto joined in their third year of junior high, and they covered songs by bands such as Deep Purple, Rainbow and RC Succession. They participated in the amateur music competition EastWest put on by Nippon Gakki (Yamaha Corporation) playing original songs. In 1986, Tominaga's high school classmate Seiji Takamidori joined on bass completing the final line up that continues to this day. In December of that year they won the CBS Sony SD audition.

Elephant Kashimashi made their debut on March 21, 1988, with the simultaneous Epic/Sony Records release of the single "Dede" and their self-titled album. Miyamoto, the band's principal songwriter, stated that his biggest influences at the time were Led Zeppelin, The Doors, The Rolling Stones, and T. Rex.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Elephant Kashimashi” as japanese rock band (1981–). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1981, 1986, 2007, 1988—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1981. The account is most persuasive where Elephant, Kashimashi and Japanese can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as japanese rock band (1981–). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 24, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q847421. VIAF identifies the subject as 9150999708429872186. 2 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1981, 1986, 2007 and 1988.

Critical limits

A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

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Three-step research path

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  2. Expand the search: follow Elephant Kashimashi primary sources, Elephant Kashimashi archive and Elephant research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Elephant Kashimashi” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.