Kousuke Atari

Kousuke Atari (中孝介, born July 13, 1980, in Naze, Japan) is a Japanese singer whose work combines j-pop with shima-uta. A self-taught musician, he began learning shima-uta in 1997. He won prizes at the 奄美民謡大賞 in 1998 and 2000, and in 2000 he also took overall victory at the 日本民謡協会奄美連合大会. That same year, he released the shima-uta album 『アタリ』. After further independent releases, he made his major debut through Epic Records Japan in 2006 with the single 『それぞれに』. He followed it with the 2007 album 『ユライ花』. His anime work includes "Tane wo Maku Hibi (種をまく日々)", the ending theme for Bleach. He later performed "Natsu Yuuzora" and "Kimi no Kakera feat. Miyamoto Emiri (君ノカケラ feat 宮本笑里)" for Natsume Yuujinchou. In addition to singing, he performs with shamisen.