The 5.6.7.8's are a Japanese rock band from Tokyo that formed in 1986. Since 1992, the band's line-up has consisted of Ronnie Fujiyama (vocals, guitar), her sister Sachiko Fujii (drums, vocals; née Fujiyama) and Akiko Omo (bass, vocals). Outside of Japan, the band are best known for their performance in 2003's Kill Bill: Volume 1. The band's music contains a retro-inspired sound that draws heavily from the 1960s garage rock scene. Their most recent album, Run Run Run, was released in June 2026.
Contents
Members
The 5.6.7.8's formed when Sachiko and Yoshiko "Ronnie" Fujiyama, two sisters from Tokyo who both shared a passion for rock and roll, founded the band in 1986 with two other members. Originally, the line-up consisted of Yoshiko on vocals and lead guitar, Rico on second guitar, Yoshie on bass guitar and Sachiko on drums. After several line-up changes (including bassist Yoshiko "Yama" Yamaguchi, who was the bassist featured in the Kill Bill movie), the band eventually became a trio after Rico's and Yoshie's departures. Yoshiko and Sachiko are still the main components in the band, and now Akiko Omo has rejoined the band as the bass guitarist (She originally joined the 5.6.7.8's in the early 1990s).
Even though the group mostly sing their songs in Japanese, they do many covers of American rock and roll records from the 1950s to the 1980s. However, their official website and most of their fansites and fanclubs are in Japanese, as they have their biggest following in their home country.
Yoshiko, who plays a Teisco guitar and sports a "Teenage Queen Delinquent" tattoo on her upper right arm, was initially the lead vocalist, but as the band performed more rock and roll songs originally performed by female groups, every member had equal parts in vocals and many songs are performed singing simultaneously.
The 5.6.7.8's in the West
The 5.6.7.8's released a string of recordings on American independent record labels in the mid-1990s, such as Estrus Records, Planet Pimp Records, and Sympathy For The Record Industry, but did not become widely known in the West until after their appearance in the 2003 film Kill Bill: Volume 1, in which they performed "I Walk Like Jayne Mansfield", "I'm Blue" (a cover of The Ikettes' song) and "Woo Hoo" in a Tokyo club called The House Of Blue Leaves. On the Special Bonus Features of the Kill Bill: Volume 1 DVD, one of the specials featured a live performance which shows the 5.6.7.8's singing "I Walk Like Jayne Mansfield" and "I'm Blue" during filming of the movie. The 5.6.7.8's song "The Barracuda" is featured in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift soundtrack.
According to Kill Bill director Quentin Tarantino, he discovered the music of the 5.6.7.8's after hearing it in an urban clothing store in Tokyo, hours before going to the airport. Tarantino asked if he could purchase the CD from the store, as he had no time to go to a music shop. When the shop assistant on duty refused, the manager was called. When Tarantino offered the manager double the retail price of the CD, he acquired it.
They also became renowned for the use of their cover of The Rock-A-Teens song, "Woo Hoo", in advertisements for Carling lager and Vonage VoIP service in the mid-2000s. The song reached No. 28 on the UK Singles Chart in 2004. Their follow-up single, "I'm Blue,” peaked at No. 71 on the same chart two months later.
The 5.6.7.8's have also toured many countries including China, Australia, the United States, and their native Japan. In 2019, they had an important participation in Rock al Parque in Colombia, as this was the 25th edition of the festival.
Style and influences
The 5.6.7.8's music draws from multiple genres of American music, including rock and roll, surf, rockabilly, doo-wop, punk rock and psychobilly. According to Yoshiko "Ronnie" Fujiyama, the band wanted to "deconstruct rock 'n' roll into punk music by using distortion and noise and screaming." The band's influences include Chuck Berry and Sex Pistols. The 5.6.7.8's sound has been classified as garage rock, rock and roll, garage punk, punk rock, rockabilly, roots rock, surf punk and surf rock.
Discography
Albums
Golden Hits of the 5.6.7.8's (Tokyo Stiff, 1988) (Hana, 2003)
The 5.6.7.8's (Timebomb, 1994)
Teenage Mojo Workout (Timebomb, 2002)
Tanukigoten (Timebomb, 2014)
Run Run Run (Timebomb, 2026)
EPs
Mondo Girls A-Go-Go (1989)
I Was a Teenage Cave Woman !!! (Tokyo Karate, 1991)
Bomb the Twist (Sympathy for the Record Industry, 1996)
Pin Heel Stomp (Timebomb, 1998)
Pretty Little Lily Can Dance No More 7" inch/CD EP (Deckrec, 2002)
Singles
"Ah-So"/"She Was A Mau-Mau" (Giant Claw, 1992)
"I Need A Man"/"Long Tall Sally" (Planet Pimp, 1993)
"I Walk Like Jane Mansfield"/"Cat Fight Run" (Estrus, 1993)
"Edi Is A Sweet Candy"/"Teenage Head"/"Scream" (Rockville, 1993)
"The Spell Stroll"/"Roadrunner" (Weed, 1995)
"Bomb The Twist"/"It's Rainy" (Sympathy For The Record Industry, 1996)
"Continental Hop"/"Jump Jack, Jump" (Time Bomb, 1997)