Unison Square Garden drummer Takao Suzuki to depart after July 15 show

Takao Suzuki’s 22-year run as Unison Square Garden’s drummer will end after one last show, and the date is already fixed: July 15 at Makuhari Messe International Exhibition Hall in Chiba. That performance, billed as “Sentimental Period,” will close out the band’s current lineup and send the group into hiatus, turning a single concert into a farewell for one of Japanese rock’s most durable rhythm sections.

The band’s announcement made clear that Suzuki will depart after the Makuhari Messe date, with the current configuration ending immediately afterward. Unison Square Garden also asked fans not to direct inquiries to the members or management and not to spread speculation or harassment online, a sign of how emotionally loaded the news has become for a fan base that has followed the trio for more than two decades.

Kosuke Saito later explained that the three members had spent several years trying to find a way to keep going as a trio, but that the band’s direction and Suzuki’s individual artistic goals no longer lined up. Rather than force a split on bad terms, the group chose to suspend activities, leaving the door open for a future with new members after the current era closes.

For drummers, Suzuki’s departure lands as more than lineup churn. He has been one of the three core members since Unison Square Garden formed in July 2004 with Saito on vocals and guitar and Tomoya Tabuchi on bass. His playing has been part of the band’s identity since its major-label debut in July 2008 with “Sentimental Period,” a song title that now carries a second layer of meaning as the name of the farewell live show.

The timing makes the announcement hit harder. Unison Square Garden marked its 20th anniversary in 2024 with its first best-of album and a commemorative show at Nippon Budokan, then kept the momentum going with the double A-side single “Uruwashi / Azalea no Kaze” in January 2026. A live video release is also set for June 24, 2026, which means Suzuki’s exit comes during a busy anniversary-era run, not after a long silence.

That’s what gives July 15 real weight. It is not just the end of a drummer’s tenure, but the final night of a stable three-piece chemistry that helped define Unison Square Garden’s punch, lift and snap for 22 years. When Suzuki plays that last show at Makuhari Messe, it will mark the close of a long-running chapter that fans will remember as the end of the band’s original engine.