<figure id="attachment_294067" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-294067" style="width: 2592px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="de3b6bdb"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/02/DT_1251.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-294067" class="wp-caption-text">Makoto Ayukawa&#8217;s smiling face at the altar with his Les Paul in his hand</figcaption></figure>
 On February 4, a &#8220;rock funeral&#8221; for Makoto Ayukawa, guitarist of Sheena &amp; The Rokkets, who passed away on January 29 at the age of 74, was held at a funeral home in Tokyo. The funeral hall was quite small because the temple that was scheduled to be the site of the funeral was canceled and the service was changed at short notice. However, the room was quite small, as it had been canceled by the temple that was scheduled to be the site of the funeral, and was decorated with colorful balloons and flowers around the portrait of a smiling Mr. Ayukawa holding a Les Paul, and posters of Sheena &amp; The Rockets were pasted around the walls. In another room, Ayukawa&#8217;s favorite guitars and stage clothes were displayed, and his own rock numbers, which he had selected before his death, were played loudly throughout the building.
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 Before the condolences from 4:00 p.m., three of his beloved daughters held a press conference, with mourner Yoko, the eldest daughter, saying, &#8220;My father played Les Paul at his live concert.
 Yoko, the eldest daughter and the chief mourner, said, &#8220;My father was the coolest guy in the world when he played the Les Paul at live shows, and I think he was really happy that his fans loved him so much.&#8221;
 He was loved by his fans and was very happy. The condolences were attended by about 900 people, including Tetsuya Komuro (64), Akira Emoto (74), and Tadanobu Asano (49), as well as Ryo Ishibashi (66), vocalist for the rock band ARB, which led the &#8220;mentai rock&#8221; movement in Hakata, also in Fukuoka Prefecture, and Ryo Kurokawa, a member of the rock band Kodomo Bando, who used to hold frequent joint concerts. Vocalist and guitarist Tsuyoshi Nojiji (65) of the rock band Kodomo Bando was also present. Before the public arrived at 5:00 p.m. to pay their respects, a line formed to the nearest station, Daita Station, and the sidewalk was filled with fans dressed in black rock style.
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 A 56-year-old man who traveled from Kitakyushu City for today&#8217;s memorial service said, &#8220;I was in my first year of high school.
 When I was in my first year of high school, I went to my first live concert at an outdoor concert held at Meinohama Seaside Park in Hakata. It was raining heavily, and Mr. Ayukawa appeared with his band &#8220;Sun House,&#8221; which he was a member of before forming &#8220;Sheena &amp; Rockets. That day, &#8220;Kodomo Bando&#8221; and &#8220;Southern Aust Stars&#8221; stood on the same stage. Mr. Ayukawa was so cool that I got goose bumps. The following year, I happened to bump into Mr. and Mrs. Sheena Ayukawa at the Chuo-machi shopping street in Yawata. I happened to have an autograph pen with me and asked Mr. Ayukawa to sign the jeans I was wearing. He smiled and said, &#8220;Can I write it here? and he wrote it for me. Mr. Ayukawa is an eternal hero of mine.
 His eyes were moistened. When asked what she wanted to tell her fans, Yoko said, &#8220;My father was a rock star until the end, until he died.
 My father said he would rock until the end, until the day he died, and I think he was right. The fans really supported me, and I really appreciate their support because they love Sheena &amp; The Rokkets so much.
 He spoke. About 3,100 mourners were in attendance, and the line did not end even at 8 p.m., the closing time of the event. Makoto Ayukawa&#8217;s rock spirit will remain with his fans forever. Gassho.
<figure id="attachment_294068" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-294068" style="width: 1728px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="67621a6f"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/02/5f56def10aa411876abd23ec09b6a203.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-294068" class="wp-caption-text"> Tadanobu Asano, who was so close to Mr. Ayukawa that he posted a photo of him and Mr. Ayukawa on his Instagram. He was dressed in a rock suit with safety pins all over his body.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_294069" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-294069" style="width: 1319px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="5d5f823a"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/02/45907aaaf530964320a2e196d8ff4648.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-294069" class="wp-caption-text"> Ryo Ishibashi, an old friend from the Hakata Mentai Rock days, looked mysterious from start to finish.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_294070" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-294070" style="width: 1728px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="90f1b651"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/02/DT_1414-rotated.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-294070" class="wp-caption-text"> Akira Emoto, who was the same age and based in Shimokitazawa, was a close friend. He told the people concerned, &#8220;I&#8217;ll walk home because it&#8217;s so close.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_294071" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-294071" style="width: 2062px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="c679a2d9"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/02/525e6bb07c5b00879afef65810968234.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-294071" class="wp-caption-text"> For Diamond☆Yukai, Mr. Ayukawa was his &#8220;brother Makoto.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_294072" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-294072" style="width: 1289px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="5035b422"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/02/621a4f0cc0ce9f5d1bc5acc800767ca1.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-294072" class="wp-caption-text"> Tsuyoshi Ujiki, who had stood on the same stage with Mr. Ayukawa many times, had a hard look on his face.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_294073" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-294073" style="width: 2592px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="2b02a44c"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/02/DT_1279.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-294073" class="wp-caption-text"> From left to right, the mourners: Yoko, the eldest daughter, Junko, the second daughter, and Chiketuko, the third daughter.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_294074" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-294074" style="width: 2592px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="1b289471"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/02/a6d422d6e4758c47d5a43a1997f1fec6.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-294074" class="wp-caption-text"> The line of mourners stretched from the funeral site to the nearest station, Daitabashi Station.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_294075" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-294075" style="width: 2592px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="b3a838fd"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/02/DT_1266.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-294075" class="wp-caption-text"> Mr. Ayukawa&#8217;s favorite guitars.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_294076" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-294076" style="width: 2592px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="7a22de4b"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/02/DT_1241.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-294076" class="wp-caption-text"> Mr. Ayukawa&#8217;s favorite motorcycle.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_294077" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-294077" style="width: 2592px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="90517baa"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/02/DT_1273.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-294077" class="wp-caption-text"> Posters on the wall of the funeral hall, and records and CDs lined up by the wall.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_294083" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-294083" style="width: 2592px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="c1be3064"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/02/DT_1245.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-294083" class="wp-caption-text"> Sheena and Makoto Ayukawa in their day</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_294084" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-294084" style="width: 2592px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="0c795934"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/02/DT_1320.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-294084" class="wp-caption-text"> Mr. Ayukawa was really cool.</figcaption></figure>

 Yuri Adachi

 On February 4, a "rock funeral" for Makoto Ayukawa, the guitarist of Sheena & The Rokkets, who passed away on January 29 at the age of 74, was held at a funeral home in Tokyo. The funeral was canceled by the temple that was scheduled to be the site of the funeral, and the service was changed abruptly.

Tetsuya Komuro, Tadanobu Asano, Ryo Ishibashi, Akira Emoto&#8230; People gathered at the &#8220;rock funeral&#8221; of Makoto Ayukawa of &#8220;Sheena &#038; Rockets

Tetsuya Komuro, Tadanobu Asano, Ryo Ishibashi, Akira Emoto… People gathered at the “rock funeral” of Makoto Ayukawa of “Sheena & Rockets

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