Kinoko Teikoku—whose name roughly translates to Mushroom Empire—was a Japanese shoegaze/dream-pop band fronted by former actress Chiaki Sato. ∙ Formed in 2007, the band first achieved national recognition in 2013 with their My Bloody Valentine-influenced EP Long Goodbye, which briefly charted in Japan. ∙ The group signed with EMI in 2015, going in a more pop-oriented direction with their major-label debut, Neko to Allergy. ∙ They reached the Japanese Top 20 for the first time in 2016 with Ai no Yukue, which hit No. 19. ∙ Kinoko Teikoku wrote and recorded the theme song for 2016’s Her Love Boils Bathwater, an award-winning indie film directed by Ryōta Nakano. ∙ Time Lapse, the band’s final album before their 2019 breakup, was their most successful release, peaking at No. 14 in Japan.