Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Kaoru (born February 17, 1974, in Hyōgo) is a Japanese musician and leader and one of the guitarists of Dir En Grey. He has been with the band since its inception in 1997 and was previously a member of La:Sadie"s. He has composed most of Dir en grey"s songs (at least up to the Vulgar album, at which individual credits for the music were dropped). His contributions display a fair amount of variety, ranging from slow ballads such as "Zakuro" to upbeat numbers like "Jessica". He performs many solos for the band, which vary strongly in feeling and tempo, similar to his compositions. Kaoru uses guitar amplifiers by Diezel and cabinets by VHT.