SAN FRANCISCO—Pushed by a strict but empathetic professor, the drummer of popular rock band Radwimps plans to restart his musical career that was derailed by a neurological disease.

Satoshi Yamaguchi, 40, has been on hiatus from the group since 2015 after developing dystonia, which caused involuntary muscular contractions in his right foot and made it impossible for him to properly step on the pedal for his bass drum.

He has studied the disease in the academic world and jointly created a voice-operated drum for his musical comeback.

Yamaguchi said he was inspired by people in Silicon Valley.

“Those who I met in Silicon Valley gave me a lot of love,” Yamaguchi said. “I’m grateful more than words can say.”

FROM CONCERTS TO RESEARCH

Formed in 2001, Radwimps quickly soared to popularity, particularly among the younger crowd. The band’s production of music for such animated feature films as megahit “Your Name.” heightened the group’s fame, leading to sold-out shows in both Japan and overseas.

Yamaguchi, however, took leave from the group after the dystonia symptoms worsened. He joined Keio University as a visiting researcher and started studying the disease among musicians.

Through his work, he gained an opportunity to have lunch with Takako Fujioka, 57, an associate professor of music at Stanford University specializing in brain functions.

At a “tonkatsu” (deep-fried pork cutlet) restaurant in Tokyo in 2023, Yamaguchi told Fujioka about his experience. The neuroscientist shed tears and said how sorry she was for him.

Yamaguchi decided to go to California, where Fujioka works, to continue his research.

He attended an English language school near San Francisco in autumn that year while visiting Fujioka’s lab at Stanford.

She was tough on Yamaguchi when teaching him how to act like a researcher. She told him to engage in more academic conversations and refer to papers and theories to express his ideas instead of talking on a whim.

All of Fujioka’s students are musicians who design instruments and develop software.

After repeated exchanges, Fujioka suggested to Yamaguchi that he create a system that would allow him to play the drums again.

Although caught off-guard by the idea, he decided to give it a shot.

Fujioka held a computer-related job before she felt that she had hit a wall. She switched careers and became a brain-wave researcher in her 30s.

That was why Fujioka emphasized to Yamaguchi the importance of putting all of his energy into a field to which he could channel his passion.

She also advised the musician to narrow the purpose of his research to, for example, finding a cure or other reason.

Yamaguchi took a personal approach.

He had recorded the stress he felt when he experienced symptoms, and he used those feelings as “data.”

“He put his experiences into words and was exploring ways to study them somehow,” Fujioka recalled. “At the same time, it might have helped Yamaguchi’s rehabilitation.”

REGAINING THE FUN

Yamaguchi got further inspiration for his project from Roy Hirabayashi, founder of San Jose Taiko, a Japanese-American drumming group, and his wife PJ, both of whom helped him rediscover the fun of music.

After seeing San Jose Taiko perform live, Yamaguchi visited the band members at their rehearsal space.

Hirabayashi gave advice to Yamaguchi on playing the “taiko” drums.

“I said, ‘I don’t want you to think like a Western drum player. I want you to start from zero,’” she said.

She said she also urged Yamaguchi to feel a spiritual tie with the traditional Japanese instrument.

“The way that I teach is really becoming aware of the universe and Mother Nature, energy, wanting him to really feel that connection by having a drum that’s made out of wood and animal hide,” she said.

Yamaguchi, who hadn’t played the drums for a long time, found it exciting and regained the happiness of playing music.

He also noticed that Hirabayashi and other performers shouted out something like “don-pa-don-pa” just before hitting the drums.

That further inspired Yamaguchi to develop the voice-operated bass drum.

Hirabayashi said she noticed a change in the Radwimps drummer.

“He was just so open and wanting to learn,” she said. “He is crediting us for changing his life. We could also see it. There was some kind of shift in the way and his enthusiasm.”

Yamaguchi continued holding discussions with Fujioka and other experts.

In December, he unveiled the drum set he jointly developed with Yamaha Corp.

The instrument uses a sensor that detects the voice of the player to vibrate the bass drum and produce the sound.

“I want to play music with the members of Radwimps again with a smile on my face,” Yamaguchi said. “I believe this epoch-making technology can lead me to that future.”

While hoping to make a comeback as a musician, he intends to finish a paper he has been working on for four years.

He also plans to move on to a Ph.D. program to continue his research.