About Us

	Megumi Matsumae Guitar, Vocals Age: 24 Height: 5' 8" Blood Type: AB
	Satoshi Sato Drums, Vocals Age: 22 Height: 5' 6" Blood Type: O
	Yasuko Omigawa Bass, Vocals Age:22 Height: 5' 3" Blood Type: O

Cousins Satoshi Sato and Yasuko Omigawa, both born in Tokyo, spent their early childhood in Japan. Satoshi's father is the brother of Yasuko's mother. Satoshi's father and Yasuko's father were good friends who worked at the same company, and this friendship led to Yasuko's parents meeting. Satoshi and Yasuko grew up together and were more like brother and sister than cousins.

When Satoshi was five years old, his father was transferred to America, where his company was starting a subsidiary. The little cousins did not want to separate, and on the morning when Satoshi's family was supposed to depart to America, Satoshi and Yasuko ran away. However, it didn't take long for their parents to find them as they knew they would head to their favorite spot--a local park nearby. They found them sitting under a tree, holding hands. Satoshi cried all the way to the airport.

Seven years later, Yasuko's family followed them to America as Yasuko's father was also transferred. The reunion between Satoshi and Yasuko was a bit awkward at first. Satoshi was now more American than Japanese, but any unfamiliarities that sprung up due to time and distance quickly dissolved from a bond renewed.

Megumi Matsumae was an older girl in Yasuko's neighborhood in Tokyo. Megumi's father had--troubles. Her father eventually left her, leaving Megumi to grow up with her mother and grandparents. Nobody ever talked about what those troubles were, but the other kids avoided Megumi. Except for Yasuko. Yasuko gravitated towards Megumi after Satoshi left.

Megumi was cool. She didn't care what anybody said, especially adults. Somewhere along the line, Megumi stopped going to school. Yasuko never asked about it, but she gathered that it was because of Megumi's financial situation. They did not have a lot of money. Megumi's family ran a small street shop selling snacks, drinks, magazines, and cigarettes, and Yasuko would often stop by after school and hang out with Megumi while she manned the shop.

When Yasuko was seventeen, her family spent the summer back in Tokyo. Yasuko spent the entire summer hanging out with Megumi at the shop. It was then that she learned that Megumi had picked up the guitar. She bought a cheap secondhand Legend guitar for 5000 yen. Megumi would play for her the songs she was working on. They were awful. But they completely captivated Yasuko.

When Yasuko returned to America, she decided that she would learn to play the bass. With her encouragement, Satoshi also decided to learn to play a musical instrument--the drums. Throughout college--both Satoshi and Yasuko attend the University of Maryland, Satoshi majoring in International Business and Yasuko majoring in Finance--they had fitful attempts at forming a band. They never quite found a guitarist that they meshed with. At least that was the case with Yasuko. Satoshi never had an issue with any of the guitarists. He suspected that a part of her was always holding out for her friend.

After they graduated, both of them decided that they wanted to take a gap year in Japan. Both of their parents were against it, as they harbored the suspicion that Satoshi and Yasuko just wanted to goof off for the year, but they convinced them to let them do it with the reasoning that they would spend the year reconnecting with their Japanese heritage, learning Japanese (as they had forgotten a lot of it--and in the case of Satoshi, pretty much all of it), and also look after their grandmother. Throwing in the grandmother card sealed the deal, and their parents agreed to their plan, with the stern caveat that both had better be fluent in Japanese when they returned.

Yasuko was ecstatic. She immediately called Megumi to tell her the news, and they proceeded to formulate a plan to form a band and to play all the clubs in the Tokyo area. Megumi suggested the name The 3Represents, after some meaningless convoluted theory from some past Chinese president. Satoshi simply shrugged his shoulders. Why not? He just wanted to goof off for a year and have some fun.

This is their story.

"We're as real as you want us to be" -- the 3Represents