Hound Dog is a Japanese rock band formed in 1976 that is centered around Kohei Otomo. Examples of popular songs include “ff (Fortissimo)” (1985) (Japanese: 「ff（フォルティシモ）」 Hepburn: “ff (Forutishimo)”), “Only Love” (1988) and “BRIDGE~When crossing the bridge~” (1992) (Japanese: 「BRIDGE〜あの橋をわたるとき〜」 Hepburn: “BRIDGE~ano hashi wo wataru toki~”). During the second half of the 1980s the band boasted a tremendous effort of touring Japan with a series of live performances. Beginning with the latter half of the 1990s they entered a sort of recession, which was since 2005 accompanied for a while by vocalist Otomo wanting to separate from other band members in order to pursue a solo career. This ultimately developed into a lawsuit throwing the band into a state of confusion. As of 2018, Otomo is now but the only actual member left in the band.