Yoshihiro Naruse, born November 13, 1949, in Tokyo, started as an electric guitarist before switching to bass in college. In 1972 he joined the significant early-1970s Japanese rock band Carmen Maki & OZ, and by 1981 had established himself as a solo bassist, becoming known as one of the pioneers of the slap bass technique in Japan across a run of records including Mythtique (1981), Bass Bawl (1982), and Base Metals and Bassquake (both 1983).

His connection to Casiopea predates his membership by over a decade. In 1977, he judged the EastWest amateur music contest in Saitama that Casiopea competed in as an unsigned high-school band, the same contest at which Issei Noro won Best Guitarist. In 1990, when bassist Tetsuo Sakurai left the band alongside drummer Akira Jimbo, Naruse — already an established player they'd known for over a decade — joined as Casiopea's new bassist, continuing through the band's later evolution into Casiopea 3rd, whose lineup also includes keyboardist Kiyomi Otaka from 2012. Naruse and Otaka are the only two members of that later lineup who arrived with an established solo career already behind them.

Naruse's pioneering role in Japanese slap bass reflects a rhythmically percussive, funk-informed approach to the instrument, distinct from the more melodic fusion-bass style associated with his predecessor Tetsuo Sakurai — a real stylistic shift in Casiopea's rhythm section following the band's 1990 lineup change.