Mikeru On Japanese Music Today

Although my overall feelings for AAA are fairly neutral, I volley between loving and hating their music with every other single they put out. It's almost uncanny how they keep reeling me in with a completely fun and fresh eurobeat pop dance track, and then scaring me away with their next strangely shrilly, off-tempo, eurobeat-jackhammer dance track. Still, AAA's distinctive style makes them consistently interesting, and compels me to at least listen to every release they put out. Their latest Choice is Yours is a mini album from only the five male members of the group. Although the group has recorded "boys-only" and "girls-only" tracks before, this is the first time AAA has divided out by gender for an album, and the resultant release is more different than expected.

Singer Crystal Kay (23) has been given her first regular role in a television drama series. She will appear in NTV's "Hidarime Tantei EYE," which is scheduled to premiere on January 23.

"Hidarime Tantei EYE" started out as a one-episode special in October, but the network decided to develop it into a complete series for this winter. The show stars 16-year-old Hey! Say! JUMP member Ryosuke Yamada as a junior high student who begins seeing visions after a corneal transplant, leading him to fight against a criminal organization.

Crystal Kay will play the part of Akira Kokusho, a genius hacker living in confinement. She already made her acting debut in Naoto Takenaka's movie "Yamagata Scream" earlier this year, but this will be her first time acting on the small screen.

Visual kei pop-rock duo LM.C have announced the release of their third album, called WONDERFUL WONDERHOLIC, for March 3rd.

WONDERFUL WONDERHOLIC is the group's second original album, successor of GIMMICAL☆IMPACT!!, which was released in November 2008 and was very well received by fans. It will go on sale in three editions, one regular and two limited. The type A will come with a DVD featuring digest footage from their performance at Nagano Kenmin Bunka Kaikan on December 25th, while the type B will come with a DVD including scenes from their one-man at Shinkiba STUDIO COAST on August 30th.

A special lottery ticket will be also enclosed in each edition. If sent back, they will allow each purchaser to concur to a special present from LM.C including goods from the new year. Members of the fan club will also be able to purchase a special box edition of the album, which, though much more expensive, will come with various goods, such as a hard cover booklet, a rubber ring set and more.

LM.C have also announced a new European tour for April, a little over a year since their last visit to the continent. Currently, the tour consists of eleven dates, starting in Moscow, Russia, on the 4th. It will take the band to Finland, Sweden, Germany, Hungary, Austria and France, before ending in Bochum, Germany, on the 18th.

Lastly, shortly after this European tour, LM.C will also embark on a nationwide tour across ten cities in Japan. It is set to kick off with two consecutive concerts at Shibuya C.C. Lemon Hall on May 4th and 5th and to end at Niigata LOTS on June 6th.

Mikeru On Japanese Music Today

Present : Arashi (SNSD) collection photo ^^

Girl rock trio Stereopony's fourth single Smilife is, true to its title, a bright and uptempo pop rock piece with plenty of spunky teen spirit. Written and composed by band vocalist AIMI, the energetic song draws fast lyrics and a positive message over a catchy melody and furious beats. The song is close in style to the girls' previous YUI collaboration single I do it, and should appeal to those looking for feel-good pop rock with a kick of youthful honesty and energy.

Side track Cupido follows in the same vein with a chirpy pop composition and clapping vigor. Though the song is standard fare, it's dressed up well with interestingly varied drum beats and well-timed sentiments. There is a bittersweet beauty to AIMI's atmospheric lyrics about young love and the last week of summer, and the song certainly comes at just the right time to connect with the heading-back-to-school crowd. Nagare Hoshi reaches a little further with abstract musings about life, loneliness, and growing up. The likable mid-tempo rock ballad has a clean, earthy sound, and though AIMI stretches a bit on high notes, overall her delivery is expressive and appropriate for the song's wistful sentiments. As a three-song package, Smilife captures youth at different emotional paces, and feels genuine and uplifting in its pop rock notes and bittersweet lyricism - being young and alive is something to smile about.

Stereopony's fast rise with their first two singles fueled talk of them being the next big band out of Okinawa, but without the anime tie-in, their following two singles have garnered less impressive sales. Either their curve is a lot lower than Orange Range and High and Mighty Color, or the best is still to come. Considering their young ages, cute looks, and upside talents, I choose to believe the latter.

Nakashima Mika made her debut with Stars eight years ago, and since then, whether coincidentally or otherwise, she has returned to the theme of stars in her music multiple times, including Will, Mienai Hoshi, and Orion. After last month's funky circus-inspired Candy Girl, Mika goes back to the ballad and to the stars for her newest single Nagareboshi ("Shooting Star").

Nagareboshi is the kind of soaring, emotional ballad that Mika has become known for, and this one has particularly sweet and melancholic lyrics about gazing at the same stars and wishing for love. The lyrics are simple yet touching, direct in sentiments: "Look up at the sky, hand in hand/I hope we see the same future." The soft and straightforward love song offers quite the vocal exercise though if you listen closely. The stately melody by Tanaka Yusuke seamlessly goes up and down the scale, jumping back and forth between low and high notes to bring out the song's emotional crescendoes. It is to Mika's credit that she covers the range so comfortably that one hardly notices the dramatic changes the melody softly traverses.

The single's B-side Memory, a collaboration with DAISHI DANCE, is as much a reason to get the release as Nagareboshi itself. Memory was included on DAISHI DANCE's wonderful album Spectacle, which was released last month, but for those who just want Mika's song then this single is the way to go. The lyrical English-language fusion number builds anticipation with a beautiful piano intro, then gradually adds house beats, additional arrangement, and finally Mika's vocals lilting out Lori Fine's dreamy, elegiac lyrics. Memory is a great track to couple with Nagareboshi, as the lyrics of the two songs almost seem to answer to each other.

This Week (1) Last Week (1)
# BUMP OF CHICKEN
# R.I.P. / Merry Christmas (Japan Version)
# R.I.P. / Merry Christmas (Japan Version)

This Week (2) Last Week (2)
# EXILE
# The Generation -Futatsu no Kuchibiru- (SINGLE+DVD)(Hong Kong Version)
# The Generation -Futatsu no Kuchibiru- (SINGLE+DVD)(Hong Kong Version)

This Week (3) Last Week (19)
# Tokyo Incidents (Tokyo Jihen)
# Noudouteki 3 Punkan (Japan Version)
# Noudouteki 3 Punkan (Japan Version)

This Week (4) Last Week (3)
# MISIA
# Aitakute Ima (Japan Version)
# Aitakute Ima (Japan Version)

This Week (5) Last Week (4)
# Superfly
# Dancing On The Fire (Normal Edition)(Japan Version)
# Dancing On The Fire (Normal Edition)(Japan Version)

This Week (6) Last Week (28)
# ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION
# Shinseki no Love Song (Normal Edition)(Japan Version)
# Shinseki no Love Song (Normal Edition)(Japan Version)

This Week (7) Last Week (26)
# Nishino Kana
# Dear / maybe (Japan Version)
# Dear / maybe (Japan Version)

This Week (8) Last Week (27)
# Kuwata Keisuke
# Kimi ni Sayonara wo (Jacket C)(Normal Edition)(Japan Version)
# Kimi ni Sayonara wo (Jacket C)(Normal Edition)(Japan Version)

This Week (9) Last Week (9)
# Hirai Ken
# Boku wa Kimi ni Koi wo Suru (Normal Edition)(Japan Version)
# Boku wa Kimi ni Koi wo Suru (Normal Edition)(Japan Version)

This Week (10) Last Week (5)
# YUKI
# Cosmic Box (Normal Edition)(Japan Version)
# Cosmic Box (Normal Edition)(Japan Version)

Info : Click Here

Namie Amuro's "PAST < FUTURE" was the top selling album this past week, with close to 331,000 units sold. At the age of 32, she has now become the first female solo artist to achieve #1 with an original album in her 10s, 20s, and 30s. She had three of them before her 20th birthday in 1997, followed by a couple more in 2000 and 2007.

Yusuke Kamiji had to settle for #2 on the charts with 167,000 copies, a little more than half of Amuro's sales. MISIA, Rina Aiuchi, and Thee Michelle Gun Elephant broke the top ten as well.

In singles, Masaharu Fukuyama's new song "Hatsukoi" captured first place with 151,000 in sales. The rest of the top ten was filled with fresh releases, from THE ALFEE, abingdon boys school, Buono!, Megumi Nakajima (as Macross Frontier character Ranka Lee), Yukari Tamura, The Birthday, and a sub-unit of Idoling!!!

BugLug, a new visual kei band formed by former Ruvie members, is scheduled to start activities in 2010, and their first release has already been confirmed.

BugLug have been arousing attention in the visual kei scene after a picture with the shadows of the members was released to various websites. Now, these members have had their faces unveiled, revealing their identity as former Cult vocalist Issei and ex-Ruvie members Yuu and Kazuki on guitar and bassist Tsubame.

The group have already announced the release of their first mini-album, titled SUPER NOVA, for January 27th. It will feature five songs and will be sold in two different editions, one including the music video of -7- and the other one featuring a bonus track, Mr. Alligator. Lastly, their first live has also been booked. It will be a free one-man at Shibuya club asia on March 6th.

Recently-formed visual kei band amber gris have announced the release of their second single, called Shoujo no Cuore, for March 24th.

amber gris managed to gasin attention by their line-up, which includes, most notably, ex-Ruvie vocalist Temari, ex-Sugar bassist koto and ex-gossip guitarist kaname. They held their first live on October 17th, where their first single, Joukou 8000ft -shounen wa tengoku e todoku no ka-, was sold.

No other information on Shoujo no Cuore has been released so far. However, the group has planned a series of three events in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya to promote the CD. Fellow visual kei bands Administrator and L'eprica ave already been confirmed as acts for all three days.

Today the announcement that KAT-TUN had been chosen for the New Year's "Decotomo★DX" CM (mobile greeting interchange) appeared and brought a surprise with it"

KAT-TUN's New Song 「THE D-MOTION」

The information also comments about gorgeous set, glittering clothes (including a surprise) and comedic acting. Broadcast will start December 25. CM already up for download in Japan in two versions.

The Japan Nite website has been updated, revealing more information about the 2010 tour. Among other details, the website confirms the appearance of Chatmonchy at next year's SXSW Music Festival.

South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual music and media festival held in Austin, Texas. The 2010 festival, scheduled for March 17-21, currently features more than 400 artists, with more to be announced. Several bands from Japan have already been revealed, including Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso UFO, Boom Boom Satellites, Caucus, Geeks >, and Maruosa.

The Japan Nite show at SXSW on March 19 will showcase female rock trio Chatmonchy, visual-kei band Dolly, electro artist Omodaka, all-girl punk trio Red Bacteria Vacuum], and young four-piece rock band OKAMOTO'S.

After that, Japan Nite will go on tour to six cities in the U.S. The dates are:
•March 21 - Bowery Ballroom - New York, NY
•March 22 - T.T. The Bear's - Cambridge, MA
•March 23 - Empty Bottle - Chicago, IL
•March 25 - Tractor Tavern - Seattle, WA
•March 26 - The Independent - San Francisco, CA
•March 27 - Viper Room - Los Angeles, CA

The bands on the tour will be Omodaka, Red Bacteria Vacuum, OKAMOTO'S, and garage rock band JinnyOops!, though the website mentions that some more bands will be added to the lineup.

Singer Takanori Nishikawa, most known as T.M.Revolution or as the vocalist of rock group abingdon boys school, has launched a new indies label called Defrock Records.

Nishikawa describes this label as a borderless way to deliver high quality music to the entire world. The first band signed to Defrock Records is Agitato, a four-piece unit who will release their first mini-album, COLORS, on January 20th.

Agitato, formed in 2004, goes by the slogan "Heavy Loud Emotional", mixing loud pop and rock music. The band was the opening act of an abingdon boys school event live at LIQUIDROOM ebisu in October this year, where they managed to catch the attention of the audience

Rock singer GACKT has unveiled more information about his upcoming single, set to hit stores on December 9th.

Setsugekka -The end of silence-/ZAN, as the single will be called, is a double A-side release which includes both tie-in songs for the upcoming Wii game "Sengoku Musou 3". The instrumental counterparts to both songs will also be featured on the CD.

It has also been announced that GACKT has chosen three members from popular Visual kei bands to be featured in the music video of Setsugekka -The end of silence-. These members will be Ni~ya from Nightmare on bass, TSUKASA from D'espairsRay on drums and Shun from DuelJewel on guitar. YOU, from his backing band GACKT Job, will fill the second guitarist spot.

Pop/rock singer Nanase Aikawa has scheduled the release of a new best-of album, called NANASE AIKAWA BEST ALBUM "ROCK or DIE", for February 16th.

2010 is the year when Nanase will celebrate the fifteenth anniversary of her debut as a singer, and this compilation will be released to mark this occasion. Twenty-eight of her singles, from her first, Yume miru shoujo ja irarenai, to the latest one, tAttoo, will be included on the album.

The album will be available in three version. The first one, a memorial version, will come with a 26-track DVD and a special T-shirt. The other two will consist of songs requested by her fans and will be sold in both CD and CD+DVD formats. Requests can be sent to this e-mail until January 6th.

Visual kei rock band Kra have announced their first best-of album, called Twinkle star BEST 2006-2009, scheduled to hit stores on February 24th.

Kra debuted in the visual kei indies scene in 2002 and quickly signed with the famous label PS COMPANY. In 2006, the band had their major debut with the single Heart Balance, and since then, their fanbase has only gotten stronger, with fans filling big venues like Shibuya C.C. Lemon Hall.

The best-of album will have a total of eleven songs, including most of their major singles. It will also include two indies songs, Toki no ressha and Extra Kingdom, which were released on two different mini-albums in 2006. Rekka, an unpublished song which only had its music video included in the 2008 PV collection Kraction, will also be included on the album.

Pop singer Mika Nakashima has planned the release of a new single, called ALWAYS, for January 20th.

ALWAYS, a song composed and written by Momota Rui, has been chosen as one of the theme songs of the upcoming movie "Sayonara Itsuka". The movie is scheduled to be released on January 23rd, only three days after the single drops.

BABY BABY BABY (with lyrics by Mika herself and music by Ryosuke ”Dr.R” Sakai) and SPIRAL (lyrics by Mika and Miyazaki Ayumi and music by RED-T) will both serve as b-sides. A special calendar design by the singer will also be available to those who purchase the first press of the single.

Veteran female group SPEED have a new live DVD called Welcome to SPEEDLAND SPEED LIVE 2009@Budokan scheduled to come out on December 30th.

As the title may suggest, this DVD will include footage from the group's performances at Nippon Budokan this past November as a part of the tour SPEED LIVE 2009 -Welcome to SPEEDLAND-. This was the first tour held by the group in six years, spanning ten cities on sixteen dates, attended by approximately 80,000 people.

The DVD will contain twenty-three songs, including a dance medley. Additionally, on the second disc, there will be a 45-minute documentary called Kaetekita yume and a special performance of [Oyasumi...] recorded in Kanazawa on November 1st.

TATTOO will be released on February 24th and will be the group's first release since Usubeni to ame, which was released in October. Besides the title song, the single will also feature the b-side Silhouette.

Beckii Cruel (center of image), the 14-year-old British dancer who rose to Internet fame in Japan by dancing to anime songs in net videos, is forming a girl band that will make its CD debut in Japan on February 10. "Beckii Cruel feat. Cruel Angels" will sing the classic pop song "Tsubasa o Kudasai" in Japanese.

Beckii Cruel will be joined in the new group by an 18-year-old French female college student named "Sara Cruel" (pictured at far right) from Lyon, and a 16-year-old British female high school student named "Gemma Cruel" from Portsmouth. Tokuma Japan will release the new group's CD.

As a resident of the Isle of Man, Beckii Cruel began posting videos of herself dancing to Japanese anime songs on the YouTube website in early March. By May, the videos had spread to the Nico Nico Douga website in Japan. As of October, the videos were seen over 3.3 million times.

Her Japanese debut DVD, This is Beckii Cruel, was released this month, and it debuted on Oricon's daily DVD chart at #8. She already performed at a stage event at the Tokyo otaku shopping district of Akihabara on October 25.

During the live performance Alice Nine announced that they will release their greatest hits album 'Alice Nine Complete Collection 2006-2009' on March 24th. They also mentioned that from March 22nd they will embark on a tour around 8 cities. Both announcements were met with shrieks of excitement from the crowds. All 8 performances will be held in small-size venues, so tickets will surely run out quickly.

Pop star Kumi Koda (27) has just started her 10th year since her debut, and she has already announced a new album for next year. In fact, it will be a combined release of her 3rd best album and 8th original album, appropriately titled BEST ~third universe~ & 8th AL "UNIVERSE."

The release consists of 2 discs: one is the 16-song collection "BEST ~third universe~" while the other is a new original album called "UNIVERSE." The latter is expected to contain 13 tracks such as "Lick Me" and her upcoming single "Can We Go Back," including 8 new songs.

The albums will be sold in a standard 2CD edition, a 2CD+DVD edition (expected to include 18 video clips), and a 2CD+chaku-uta edition (which lets the buyer download the chaku-uta versions of all songs on the original album).

BEST ~third universe~ & 8th AL "UNIVERSE" goes on sale on February 3, 2010.

On January 27th 2010 L'Arc-en-Ciel bassist and leader tetsuya will release a book titled 'tetsuya / L'Arc-en-Ciel'! In the book tetsuya will reveal untold stories about the band, and a collection of high quality photos will be included! It takes a closer look at the bassist from every possible angle.

tetsuya is the founder and undisputed leader of L'Arc-en-Ciel. One of the notable features of the book is an extensive interview article spanning 30,000 letters, complete with pictures taken during the discussion. tetsuya, who has been the driving force of the band, talks in detail about his childhood, how L'Arc-en-Ciel came to be, the steps and missteps leading to their breakthrough, and also his thoughts and philosophy about music.
Fans can look back at the band's history through live photos taken over the years. Photos of various instruments and picks used by tetsuya to create the many L'Arc-en-Ciel masterpieces are included too. The book will also come with reissues of all the interview articles that were published in 'Bass Magazine' from 1997 to 2007. Many other rare articles, such as bass scores written by tetsuya himself, have been included as well!

Himeichigo held their last live as a band at the live house 'Daikanyama Unit' in Tokyo. The band of five with their origins in Sapporo, Hokkaido had been playing together for the past five years and decided to quit their activities to pursue their individual futures from now on.



They played a full length concert in their usual style and the fans seemed to put just as much effort in their being as fans, as the band gave it's very best to have everyone enjoy the show fully.
However, during the second encore the band members took turns to express their feelings about their break up.

Ruka "Actually, I am only realizing bit by bit that this concert is going to be our last together as Himeichigo. Until now it still feels like we will go back to rehearsing next week just as usual. And don't get this wrong, we are really good friends still!"
Jin "With the music I wrote, the music we wrote as Himeichigo, we created something that's going to last, even if we are not together as a band anymore."
Rena "Even if we are going different directions from now on, it is only a change of 'shape'. We are still their as people!"
Jun "We have discussed this a lot and this decision has been made so we can pursue our own future from now on."
Suzuya "Thank you for all your support. Please look out for us and our next projects and please keep supporting us, with whatever we do in the future."

All tickets had been soled out and the hall was packed with fans, but also with members of other bands, like Kouki from D=OUT or Yasuno and Keiyuu from Kra who showed their respect by attending this final performance of Himeichigo.

With a touching show, the band said their farewell to their fans and ended the night with lots of tears, but also with hopes for yet more to come from the individual band members. It has already been announced, that vocal Suzuya, and both guitarists Jun and Rena will be starting a new project together in 2010

In 2004, alicenine. was founded by Nao, ex-Fatima, Saga, ex-Delta Ark who invited Shou, Tora and ex-Gibbs. They are now performing under the concept of compromise between the East and West.
The band name is "アリス九號." because of the pop and cynical sound of Alice, the power of Nine in Ommyodo and strength of the letter 號.
All of the members were great fans of LUNA SEA and X-JAPAN. They said their influence was the main reason to start their bands' activity.

Tora
Part: Guitar
Favorite brand store: GUCCI
Blood type: O
Birth date: Sep 17th
Height: 182cm
Weight: 70kg
Foot size: 27.5cm
Fragrance: Burberry
My future & enthusiasm: make 2006 the Alice Nine Year.

Saga
Part: Bass
Favorite brand store: NCYHAIT/abx
Blood type: AB
Birth date: Jun 24th
Height: 175cm
Weight: 55kg
Fragrance: DOLCE&GABBANA
My future enthusiasm: Work when its work. Rest when its time to rest.

Nao
Part: Drums
Favorite brand store: PATRICK COX, RUPERT
Blood type: A
Birth date: Jun 31st
Height: 170cm
Weight: 53kg
Fragrance: BVLGARI BLACK, BVLGARI BLUE
My future enthusiasm: So crazy, I choke on my enthusiasm. So fired up, wish me luck.

Shou
Part: Vocal
Favorite musician:LUNA SEA, KORN, Atari Teenage Riot, The Used, MUSE
Blood type: O
Birth date: July 5th
Height: 177cm
Weight: 58kg
Shoe size: 26cm
Fragrance: BVLGARI BLACK
Hobby: game, looking for rags, coffee
My future enthusiasm: I wanna be an artist who have good influence to my fans. I'll do my best!!

Hiroto
Part: Guitar
Favorite brand store: Velvet Lounge, John Lawrence Sullivan
Favorite musician:NINE INCH NAILS, Red Hot Chiri Peppers, Clammbon
Blood type: O
Birth date: May 4th
Height: 166cm
Weight: 51kg
Shoe size: 26cm
Fragrance: No
Hobby: clothes, movie
My boom: soccer
My future enthusiasm: Make a band with strong faith and bond!!

Alternative rock & electro group school food punishment will be releasing their 4th Sony single on December 2nd. The title song “light prayer” is the theme song to the theatrical anime “Eden of the East: I The King of Eden.” Limited edition includes a bonus DVD with a music video and a live footage of “sea-through communication. The single will feature three songs total. Covers and tracklist to be announced soon.

Centered around the performer HIRO; MATSU, USA, MAIKIDAI, and vocalist SASA gave birth to a vocal and dance unit in 1999. With their major record label debut, they released such songs as "Follow me," "D.T.B. (Do The Basic)", and "Fly away," which represented their personal perspective of the world. Their appearance as performers was captivating and never stopped to fascinate the audience.
However, vocalist SASA's decision to increase his activity as a songwriter led to his parting ways wtih the group in 2001.
To replace the departed SASA, ATSUSHI and SHUN joined the group as the new vocalists. ATSUSHI had demonstrated his strong talents on an audition program, although being beaten in the final round. SHUN was the winner of vocal contests held by a local television station.
With the addition of these two powerful vocalists, the group was reborn as a six member vocal and dance unit with the twin vocalists ATSUSHI and SHUN, and performers HIRO, MATSU, USA, and MAKIDAI. WIth the increase in their expressive powers, the unit changed their official group name to "EXILE."

HIRO / HIRO (Performer) Born_06-01
MATSU / MATSU (Performer) Born_05-27
USA / USA (Performer) Born_02-02
MAKIDAI / MAKIDAI (Performer) Born_10-27
ATSUSHI / ATSUSHI (Vocals) Born_04-30
SHUN / SHUN (Vocals) Born_01-11

BREAKERZ is a band which consists of DAIGO, a popular vocalist, AKIHIDE, a guitarist who plays delicate pitch sounds and shows unique performances on stages, and SHINPEI, a guitarist who performs aggressively and powerfully. With the very first album 『BREAKERZ』on July 2007, they have been actively involved in release events and live tours. The 5th single『Bverlasting Luv／BAMBINO～バンビーノ～』released on April ranked in the 2nd on the Oricon Chart, and a new single 『光』/Hikari released on July 15 was made out of their love to fans who have supported them. Tickets of 7 shows in 6 different places of the Zepp tour held on December last year were all sold out, and they also finished their Japan tour (10 shows in 9 places) successfully. Now BREAKERZ celebrates their 2nd year on July and will perform at Nihon Budokan, a dream stage for them.

Vocal：DAIGO
Guiter：AKIHIDE
Guitar：SHINPEI

"Complete magic... When we connect with the audience and we are all feeling the beat together -- it's just magic -- there is no other feeling as special as that." - Miho Wada

A Japanese family living in New Zealand once hired a piano teacher for their daughter. When it turned out that he was actually a flute instructor, young Miho Wada began a musical journey that would eventually take her around the world. With influences ranging from Anime theme songs, traditional Japanese music and Cuban salsa, Miho Wada has crafted a unique international sound around her passionate flute playing.

Now joined by her bandmates Colin Hunter, John McNab and Tala 'Ofamo'oni, she is following up the release of "The Traveller" and "Traveling Bugs and Talking Shoes" early this year with their first Japanese Punk Jazz album "Postcards to Your Bed" and plans to perform at next year's SXSW in Austin, Texas.

So come take a listen to the music and story of Miho Wada and learn the answer to a most curious riddle: What animal once tried to steal her hat on the way to school?

On November 27, 2009 Miho Wada was kind enough to give an interview to Andrew from J-Pop World. All photos courtesy of Miho Wada.


Let's start from the beginning. Can you tell us about your original hometown of Miyazaki, Japan, and what it was like there growing up?

Miyazaki is such a beautiful place, right by the sea surrounded by palm trees... I went back to visit a few years ago and I was totally shocked by how beautiful the place still is. I had forgotten how colorful it was. I have never yet been to anywhere else in the world so colorful. The green of plantation is the greenest I have ever known and the blue sky, sea and big yellow and red flowers make the place almost like a paradise.

People usually think of Japan as a busy place like Tokyo and Osaka, but the countryside living of Miyazaki is very different to that of the city life. The pace of living is so much slower and the local dialect (people from outside Kyushu wouldn't really understand) is very unique, strong and musical. After school we used to go to the beach, biking along the little passageways between the rice fields and strawberry farms as short cuts and spending all afternoon playing or swimming.

Do you have one or two other memories that stand out from those days?

My primary school was located on a small hill in an area called Kibana. There were 3 wild monkeys living on that hill in the bush and it was actually quite scary going to school everyday because monkeys really liked the hats that children wore to school. They would jump down from the trees onto our backpacks (randoseru) and try to take away our hats. It was compulsory to go to and from school in groups so that if the monkeys come and attacked we could try and scare them away!

How did you first get into music?

I started having music lessons at the Yamaha School of Music at age four, but I started singing my own songs as soon as I could speak. I used to sit on the toilet every morning and sing my own "made up" songs until?you know? So that's probably as young as 2 years old or so. My songs apparently were really terrible but very funny. Cousins used to listen to me outside the bathroom door and giggle. So I suppose it was always in me to write music and sing songs.

Your life took a major change when your family moved to New Zealand. Tell us about that change and how it affected your life.

It all happened very quickly. In 1995 throughout the season my father was watching the yacht race called America's Cup. He was so impressed with this country with such a small population (compared to Japan!) that won the cup title against the big team from America. Team New Zealand had ran out of the money before the final race and the team captain Sir Peter Blake had to fly home to fundraise by selling red socks. On the team's return to New Zealand there was a big parade where everyone was wearing these red socks they had bought to support team New Zealand and show their support by wearing these socks on the parade. My father was so moved by the whole event, people, the victory, Sir Peter Blake, everything -- he really wanted to be part of them.

So moving to New Zealand seemed the natural thing to do. My father wanted to become part of the people in the other part of the world, so I suppose it is scary for some people to move and start a new life, but for me it was so exciting to meet these people who shared the same love that my father had. I still remember my father telling me about his ideas and plans floating in the sea in Miyazaki while we were body-boarding waiting for the waves.

Were you always being raised in a bilingual household?

Not at all. I didn't speak any English when my father thought of moving to New Zealand. In fact none of us spoke more than "high school book" English. First year of living in New Zealand was a bit hard, trying to communicate and trying to make friends in a country where people spoke a different language. Though the best thing about this was that my family was bonded so strongly through trying to help each other in the new country, we became a much tighter unit than while we were in Japan going about our usual business.

Your globetrotting would continue when you made the decision to move to London to attend the Trinity College of Music. Tell us about that decision.

I was actually looking for a piano teacher when I arrived in New Zealand and found a teacher through an advertisement in the newspaper. Though when he turned up at our house, he happened to be a flute teacher. There was a moment of awkwardness, but my father had a flute that he had tried to learn many years ago. So I had my first flute lesson on an old flute, in broken English, with an amazing teacher called Tony Ferner. I started playing the flute purely by accident but fell in love with it immediately so that I couldn't stop playing all day all night.

After a few years of learning the flute, there was a guest performer and teacher from London, a principal flute player from the London Symphony Orchestra. Through my teacher's recommendation I was able to have lessons with Paul Edmund Davies and he was so encouraging and enthusiastic about my playing that it inspired me to go and study with him in London.


What type of music were you developing during your college years?

I have always loved Latin music and Japanese music. At the Trinity College of Music in London I met a guitarist called Noel Billingsley, who was half Japanese and spoke with an Osakan accent. We started a flute and guitar duo and we used to play all the Japanese hit songs we sung as kids and also spent afternoons jamming Bossa Nova, Brazilian songs, Tango, Latin standards etc?We became the most "booked" function band in the whole college and we played at many castles, palaces, headquarters of companies and so on. It was amazing to find someone who had a similar cultural background as mine, being lost in the big city London, then playing music together in these old historical English buildings.

Tell us about the first year you began writing and performing music as a professional.

This year is actually the first time I am performing my songs in public! I have always had melodies in my head and I would play that during a background gig or during solos, but I never thought I could do this ?performing my own songs worldwide!!

Nigel Kennedy actually spotted me playing my tunes on flute and he was very encouraging about it that I had thought about starting my own band and playing my music in 2003, though I was still too young and lacked confidence. I needed to go and play for many bands and polish my skills first.

Before the end of college I had a professional job playing for the National Orchestra of Malta in Valletta. I was so proud of myself for achieving the goals of becoming a professional orchestral player, though within a few months I had realized that was not what I was destined to do! It was so terrible losing directions and I was not so sure what to do next. I naturally went back to Trinity College of Music to finish my studies (which I am so grateful for them being so flexible) and taught music lessons until I finally found the Cuban rhythm.

At this point I don't think our readers will be surprised to learn that you again made a major move in your life in 2008. Can you tell us the story of how you discovered "the Cuban rhythm" and why you decided to travel to Havana?

Going to Cuba was definitely the most significant trip that I have ever made. One day I was watching TV in London and saw the Buena Vista Social Club film. I was in tears. I was in love. I had to go to Cuba and learn their songs. I bought all the recording of the Buena Vista Social Club I could find and learnt to play all the trumpet solos.

A few months later I flew from London to Havana to join a summer school in Havana. As soon as I arrived in Havana I was overwhelmed with all the music coming from all corners of the city. I had coaching from the Sierra Maestra and Buena Vista Social Club players. The whole experience was just so amazing and I was totally in love with Cuban music that I had to go back to spend a longer time living within their music.

Six months later, I left my teaching jobs, session work, all the bands I had been playing for, my flat in London, everything... and arrived in Santiago de Cuba with an intention to learn it all.

What memories stand out from your studies in Cuba?

I thought I was going to die on the streets of Santiago de Cuba. As soon as I arrived, 5 cyclones came to hit us within 3 weeks. I had grown up in Miyazaki with many typhoons every summer so I did not think I would be scared of cyclones, but you are not safe in Cuban homes in the way you would be in Miyazaki homes. The rain went through the roofs, wind blew away homes, people were evacuated and the streets flooded with water. It was so seriously dangerous.

But at the same time it was the most beautiful event ever. Without electricity, telephone, television, facing danger and possible death, all you have is your friends and families. We all gathered under the strongest roofs and played music and sang songs in the candlelight. I will never forget the happiness and warmth in my heart from those days in the middle of 5 cyclones.