Sunday, July 11, 2004

>> A Closer Look at BEGIN

BEGIN (ビギン) is comprised of three members who are all from Ishigaki Island (石垣島) and friends since grammar school. The trio have been nicknamed as the “Takeuma no Tomo (竹馬の友)” group. The members are: Eishou (also written as Eisho) Higa (比嘉荣昇) on vocals, sanshin, guitar (b. 7/15/1968), Masaru Shimabukuro (島袋 優) on guitar, chorus, ichigo-ichie (b. 9/23/1968), and Hitoshi Uechi (上地 等) on keyboards, chorus (b. 6/23/1968).

THEIR first noted appearance as a group took place in 1988 when they performed for a friend’s wedding party and was discovered by an owner of a live house (nightclub) who invited the group to regularly perform on stage. In 1989, the group appeared on the TBS (Tokyo Broadcasting System which is one of Japan’s major TV stations) show “Heisei Meibutsu TV Ikasu Bando Tengoku” (『平成名物TVいかすバンド天国』).

THE group’s real (as in their recording) debut took place in 1990 with the release of their Teichiku Entertainment, Inc. single “Koishikute” (『恋しくて』 CARC-36 and rereleased in 2003 as a maxi-single TECN-10901), which was used as an image song for Nissan Motors. “Koishikute” is still one of their most well-known songs and one that I love singing whenever I go karaoke. ;) It should be noted that they debuted as a band whose style was more bluesy rather than the shimauta (which came almost 10 years later) that they’re currently known for and they can be categorized as J-pop music.

BEGIN’s “comeback” arrived in the year 2000 — 10 years after their debut — with cameos on the hit NHK morning drama serial “Churasan” (『ちゅらさん』 due to the popularity of the show, a third series has been added that will air this year). It could be said that they were in the right place at the right time because the year 2000 also marked their entrance in the shimauta genre of music with their album release “Begin no Shimauta: Omototakeo” (『ビギンの島唄 オモトタケオ』 TECN-20647) and more importantly, the release of the song “Nada Sou Sou” (『涙そうそう』 TECN-12613 which was covered by Hawaiian music recording artist Keali´i Reichel on his album “Ke´alaokamaile”).

“Nada Sou Sou” would also launch the career of fellow Ishigaki islander Rimi Natsukawa (夏川りみ, 30) who released the song (VICL-35238) in March of 2001. The song became a hit throughout Japan and she would later perform on NHK’s annual Kouhaku Utagassen (『紅白歌合戦』Red & White Songfest) which is known for only inviting the year’s most popular artists. The lyricist for the song, folk singer Ryoko Moriyama (森山良子, the music was composed by the group), would also release the song as a b-side to her single “Satoukibi Batake” (『さとうきび畑』MUCD-5003) in December of 2001. (Her son Naotaro has become a famous J-pop singer with his single “Sakura”, so that song seems to bring fortune for all of the parties involved with it.)

2002 saw their shimauta-inspired song “Shimanchu nu Takara” (『島人ぬ宝』TECN-12877) featured as the image song for NHK Okinawa’s “Okinawa Hondo Fukki 30-shuunen (沖縄本土復帰三十周年)” and later in the same year the group would make their first appearance in NHK’s Kouhaku.

IN 2003, the group took a large step as musicians with the release of the Ichigo-Ichie (一五一会), a hybrid between a sanshin and a guitar, made by established Japanese guitar maker Yairi Guitars. The philosophy behind the instrument is to make it very simple so that anyone can learn to play it without any prior knowledge of music. The body of the four-stringed instrument has a very unusual shape and I’m sure that Masaru (and Eisho) will be performing with it at the festival.

SINCE their debut with Teichiku in 1990, the group has released 8 singles, 11 maxi-singles, 11 original albums, 2 shimauta albums, and 1 best of album. In 1992, the group left Teichiku for BMG Funhouse and recorded 3 singles and 3 albums before returning to the Teichiku label in 1997. Currently, they belong to Imperial Records (part of the Teichiku Entertainment, Inc. group) and will be releasing a CD+DVD this month called “Reef Line” (TECI-1068, July 14th), and a maxi-single called “Chikai” (『誓い』TECI-65) on August 11th.

ALSO performing with BEGIN at this year’s Okinawa Festival in Honolulu, will be the Shisars. I’ll have more about the female duo in a future entry.

Thursday, July 01, 2004

>> Guess Who’s Coming to Honolulu?

Nifee to Isaac Hokama who let us in on the latest scoop regarding this year’s Okinawan Festival (September 4th and 5th) — BEGIN, yes, that BEGIN, will be performing for us this year! Isaac recently visited Okinawa to meet the group (hence the above pic) and he so graciously emailed us with a few pics of the group. (The pic below is of Isaac and Dazz [who is the current kenpi recipient representing Hawaii].)
I’ll post more as the date draws nearer, but needless to say, I’m totally stoked about this news.

Wednesday, May 26, 2004

>> Wedding bells for another Okinawan J-pop star

Ex-SPEED member Eriko Imai (20) has announced her plans to marry SHOGO (24), vocalist from the J-pop group 175R (Inago Rider), according to a notice from her official website (dated 5/10). The couple, who met through a friend more than a year ago, are expecting their first child in the autumn. Eriko joins fellow Okinawan J-pop star YUKINARI from DA PUMP who is also expecting a child this year. Wow.

Tuesday, May 04, 2004

>> Coco d’Or

Coming off of a successful live performance in Seattle for this year’s Sakura-Con 2004 (an anime convention) has given hiro (SPEED) the confidence she needs to move forward with her latest project: Coco d’Or. The Coco d’Or project, featuring hiro as a jazz singer, will introduce her fans to a mature (she turned 20 this year), sophisticated artist. The cover album will feature jazz standards such as “Fly Me To The Moon” and “Lullaby of Birdland” and is set to be released on the 26th of this month.

Monday, May 03, 2004

>> New Artist of the Year: Orange Range

Congratulations to Orange Range who were one of the winners of the 18th annual Japan Gold Disc Award’s New Artist of the Year! In winning this award, Orange Range (they sing the theme song “Michishirube∼a road home∼”, from the Fuji TV drama Fire Boys) joins these other Okinawan artists Kiroro (13th), DA PUMP (12th), SPEED (11th), and BEGIN (5th). Let’s hope they win the Artist of the Year award next year!

Thursday, April 29, 2004

>> More Details on YUKINARI’s Marriage

A bit more info regarding YUKINARI’s (25) marriage made it in today’s news wire. It seems that his wife, Miho Kobayashi (21, her stage name was Natsu Nishida), is six months pregnant and that he has vowed to show a strong performance as a new father for DA PUMP’s upcoming single, “GET ON THE DANCE FLOOR” (to be released in Japan on 5/12) and their Summer tour which begins in July. Natsu Nishida was a gravure idol and she also tried her hand at womens pro wrestling before retiring in April of last year.

Wednesday, April 28, 2004

>> YUKINARI Getto!

Congratulations to YUKINARI (Yukinari Tamaki, 25) of the popular dance group DA PUMP, who got married to ex-talento Miho Kobayashi (21)!

Saturday, January 17, 2004

>> OLIVIA’s new album “The Lost Lolli”

OLIVIA will be releasing a new album “The Lost Lolli” on Wednesday, February 18. This will be her second full-length album in 3 years and will include an English version of “Sea me”, a live arrangement of “Into the Stars”, and the Lost Lolli Mix for the song “SpiderSpins”. “The Lost Lolli” will have 13 tracks with a limited release first pressing special jacket for Tower Records Japan. OLIVIA’s latest release is “The Return Of The
Chlorophyll Bunny” which was released on the 3rd of December last year. As is with all Avex releases, “The Lost Lolli” will be a CCCD.

Sunday, November 30, 2003

>> SPEED’s new album “BRIDGE” now available

On November 27th, the 4-member J-pop group known collectively as SPEED released a new album called “BRIDGE” (Avex). Their last original album was 1999’s “Carry On my way” (Toy’s Factory) which was the group’s 3rd album. “Carry On my way” was followed by a 2-disc collection of theirs called “Dear Friends” in 2000, and thereafter the members went their separate ways. In December 2001, the group reunited to record a (now out-of-print) single and live album which was recorded during a charity event that aided the victims of the Hanshin earthquake. The group reunited again in 2003 for another charity event yet this time, they stayed together. The result is the album “BRIDGE” which pulled out all of the stops by inviting top songwriters such as Tsunku (Hello Project), CHARA, Tommy february6 (a.k.a. Tomoko Kawase from the brilliant green), and of course, Hiromasa Ijichi.

Wednesday, September 24, 2003

>> New Uehara Takako Kabegami and Screensaver

Uehara Takako (SPEED), the current image girl for Shiseido’s Proudia line of cosmetics, has a new kabegami (wallpaper) and screensaver. Both kabegami and screensaver are available for Windows PCs or Macs. Happy downloading!

Sunday, September 21, 2003

>> Namie’s new single “SO CRAZY”

Everybody’s favorite J-pop diva Amuro Namie will release a new single (AVCD-30504) called “SO CRAZY” (coupled with the song “Come”) on Thursday, October 16. The single will be her 25th since going solo and the 3rd single released so far this year (the others are “shine more” [2003.3.5] and “Put ‘Em Up” [2003.7.16]). She will also begin her nationwide tour from November 29th (2003) to March 26th (2004).

Saturday, September 13, 2003

>> OLIVIA’s “Comatose Bunny Butcher”

With the September 12th release of OLIVIA’s (ex-D&D) latest CD-single “Comatose Bunny Butcher” (CTC1-14271) — her 2nd J-indies single release — we find her slowly solidifying the transition from pop star to underground artist. Her last gig with D&D as a peppy J-pop star compared to her new image as a grungy J-indies star is quite a big leap but one that fits her as well as the song titles included with the current single: 1) Celestial Delinquent, 2) 026unconscious333, 3) 57Sto R M03(*R wa Hanten), 4) Devil’s in me, 5) Bliss Forest. The first single, “Merry & Hell Go Round” (CTC1-14270) — don’t you love these titles — was released on June 27, 2003 and that was preceded by a brilliant English version self-cover album called “Internal Bleeding Strawberry” (VECD-89141) released back in February of this year.

OLIVIA is without a doubt, one of the more interesting artists to watch because she’s doing something totally against the norm which has been and remains J-pop music. Whether by personal choice or by management decision, I think OLIVIA’s finally found her true calling, and the evidence can be heard through her emotionally filled singing. Interestingly, it seems as if her J-indies releases are only being sold through Tower Records Japan who have been supporting Japanese indies artists for quite some time now.

Here’s hoping that she’ll remain underground yet find a fan base that keeps her (as well as her management company) happily headed in this direction.

Wednesday, September 03, 2003

>> SPEED’s Be My Love

The members of SPEED are back together again for another charity event — yet this time they have an official website open as well as a brand-spankin’ new single called “Be My Love”.


The single was released on August 27th from the Avex record label and is coupled with the song “Shuka”. “Be My Love” is the image song for the charity project the group is involved with called Save the Children. When at the group’s new website, the 30 second PV clips for the song are worth checking out.

>> LOVE SCREW

The latest CD-single from MAX is called “LOVE SCREW”. The single was released on August 6th and contains four tracks:

1) LOVE SCREW
2) Don’t Call Me
3) LOVE SCREW (Instrumental)
4) Don’t Call Me (Instrumental)

Sunday, July 20, 2003

>> hiro’s new single and site renewal

hiro (formerly of SPEED) has a new single called “Ai ga Naiteiru” (AVCD-16038 ¥1,000) which will be released on Thursday, July 24th. The single contains 5 tracks: “Ai ga Naiteru”, “Ningyo no Koi”, “LOVE IS SHOUTING OUT” (an English version of the title track), and instrumental versions of the first two tracks. This is hiro’s first single since turning 19, and is her 10th overall single since SPEED disbanded. Her official Avex site has been renewed to commemorate the upcoming release of her new single.

Saturday, July 12, 2003

>> Namie Amuro as hot as ever

Namie Amuro will be releasing a new single called “Put ‘Em Up” on Wednesday, July 16th. With a total of two songs (the second song is yet unnamed) and two instrumental versions, the title song “Put ‘Em Up” looks to be in the same category of hip-hop as her stint in SUITE CHIC (one of my top albums of the year in the J-pop category).


Namie proves that she has the power needed to remain at the top of the J-pop scene. Her official site renewal shows that she has fully regained all of her trademark image and then some — a far cry from her comeback to the scene after taking a one year maternity break.


She’s definitely as hot as ever.

>> AKINA’s 2nd solo release and site renewal

Continuing with the J-pop news…

AKINA’s new single “One wish” is her second since going solo from her group Folder 5.


The single features the songs “One wish” and “Without you” and two instrumental tracks.

AKINA’s official Avex website has been renewed to reflect the release of her new single.

>> DA PUMP site renewal and new single report

As part of Avex’s (DA PUMP’s record label) ongoing new single/album release = site renewal phase, DA PUMP’s website has been updated with a new look.


The single, “Night Walk”, is the group’s 18th and it not only marks their 7th year in the J-pop scene but also their first job as producers.


“Night Walk” is a maxi-single and has a total of eight tracks with four of them “Back Tracks” or karaoke versions of the first four tracks of the disc. The songs on the disc are: “Night Walk”, “Sound of Bounce” (the opening theme for the TV anime “Dear boys”), “Stay with me”, and “Make it hot”.

On a similar note, ISSA (the lead singer of DA PUMP) has his own official Avex website over here.

Sunday, June 29, 2003

>> J-pop new releases for the month of July 2003

• 2nd: Eriko Imai’s “Butterfly” (AVCD-16040) with the themes of the song being “Skies”, “Dreams” and “Voyages”.
• 9th: DA PUMP’s 18th single “Night Walk” (AVCT-30075) marks their 7th year in the J-pop scene.
• 9th: Folder 5 alumni AKINA’s 2nd single “One wish” (AVCT-30076).
• 16th: “Put ‘Em Up” (AVCD-30467) — Namie Amuro’s follow-up to “shine more” (released on March 5, 2003). Produced by Dallas Austin.

Friday, June 27, 2003

>> Eriko Imai’s new single and official website renewal

Eriko Imai (ex-SPEED) has a new single called “Butterfly” which is set to be released on Tuesday, July 2nd. The song will be coupled with “Can U feel me?” and two instrumental tracks. Her official Avex website has been renewed to reflect her upcoming single.

Thursday, June 26, 2003

>> Takako Uehara FinePix Wallpaper

Takako Uehara (ex-SPEED member) kabegami (wallpaper) for Fuji’s FinePix cameras. There are three different ones to choose from with screen resolution sizes of 800x600 and 1024x768.

Thursday, May 15, 2003

>> An online interview with Amuro Namie (from 2000)

While gathering information for a future post on the history of J-Pop stars from Okinawa, I stumbled upon an online interview between Time (magazine) and Amuro Namie from the year 2000.

“Japanese pop diva Namie Amuro grows up”

It’s an informative interview done at one of the most important points of her career — the year she made her comeback (from a year off for the birth of her son) to the J-Pop scene, the sudden death of her mother, and her appearance at the G-8 summit on Okinawa.

Monday, May 12, 2003

>> Kiroro Wallpaper Available

Kiroro kabegami (wallpaper) is available for a limited time (until May 18) at ARSOA’s site. The duo (of Chiharu & Ayano) are the new image characters for ARSOA’s cosmetic products, and they have an online diary up on the site as well. The kabegami is only available for download in a screen resolution size of 1024x768. Enjoy!

>> Save the Children SPEED LIVE 2003

Who didn’t like them? Who wasn’t heartbroken when they heard the group was breaking up? Guess, what? No, they’re still pursuing their solo careers, but they are getting together this year for a special cause — Save the Children 2003.

Since going their separate ways in March of 2000, the members of SPEED (Eriko, Hiro, Hitoe, and Takako) will be getting together for the first time in two years. In 2001, the group got together and recorded a special CD-single called “One More Dream” as well as a concert album called “SPEED Memorial Live”.

For their 2003 live show, the group will be doing 14 shows in 7 different locales with the first show coming up on October 1st in Osaka. The tour is being billed as Save the Children SPEED Live 2003. It’s for a very worthwhile cause so if you’re in Japan during this time, you’re in luck (i.e., please don’t miss it).

Sunday, May 11, 2003

>> Kuninaka Ryoko CD Single Debut

I know I’m kind of late on this one, but Kuninaka Ryoko (Ryouko) has debuted as a singer with her first single having been released on April 25th.


The single is called “Ryukyu (Ryûkyû) Moon” and was used as the theme song for NHK’s “Churasan 2” — a drama in which Ryoko plays the role of Eri, the show’s heroine. Ryoko’s single is released by indies record label, Matrix Records (if you can find their website please leave me an email or a Yuntaku - nifee) with the music written by O-Pop star Miyagi Mamoru. The single contains two tracks “Ryukyu Moon” and “Tooku de…”, and is priced at Yen 1,050 (tax included).

Tuesday, May 06, 2003

>> Folder/Folder 5 to release two CD box sets

One of the last groups to come over from Okinawa’s famous actors school is the J-Pop group Folder/Folder 5. The group began as Folder about six years ago with the release of their debut album “The Earth”. The group’s lineup featured a boy lead singer and six background dancers (all but one of them was a boy).

Daichi, the lead singer, was the first to branch out into a solo career with limited success. Next came Folder 5, the group sans to the two little gentlemen (the other was Joe — nifee to J-Fan for their foresight). This group (of Akina, Arisa, Hikari, Moe, & Natsu) proved to be a greater success than Daichi’s solo attempt and the group has gone on to hold the torch for the past six years.

Of course, what’s another group without another member branching out into a solo career (see my earlier entry on ISSA from DA PUMP)? Folder 5 cutey AKINA has gone to test the waters of the finicky J-Pop listening community.

There’s no doubt that she certainly is one of the cutest of the five, but judging by the lackluster acceptance of their sempai, SPEED, and their attempt at solo careers, the road to fame is long and winding.

So, after six years, two solo career starts, a name change (adding the “5” after “Folder” does count, doesn’t it?), and a member change drop, they have two CD box sets (“Folder/Folder 5 Complete Box” & “Folder/Folder 5 Single Collection”) that will be released concurrently on June 25, 2003.

The complete box spans the groups’ six years in the J-Pop scene and will contain a mix of 8 CD/DVD and will retail for Yen 15,000. The CDs included are: “The Earth (Complete Version)”, “7 Soul (Complete Version)”, “Hyper Groove 1 (Complete Version)”, “Five Girls (Complete Version)”, and “Hyper Groove Party”. The DVDs are: “Folder Clips”, “Hyper Groove Clips”, and “Hyper Groove Clips 2” (which was just released 2003.3.19). Also included are 80 trading cards. The single collection will sell for a modest Yen 3,000 and will contain 15 tracks from the “tensai shonen” period to the current “shojo yunitto” period.

>> Say Hi to HY

I’ve posted an entry over at the main site’s i-O Blog about the J-Pop group HY. This group from Yonashiro (Okinawa) is making a big splash in the J-Pop scene with two indies released albums.

Friday, April 11, 2003

>> Hajime Chitose’s 4th single

Hajime Chitose’s 4th single entitled “Sen no Yoru to Sen no Hiru” (ESCL-2410, Epic Records) is set to be released on Wednesday, June 11. The song is being used as a CM (commercial) song for Marocha 120 and is produced (he also penned the words and music) by Ueda Gen who is responsible for her hit song (and major label debut) “Wadatsumi no Ki” from 2002.2.6.

The single will contain 3 tracks, one from regular contributor Eric Mouquet from the group Deep Forest called “Hakuya”, and a yet untitled track. Her previous single, “Kono Machi”, was released on November 7 of last year and was used as a theme song for the popular NHK morning serial drama “Manten”.

Links:
Official Site
Epic Records Japan site
Sony Music Online Japan site
My Chitose Hajime Fan Site (Note: it’s in the process of being renewed so it doesn’t contain any up-to-date news on Chitose.)

Friday, April 04, 2003

>> ISSA to make his solo debut

ISSA, lead singer from the popular group DA PUMP, will release his solo debut single “PLAY, THIS, SATISFY” on April 23rd. A full album will follow with a release date of May 21st, called “EXTENSION”.


No word on whether or not the group will be disbanded, but being as ISSA is the lone vocalist (the others perform as background singers/dancers/rappers) of the group, what else could this mean? Perhaps his label (Avex) is testing the waters to see if he can stand (or “swim”) on his own.

With the exception of the group SMAP (and to a smaller extent TOKIO), boy bands/groups don’t last that long, anywhere (Backstreet Boys or *NSYNC anyone?). They could follow SPEED’s example and have each member go on to semi-popular solo careers (so far anyway), or stay together a la SMAP or TOKIO despite side “projects” of the more popular group members.

My hope is that they’ll stay together, but who knows, this (i.e., if they disband) may be a good thing. Discuss?

Friday, March 28, 2003

>> Uehara Takako Desktop & Screen Saver

Now available from Shiseido Japan are desktops and a screen saver featuring ex-SPEED member Uehara Takako for their “Proudia” line.

Note: the site is only available in Japanese. The desktop comes in three sizes, and the screen saver is available for Mac or PC. Happy downloading!