Billboard Japan
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On Billboard JAPAN’s “Niconico VOCALOID SONGS” 2024 mid-year ranking, announced on June 7, Yoshida Yasei’s “Override” took the top spot. This chart tracks the popularity of Vocaloid songs on Niconico, ranking the top 20 based on data such as the total number of plays, the total number of videos, the number of comments, the number of likes, and other figures, multiplied by coefficients developed by Billboard JAPAN. Chart results have been published on a weekly basis since December 7, 2022.
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Sasuke Haraguchi’s “HITO Mania” took the No. 1 spot on the “Niconico VOCALOID SONGS TOP20” for the first time on September 20, 2023, keeping its position for 18 consecutive weeks, a new record for the chart. This had a huge impact on the Vocaloid scene. However, on the January 24, 2024 chart, “HITO Mania” was dethroned by Yoshida Yasei’s “Override,” failing to reach the 19 week mark. What’s important to note is that while jon-YAKITORY’s “Konton Boogie,” Sasuke Haraguchi’s “Medicine,” and nbaji’s “Sukina Souzai Happyou Dragon” then took the number one positions, “Override” made a comeback, claiming the number one position once more. This is a testament to the song’s tremendous momentum. It combines a catchy, distinctively Vocaloid, unforgettable melody with lyrics that can be taken as lampooning society itself, taking the position that there’s no way to know what lies beneath the things people say. The music video, featuring Kasane Teto, makes quite the impression, packed with net memes. The popularity of “Override” also got a boost from derivative works.
◎Yoshida Yasei’s “Override”
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Not only have there been changes in the sound of Vocaloid songs, but also in the voice synthesis software used to make them. For example, KAFU, which was released as CeVIO AI voice synthesis software in July 2021, was based on the voice of KAMITSUBAKI STUDIO’s virtual singer KAF, and its use became a major trend starting in 2021. The Niconico VOCALOID SONGS chart has included Tsumiki’s “Phony” (2021), Hiiragi Magnetite’s “Marshall Maximizer” (2021), and Iyowa’s “Kyu-kurarin” (2021), all of which feature KAFU. In addition to Yamaha’s VOCALOID, there is now a growing range of voice synthesis software, including VOICEROID, CeVIO AI, and Synthesizer V. This wide selection has led to more diverse music.
The mid-year chart for 2024 has been taken by storm by songs featuring Kasane Teto in particular. There’s Yoshida Yasei’s “Override” (No. 1), Sasuke Haraguchi’s “HITO Mania” (No. 2), Sasuke Haraguchi’s “Medicine” (No. 3), 32ki’s “Mesmerizer” (No. 6), nbaji’s “Sukina Souzai Happyou Dragon” (No. 7)… The chart is top-heavy with songs that use Kasane Teto. A major reason for this boom is the commercial release of Synthesizer V AI Kasane Teto on April 27, 2023. This voice synthesizer, which can produce more human, realistic vocals, began as an April Fool’s hoax: in March 2008, users on the 2channel message board announced the creation of new Vocaloid software named “Kasane Teto.” Coincidentally, the free UTAU voice synthesis software had been released in March of the same year. With UTAU, it was possible to use the voice of Mayo Oyamano, who provided the fake vocals for the prank, as a voicebank. With this, Kasane Teto was launched as an “official” voice synthesizer. As if to celebrate the 15th anniversary of this serendipitous beginning, the chart for the first half of 2024 is packed with Kasane Teto songs, whether made using the Synthesizer V version or the UTAU version.
Listening again to the songs in the chart, a few other interesting commonalities spring up. The first that stands out is the way that net memes and common phrases are sprinkled throughout. For example, these include “Override,” whose video appears to be a homage to Surii’s “Telecaster B-Boy,” “HITO Mania,” which takes a poke at modern society using familiar, cut-and-pasted expressions, and “Konton Boogie,” which includes the nostalgic 2000’s meme “What is that? Does it taste good?” From the early days of the Vocaloid scene until around 2015, lyrics were often direct, telling a story, as can be heard in ryo’s “Melt” or Scop’s “Irony.” However, in recent years, Vocaloid songs have had a growing tendency to use metaphors, symbolism, and difficult lyrics. We live in an age in which the things that people say are often taken in isolation, divorced from their context, shared and spread, and interpreted in unintended ways. Perhaps this is what is behind the new trend of Vocaloid lyrics becoming strings of abstract expressions. In the comments, people provide various interpretations, attempting to unravel the messages lurking within these abstractions. The massive hit “HITO Mania” typifies this, with deep lyrics that can be seen as skewering society, carried by a clipped audio backing. Its lyrics bear wide room for interpretation.
◎Sasuke Haraguchi’s “HITO Mania”
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The Vocaloid scene, which sprang from Niconico, is very welcoming to all kinds of derivative works, such as dance and vocal covers. “Sukina Souzai Happyou Dragon” took the No. 4 spot in the Neta Kyoku Tokosai (“Joke Song Festival”) category in VocaColle 2023 Summer. Parody comics and art by artists like the manga creator Sakamegane caused it to trend on X (Twitter), and its popularity exploded. User-generated content now holds the key to becoming a hit, and in some cases creators themselves actively encourage the creation of derivative works. For example, in the comments of his video “Override,” Yoshida Yasei provided tips for creating derivative works. nbaji wrote in the description box of his own videos that derivative works and parody songs were welcome. Moves such as these have accelerated the sharing of the songs. The killer tunes of the Vocaloid scene aren’t just the product of high musical quality, but involve various interwoven factors, including derivative works.
The chart for the first half of 2024 features many unique songs with the unique passion and individuality so typical of Niconico. It will be one to remember and it’ll be interesting to see what kinds of new killer tunes will one day dethrone them.
—This article by Mio Komachi was planned for publication in June 2024, but Niconico service was suspended due to a cyberattack, and is instead being published in September 2024
Grammy-nominated music producer TOMOKO IDA spoke with Billboard Japan for its Women in Music interview series, featuring female players in the Japanese entertainment industry. The WIM initiative in Japan launched in 2022 to celebrate artists, producers and executives who have made significant contributions to music and inspired other women through their work.
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One of the few female music producers in Japan and abroad, TOMOKO IDA co-produced the first track “obstáculo” on Puerto Rican music producer Tainy’s debut album DATA in 2023, which was nominated for Best Música Urbana Album at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards. As the first Japanese woman to be nominated for a Grammy as a music producer, TOMOKO IDA shared her thoughts on why female producers are in the minority in the music industry.
How did you become a music producer?
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My mother was a music teacher and I took piano and dance lessons since I was six years old. When I was in the second or third grade, the (J-pop) dance and vocal group ZOO was popular, and I became interested in 90’s hip-hop and new jack swing. I also longed to go to New York after watching music videos and dreamed of working in the U.S. someday. Time passed and I began DJing, then a few years later, I started performing as a beat maker using a MPC in a two-woman duo. It was rare to see women performing with a sampler at the time, and people were excited to see our shows when we performed overseas. When it was time to find a job after college, I considered working for an ordinary company, but my mother said, “Why not do music?” and encouraged me, so I chose to work part-time and focus on making beats.
Why did you decide to become a music producer rather than an artist that performs in front of an audience, even though you debuted in a duo as a MPC player?
Performing live with a sampler and DJing requires flexibility and instant response on the scene, but I have always loved making things and am better at taking my time to create something. Plus, I hadn’t heard of too many female music producers, so I wanted to spearhead it. By 2016, I started to focus more on producing.
You’ve produced music for famous J-pop artists such as AI, Daichi Miura, SixTONES, and EXILE TRIBE, as well as music for fashion advertisements. Could you tell us what you do as a music producer?
I sense that the definition of a music producer has been changing with the times, and it’s also different from country to country. In Japan, the definition seems to refer to people who produce everything from the concept and selection of members [of an idol group], like Yasushi Akimoto and Tetsuya Komuro, but in the U.S., if someone makes a track, then that person is often called a music producer. In my case, I’m often asked to produce music by artists who’ve already established their careers, so as a music producer I try to produce music that will make those artists shine brighter.
A lot of the songs you produce for Japanese artists are powerful. Do you think there’s a difference in the ideal image of women in Japan and America?
It does feel different depending on the country. For example, I have a feeling Japanese men find fragile women attractive. Maybe that’s why there are lots of songs and lyrics that lean towards that direction. But in the U.S., powerful women are more popular.
You accomplished an extraordinary feat in becoming the first Japanese female producer to work on a Grammy-nominated album. From your position, do you have any thoughts on how things could be improved to make it easier for women to work in the industry?
I still think it’s necessary for forerunners [like us] to pave the way. For example, in Japan’s hip-hop scene, Awich is currently leading the way and doing well as a female rapper. I think opportunities for women will expand if there are more people like her, so I’d also like to do my best as a music producer to make it easier for more women to follow suit. I’d like to see more Japanese people go out into the world because in the community of producers and songwriters in L.A. where I currently live, there are very few of us compared to other Asians.
The skills required for both performing with a sampler and being a music producer don’t seem to be too demanding in a physical sense, so why do you think there aren’t too many women in these fields?
It’s said that female producers make up less than 3% of the total even now. We use machines and computers, so maybe people think it’s mechanical and science-oriented. I don’t think it’s a hard job for women to do, but there are so few women that people seem taken aback to see me in the studio. I also seem to surprise people in a good way for my skill, because apparently Asian women look young for their age.
What advice would you give to yourself in the first year of your career?
I’d say, “Keep making music.” It’s not always easy to get your songs chosen when working as a music producer. Even when you’re personally offered an opportunity, only a few of the songs you write will make the cut. It might seem like a glamorous world, but it takes quite a bit of quiet dedication and you just have to keep at it.
What are your next goals?
I was able to become a Grammy-nominated producer, so I want to become a Grammy-winning producer someday. I don’t know when that will be, but I’ll continue to make music toward that goal.
—This interview by Rio Hirai (SOW SWEET PUBLISHING) first appeared on Billboard Japan
Mrs. GREEN APPLE’s “Lilac” returns to No. 1 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100, dated Sept. 11, logging its second week atop the chart.
The track debuted at No. 11 on the chart dated Apr. 17, and after rising to No. 3 the following week, it coasted along in the top five and reached No. 1 for the first time on the July 17 list. Streaming and downloads for the Oblivion Battery opener increased this week, leading to rise in overall points. Downloads are up 117% and streaming up 102% from the previous week.
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RIIZE’s “Lucky” debuts at No. 2. The seven-member group’s first Japan single topped sales with 250,470 copies sold in its first week and entered the chart fueled only by this metric.
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GEMN’s “Fatal” rises to 15-3. The Oshi no Ko Season 2 opener debuted at No. 21 on the chart dated July 10 and peaked at No. 8 the following week. The release of the CD version powers the track by the duo consisting of Kento Nakajima and Tatsuya Kitani to its highest position yet. Downloads for the song are up 142%, streaming up 101%, radio airplay up 428%, and karaoke up 108% week-over-week.
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Mrs. GREEN APPLE has another song in the top five this week, with “familie” rising two notches to No. 4. The three-man pop band appeared on the music program With MUSIC on Sept. 7, which probably helped boost all metrics except radio.
Kocchi no Kento’s “Hai Yorokonde” climbs five rungs hit No. 5 to enter the chart. The multi-talented creator recently appeared on the popular YouTube channel THE FIRST TAKE, which led to a rise in streams (109%).
LE SSERAFIM’s “CRAZY” soars 67-8. Streams for the track is up 393% this week because it was released on Aug. 30, giving it only three days to count towards its debut week.
The Billboard Japan Hot 100 combines physical and digital sales, audio streams, radio airplay, video views and karaoke data.
See the full Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart, tallying the week from Sept. 2 to 8, here. For more on Japanese music and charts, visit Billboard Japan’s English Twitter account.
Billboard‘s International Power Players list recognizes leaders who are driving the success of the music business in countries outside the United States. Among the leaders selected from various countries in the music industry, Amazon Music’s Keisuke Oishi was chosen for the first time in 2024. To commemorate this, Billboard Japan interviewed Oishi about his focus since being appointed to his current position in January 2023.
First off, could you tell us a little about your career?
Keisuke Oishi: The two key words in my career have been “IT” and “media.” Through the synergy of these two areas, I’ve been taking on the challenges of providing various innovations to customers.
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I joined Sony Corporation after graduating from university. At Sony, I worked in areas like supply chain management, finance, business administration, and business strategy for the PC/IT businesses. Then in 2014, I moved to Amazon, where I’ve been involved in the media business ever since. At Amazon, first I was responsible for the launching of digital video games in the retail division. In 2017, I was appointed head of the software business unit on top of video games. And two years later, I went on to be concurrently responsible for the packaged music business unit, so I’ve been involved in music since around 2019. Then, in January 2023, I was appointed Director and General Manager of Amazon Music Japan.
So you haven’t been in the music industry for your whole career.
Oishi: That’s right. But music has always been a very important part of my life, so it was a role I wanted to challenge one day. Amazon, on the other hand, is a company that places importance on what innovations can be made using technology while always keeping the customer first. That approach was the same before I got involved in music, and it remains the same today.
What have you been working on since January 2023?
Oishi: In my current position, I have three key tasks that I hope to contribute to the music industry, the artists, and our customers. The first is to expand the base of music listeners in Japan, and the second is to help customers enjoy music in new ways. Streaming services are for listening to music, but Amazon Music and Amazon have many points of contact that connect customers and artists. The third, and I think this is a challenge the entire Japanese music industry is facing, is to provide support for Japanese and other Asian artists as they expand their reach around the world.
There are various types of Amazon Music memberships, and you’ve made multiple improvements for those.
Oishi: We are always focused on creating the best experience for all Amazon Music customers. The level of streaming music penetration is still very low in Japan compared to the US and EU countries. But, looking at it another way that means it still has a lot of potential. According to LUMINATE’s data, music streaming has the highest levels of usage among Gen Z and Millennials. That means there’s room for growth among older generations. This is a challenge that the entire industry is facing. These are people who were once really into music, but due to work and lifestyle changes, they’ve disengaged. That’s true for my own generation, so I’ve been thinking about how we can make music a part of these people’s lives again. Our services aren’t limited to music streaming, but also CD and DVD purchasing and video streaming. We have a lot of different touch points like those, so we’re in an ideal position to deal with the challenge.
Secondly, I want to help customers enjoy music in new ways. Amazon is a collection of many different services, and since last year, we’ve been actively working to support artists when they come out with new releases. For instance, when a physical release is decided on, we set up a special sub-site and bolster our promotional efforts. When the interest of listeners shifts to streaming, we reinforce our promotion and marketing efforts in ways that are only possible with digital technology, like creating playlists that include interviews. We use that approach for roughly two or three months, building up connections between artists and customers. That’s something I think we’re uniquely positioned to do. This is one of the areas we’ve really enhanced over the past year.
Japan is one of the countries where both streaming and physical sales are growing, so it’s a great fit for Amazon.
Oishi: Exactly. Another example of that are our promotional campaigns which visualize the support fans provide to artists as they listen and share music and follow artists using our app. Users collect stamps using a stamp card-like feature, and when they collect all stamps, they can receive rewards. This feature was designed and developed by a team in Japan, but now it’s also being applied in other countries, in a few different ways.
And the live streaming of Fuji Rock Festival ’24, in July, was a combination of all three of the tasks I mentioned earlier.
It was streamed on Prime Video and Twitch, which generated a lot of buzz.
Oishi: I think the best way to enjoy a music festival is in person. However, there are a lot of people who can’t go, for one reason or another. I’d imagine there are also people who went in the past but can’t go now. To reach out to people like that, we streamed Fuji Rock Festival ’24 live on Prime Video and Twitch.
In addition to the live streaming of the event, we also created all kinds of touch points with customers, using every kind of approach—offline, online, digital, physical. For example, we ran an advertising campaign using Amazon Lockers and we sold original t-shirts. We tried to connect customers to music and artists through the Fuji Rock Festival in all kinds of ways.
Also, this year, we streamed Fuji Rock Festival ’24 worldwide. Every day, we think about how we can share wonderful Japanese artists with the rest of the world. One way we came up with for doing that is to stream the festival live, so that it could be viewed by music fans around the globe.
In addition to Japanese attendees, there were many people from other Asian countries at Fuji Rock. Which countries were people streaming it from?
Oishi: People viewed it in the US, Europe, and Latin America. Amazon Music has been streaming music festivals around the world, like Vive Latino in Mexico and Primavera Sound in Spain. Of those, Fuji Rock Festival ’24, which was live streamed on Prime Video and Twitch, was the most watched three-day music festival ever streamed live by Amazon Music.
That’s wonderful to hear. Are there plans to stream any other Japanese festivals?
Oishi: We also live streamed DEAD POP FESTiVAL 2024, YON FES, and Kyoto Daisakusen in August.
Last year, we enhanced our support for artist-led festivals and began streaming watch party-like events where viewers watch shows along with artists from Amazon Music Studio in Tokyo. Twitch supports comment sharing functionality, so artists can communicate and interact with fans. It’s very exciting. I believe that, over time, these connections between artists and fans will foster greater awareness of Amazon Music.
Speaking of sharing Japanese music with the rest of the world, Billboard Japan launched the “Global Japan Songs Excl. Japan” chart, which ranks Japanese songs being listened to worldwide excluding Japan. Being able to visualize what music is listened to is, I think, extremely important for Japanese artists making inroads overseas.
Oishi: I think the hit charts are really important for exposing people to new music. When I was a kid, I grew up checking the U.S. Billboard charts. I’d watch Billboard TOP40 on TV, and I even sent in postcards when I was little (laughs). When I was in junior high, I memorized around twenty years of annual charts. I’ve forgotten a lot since then, but I was a Billboard superfan, and Billboard charts were my window into foreign music. Now, overseas audiences may be discovering Japanese music through the charts, or through on-demand streaming, or through live streaming. I’m confident that if all of us in the music industry create these opportunities, we can provide greater opportunities for people to discover Japanese music.
—This interview by Seiji Isozaki and Naoko Takashima first appeared on Billboard Japan
Comedian Yuriyan Retriever chatted with writer Rio Hirai for Billboard Japan’s Women in Music interview series featuring female players in the Japanese entertainment industry. The WIM initiative in Japan launched in 2022 to celebrate artists, producers and executives who have made significant contributions to music and inspired other women through their work.
A household name in her home country, Yuriyan is preparing to make a splash in the U.S. beginning this fall. Not only has the 33-year-old entertainer won numerous awards in the highly competitive and male-dominated world of comedy in Japan, she also acts (a lead role in the upcoming Netflix series The Queen of Villains) and raps — she took the Mojave Stage with Awich at this year’s Coachella as one of the guest rappers on “Bad Bi*** Bigaku” — and is set to direct a movie as well. The one-of-a-kind artist who has carved out a unique position for herself in Japanese entertainment shared her thoughts on the driving force behind her past and future activities.
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You’ve said that you first aspired to be a comedian when you were in second grade, and entered NSC Yoshimoto Sogo Geino Gakuin — a training school run by comedy business giant Yoshimoto Kogyo — in 2011. I imagine there were much fewer female comedians back then compared to today. Did you experience any gender-related obstacles in becoming a comedian?
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I’d always thought comedians were cool growing up, so I probably didn’t have much of a sense of diving into a male-dominated world back then. But it turned out, there were 500 people in my year at NSC in Osaka alone, and only about 40 were women. Men and women were in separate classes for the first month, but after that we took classes together.
It was after graduating that I became aware I was a female performer. There are open auditions in the form of match-ups to become a regular act in theaters, and I used to think that male comedians with screaming female fans supporting them got more votes. Looking back now, it’s simply a matter of whether you’re funny or not, but there were times when I didn’t get any votes at all, so I started thinking that way. I remember complaining to Nagisa (formerly of comedy duo Amako Inter), who’s been in the business longer than me, “Men get more votes, don’t they?” and she replied, “In the end, you win if you’re funny, so let’s keep doing our best.” I got fired up after that. I began to think that there are things I can do because I’m me.
You’ve achieved spectacular results since then, winning the 47th NHK Kamigata Manzai Contest (2017), the NTV Female Comedian No. 1 Contest THE W (2017), and the coveted R-1 Grand Prix 2021. Some artists we’ve spoken to in this series say they feel uncomfortable being labeled “female” (female rapper, female singer-songwriter, etc.). How do you feel about being categorized as a female comedian?
Right now I feel lucky to be in this position. When you’re the only woman in a group of men, you stand out. But if that becomes less of a thing, maybe people will stop adding “female” to our profession.
Compared to when you started your career, there are many more female comedians today. What do you think is necessary for women to thrive in the (Japanese) entertainment industry?
I personally find it easy to work right now. But if a woman decides to become a mom, there will be a period when she has to take time off for physical reasons. It’d be nice if there were a system where we could record a bunch of stuff beforehand to be used while we’re gone and be paid for it properly.
You also created quite a buzz when you appeared on the audition show America’s Got Talent in 2019. You’re planning on expanding into the American entertainment industry by the end of this year. When did you start planning to do so?
I began thinking concretely about working the U.S. around ten years ago, so I told my management company and started preparing for it. What initially made me want to go to the U.S. was the movie Back to the Future, which I saw for the first time when I was in elementary school. Strangely enough, I thought, “I feel like I’ll be able to meet these people when I grow up.” I watched it again when I was in junior high and fell in love with Michael J. Fox all over again, and felt an urge to want to speak English and work in the U.S. movie industry someday.
But I had a dream of becoming a comedian so I chose that career first. After I actually started working as a comedian, I’ve been given opportunities to try so many different things. I got to star in the Netflix drama series The Queen of Villains, which will be released this year, and I also got to try my hand at directing a movie. I realized that doing skits wasn’t the only job for a comedian, and came to think that I didn’t have to give up my dream of working in the U.S.
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What do you want to do in the U.S.?
I want to become a Hollywood star. I want to start with stand-up comedy and branch out to do a bunch of stuff from there, just like I did in Japan. I want to do things that I think are funny and hope people in the U.S. think so, too, but to do that I need to get into the groove of the country’s background and culture, so I’ll start from there.
You really do take on challenges in your career. Now that you’ve realized your initial dream of becoming a comedian, what are the moments when you find your job the most interesting?
Everything is interesting. Needless to say, it makes me happy when the audience laughs! I also enjoy being able to express anything about myself. You know how there are things in life that you regret or make you angry? It can be hard when you can’t do anything about them, but since I’m a comedian, I can turn things like that into comedy skits and laugh them off. I can say what I want and be what I want to be.
So whatever happens, it all helps to enrich your art.
Exactly. A comedian that I respect who’s been in the business longer than me — his name is Toki of of the duo Fujisaki Market — once told me an epic anecdote about how he woke up one morning to discover he’d lost a ton of money from a bad cryptocurrency investment. But he said it was hilarious. Being able to interpret anything as funny like that is so human and really strong. So if something upsets you, I recommend trying to make it into a joke or lyric. Or mimicking it, even if you don’t show it to anyone. It’ll make you feel a bit better.
Thanks for the nice life hack. [Laughs] It seems like the ways of thinking in the Japanese comedy industry have changed over the past ten years or so. For example, poking fun at someone’s appearance used to happen all the time, but it feels like it’s less common now.
Around the time when I first became a comedian, teasing people’s looks was still fair game. I used to weigh 110 kg (about 240 lbs) in 2019. It wasn’t for the sake of being funny — I sort of just ended up like that because of my messed up lifestyle and laziness. One day it occurred to me that even though I’d been blessed with a healthy body, I wasn’t treating it right, so I told a trainer that I wanted to change. And that trainer said, “You’ve shown off your body in a swimsuit in the U.S. and have probably done everything you can with your current body shape, so become a new you and stay the course.”
I started training and followed a restrictive diet, and succeeded in losing 40 kg (about 88 lbs) in 2021. My body became lighter and healthier and I began thinking more positively. I even started receiving sports-related job offers that would never have happened before. I was body positive before… or rather, I felt that being overweight didn’t matter, but looking back now, I see that it wasn’t my best condition. I can say that I worked hard to achieve the best condition for myself that truly feels right for me.
Were you not bothered by other people’s opinions because you were satisfied with yourself?
My fellow comedians told me, “It’s good that you’re fit,” but there were people online who were like, “Have you given up being funny?” and “You’re ugly even if you’re thinner.” That really ticked me off, so I wrote some jokes to get revenge on those people and won the R-1 (Grand Prix) contest I entered that year.
That’s awesome how you won the R-1 Grand Prix by using your annoyance towards haters as motivation.
The voices of those who still make fun of people’s looks sound louder online, but the reaction of the audience in theaters is completely different. Ten years ago, people would laugh when I said stuff like, “I’m ugly,” but now when I make self-deprecating jokes like that, I can tell that the prevailing mood is like, “This isn’t something to laugh at.” Now I’ve stopped saying negative things about the way people look, including myself, not just because people don’t laugh at such jokes, but because it sucks as a human being to do so. My feelings are also changing. Ever since I’ve been making jokes based on hateful comments, people have started saying, “Even if you put Yuriyan down, she’ll just use it to win prize money in competitions.” [Laughs]
—This interview by Rio Hiral (SOW SWEET PUBLISHING) first appeared on Billboard Japan
Born in Okinawa, Japan, in the year 2000, singer-songwriter YU-KA spent her early years in America and Switzerland. At age 15, she took up the acoustic guitar, and she started writing her own songs at age 17. She began truly throwing herself into music upon winning a special award in a movie theme song-writing audition. “Hoshizukiyo,” which she released in February 2023, took the No. 1 spot on Billboard JAPAN‘s “Download Songs” chart, making it her biggest hit.
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The title track of her latest EP, Sunshade, was produced by ONE OK ROCK’s Toru and is the theme song of the TV series Smiling Matryoshka. The 24-year-old musician is equally focused on both her musical activities in Japan and overseas, bringing a separate mentality to each. Billboard Japan recently had the opportunity to talk to her about her latest release, an encapsulation of where she is now.
What’s the concept behind the Sunshade EP?
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YU-KA: When I wrote my first album, Brighter, a lot of the lyrics I wrote were really grand in scale. The most popular song on the album, “Hoshizukiyo,” was a soaring love song. With the new album, I wanted to make something more personal. I wanted to write lyrics about love at a one-to-one level — the level of “me and you.” The artwork reflects that, too. I’m not wearing some sort of gorgeous costume, just a T-shirt. It’s made up of natural photographs taken in everyday settings, cut and pasted together like a patchwork. I wanted to give it that handmade, unadorned feel.
I just followed my heart wherever it led in writing “forget-me-not,” and I think it brings me back to my natural roots. The lyrics to “Clouds” are all in English, and I feel like that song ties in to my indie days. At the time, I was doing a lot of live shows, trying a lot of new things, like using a looper and matching English lyrics with simple chord progressions. I think the song’s sound is connected with that point of my life. On the flip side, I was re-examining J-pop when I wrote “Sunshade”, “Tsuraikurai,” and “One more time.” I like both Western music and J-pop, and I wanted to write music that lies somewhere in-between, but I also took on new challenges by working in the vein of J-pop.
Do you have different aims when you’re singing in English than when you’re singing in Japanese?
YU-KA: I rely a lot on whatever words the melody and the music bring out of me. Especially when I’m co-writing overseas, I tend to write the lyrics using words that I’m drawn to, or words I want to sing because of how they sound. With English, I find that very easy. In “Clouds,” I wanted to use a lot of words, like writing in a diary. You can fit in more words with English than with Japanese, so since I wanted to pack the lyrics in, English was the way to go. Also, I think writing a song like this connects to my own roots and really expresses aspects of myself. The song’s lyrics include “Tokyo” and “scramble crossing,” so even though the song is in English, I think I’ve put in elements that are a true-to-life depiction of my life in Japan.
“Sunshade” has four lines that start with “Ne,” (a Japanese expression that’s similar to a softer version of “Hey”). I found that use of repetition in Japanese to be particularly effective.
YU-KA: In the past, a lot of my songs mixed English and Japanese, but lately I’ve been feeling that just using Japanese alone sounds cool. The “Ne” part of “Sunshade” would have been easier to write if the lyrics were in English, but I focused on writing in Japanese, and, I think, that’s why I was able to come up with those lyrics. I’m particularly fond of that part of the song. Deciding what Japanese to use when working with a smaller number of notes is an interesting process. It’s like writing a waka or tanka (Japanese poems). I enjoyed figuring out how to express myself within those limitations. I think that, through this process, I’ve become able to express things that I couldn’t express before, when I was mixing Japanese and English lyrics.
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You wrote the lyrics for both “Tsuraikurai” and “Sunshade,” and Toru from ONE OK ROCK wrote the music, right? I understand that you’ve written with Toru several times in the past, too. What were some takeaways from your latest collaboration?
YU-KA: When I was making my major label debut (“lullaby,” produced by Toru), I was just working like crazy. I didn’t know which end was up. But working with Toru, I always have a wealth of experiences. For example, I’ll go in thinking I haven’t changed but it will open my eyes to how much I’ve changed, or I’ll go in thinking I’ve gotten used to something, and I’ll find myself butting up against a wall.
How did the writing process go?
YU-KA: “Sunshade” is a tie-up song for a TV series. The process of writing a tie-up song involves creating something that goes beyond your own abilities alone, so I feel like it brings a lot out of you. I wanted to make the lyrics a little cryptic, but then I thought that they needed to convey where I was, what I was doing, what I wanted to do. So the lyrics became more and more concrete as I worked on the song. That process of rewriting was also a lot of fun.
You’ve travelled back and forth between Japan and other countries. You grew up in the US and Switzerland, and you travelled to Sweden when making the album. What aspects of Japan, and of other countries, do you like when it comes to environments for creating music?
YU-KA: When I was in Sweden, I was working really fast, making one or two songs a day. It built up my explosive power — my ability to take off running. In Japan, on the other hand, I feel like I spend a lot more working with each song, struggling with how to improve it and constantly making refinements. When I co-wrote with non-Japanese people, I was worried that I’d be overwhelmed and just let myself get swept away, falling by the wayside, but actually the opposite was true — the core parts of me that are constants, and the parts that make me who I am, would remain. I write music before I talk to the people I’ll be working with, so the melody lines and the interactions I have while we’re working on the music are like a self-introduction for me. The way that I needed to instantly introduce myself through my music was a real eye-opener and helped me grow.
You’ve performed at the SXSW for two years running, and you’re an active musician overseas. What kind of musical activities do you want to do in Japan and in other countries?
YU-KA: As an artist, the way I am in Japan and the way I am overseas are like mirror images. When I’m in Japan, the fact that I lived overseas, and the way that experience affects my music, are like a part of my persona. Overseas, the fact that I’m Japanese and listen to J-pop sets me apart. I think that going back and forth between those two environments makes my own musical sensibilities more clearly defined.
Going back and forth between Japan and other countries, I sometimes ask myself what it means to be true to myself, but I think who I truly am is what comes out of me when I just act naturally. That’s why when I’m overseas, I think of myself as a Japanese artist as I make and perform my music. I want to reach a position that I’m uniquely suited to and to create works that really convey what I intend, to both Japanese and overseas audiences.
—This interview by Reina Murakami first appeared on Billboard Japan
On Sept. 4, VK Blanka released his new album, Knightclub. In early 2024, he launched his first North American tour in nine cities throughout the United States and Canada. In July, he performed at the largest anime convention in South America, Anime Friends 2024, in São Paulo, Brazil, followed by his first Latin American tour, VK Blanka Latin America Tour 2024, in Santiago and Mexico City. This new album is his first in three years, released in the middle of this heavy overseas touring schedule. These overseas performances have had a tremendous impact on him, which comes through in his music.
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How was your first Latin American solo tour?
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It was so fun. It’s the other side of the world, so there was a whole different type of excitement. What really stuck out was everyone shouting out their love for my music. In Japan, for our shows, we try to create something of a journey, but the audiences in Latin America were amped up the whole way through, regardless of the show’s flow. That made me feel great.
So you can feel differences in countries’ national characters through the audience reactions?
Right. In Japan, there’s this feeling of humanity and spirituality. In Latin America, whether it’s Brazil or Mexico, everyone’s always so cheery. With North American audiences, sometimes they’re going crazy but sometimes they’re cool and collected. All that comes through in the shows. For the Middle East, in Saudi Arabia everyone’s shouting “Yeah!” So, in that way, it feels the same as North America, Latin America, and Europe…except that no matter how energetic the show is, the audience is all sitting back watching it from these cushy seats. Then, when the show ends and you say “Thank you so much, Saudi Arabia!” they give you a standing ovation. In their culture, the way you watch a music show is the same as the way you’d watch a play. I think those differences are really interesting. In that sense, playing in places other than Japan is very stimulating.
In countries like Saudi Arabia, clothing can’t be very revealing, so I’m guessing these cultural changes could also affect wardrobes.
Yeah, they did advise me about that. You can’t wear shorts, so I wore full-length pants, despite the heat. But in town, you’d see Europeans wearing shorts and jogging like it was no big deal (laughs). So there were people from countries who didn’t care about things like that, but since we’re Japanese, we took care to dress the “proper” way. You’d see that gap, as well, in lots of places, which was interesting.
Have these experiences overseas brought about any changes in your own lifestyle?
Yeah, they’ve changed the way I think. Of course, I’ve become more interested in different countries, and my experience has brought things like social situations, politics, economics, and culture closer to home. For example, now if I see that there’s a demonstration happening in France, I know where it’s happening, and I think about the friends I have there, that are my own age. I wonder what they think about the situation. Performing overseas, you establish a lot more connections like that. I feel like, without even being conscious of it, I’ve become more “borderless.”
What’s the meaning behind the title of your new album, Knightclub?
I like giving my albums cool names, like “wizard” or “Devil” (laughs). So, in line with that, I was originally thinking of naming it “Knight.” But then I decided to give it a more musical title, so I took “night club,” which has a cool feel, and then I put a “k” in front to make “Knightclub,” which would also have the double meaning of a legion of knights.
The first song, “Yomigaeri (with Noriyuki Makihara & ayaka),” has a spiritual feel to it. What’s it about?
That wasn’t the kind of song I set out to write from the start, but it ultimately ended out with this theme of life and death. Ever since I was an elementary school kid, I’ve thought about what it means to live, and what it means to die. I feel like my outlook on life and death has come through with the different experiences I’ve had.
“Daddy (Dying in NY)” is an English language song on the album that starts out with a chaotic soundscape. What’s the story behind it?
When I was doing a show in Europe, one of the fans shouted out “Daddy!” I didn’t know what it meant at the time, but when I looked it up later, I found out it was a sexual come-on for a hot guy. I talked about that on the North American tour, too, and then one day I played this show in New York. The show was incredible, and it was the last of the tour, so at the end I felt totally spent. That’s why I gave the song that name, like “a hottie dies in New York.”
“High Love” is a standout song, sung entirely in falsetto. You did the whole thing, including the chorus, yourself, right?
Right. I recorded the whole thing in my home studio. When I debuted, what set me apart was how much falsetto I used and how high I sang. The music I wrote after my debut was more flexible, but one day I realized that I’d never really gone full-steam since my debut song, “Slave of Love.” I wanted to use that same approach again, so I wrote “High Love.”
“Never Run” has an 80’s feel to it. What can you tell us about this song?
Los Angeles musician Josh Cumbee, who mixed the song with me, said “There used to be groups whose music all used this beat, so if we use it, it’s going to sound retro.” I found that pretty surprising. It wasn’t my intent to revive an old sound, I simply thought that it was a great rhythm, the kind of rhythm that could always get people moving. The lyrics to this song are also all in English, and the audience really got into it during our Latin America tour. It’s hard for foreign audiences to sing along to Japanese songs, but this song was surprisingly easy even for audiences in Chile and Mexico. The song showed a lot more global potential than even I’d expected, which I think is fascinating.
“Fortress” is a beautiful, soaring ballad. What were you trying to express through it?
The theme is “defense,” which, in a way, is a passive act or mentality. In the song, I tried to embody this concept not of defending or bearing something out of weakness, but instead because if you go all the way in your defense, then you’ll be unrivalled.
So playing piano and singing are where your true musical roots lie?
Even now, the piano is always my main instrument. That will probably never change. But the direction I use when I perform is changing. Actually playing live shows, it’s really constricting being trapped behind the piano the whole time. I want to move around more and be more active, so there are parts of my approach that are changing little by little. One thing that is true for both my first album and this album is that I handled all the arrangements myself. Recently, I’d been asking lots of different people to work on arranging the songs, but with this album, I’ve come full circle and did all the arrangements myself again. That’s one connection between the new album and my first album.
“Matane” is a simple song with very intimate vocals. I feel like it gives a glimpse of the true you.
I took a straightforward, genuine approach with “Matane.” When I wrote it, I thought it would be a good song to end the album with, and I hoped that it would linger with the listener, even after it ended. My concept for it was to create the same feelings that I hoped the audience at one of my shows would have as they headed back home.
What do you see in your future?
I want to create great music, for everyone to listen to that music, and to put on shows in every city. Other countries are no longer a mystery to me. The world is now my home, so I think it would feel wonderful to put on a complete world tour, playing in cities in Japan, Latin America, North America, the Middle East, Europe, and Australia.
—This interview by Takayuki Okamoto first appeared on Billboard Japan
ME:I’s “Hi-Five” soars to No. 1 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100, dated Sept. 4, marking the 11-member group’s first leader on the tally.
The digital version of the girl group’s second single dropped July 29 and debuted at No. 40 on the Japan Hot 100 dated Aug. 7. The track then slipped slightly on the list as downloads declined, but hit No. 2 in sales this week after the CD version sold 263,332 copies in its first week. The physical release boosted the song’s digital performance and it returns to the downloads tally for the first time in three weeks at No. 3, while also coming in at No. 79 for streaming (112% week-over-week) and No. 2 for radio (413%).
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Bowing at No. 2 is Naniwa Danshi’s seventh single “Koisuru Hikari,” the theme song for the movie We Don’t Know Love Yet starring member Ryusei Onishi. The track launches with 432,018 CDs to top sales, while coming in at No. 5 for downloads and No. 16 for radio.
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Mrs. GREEN APPLE’s “Lilac” rises a notch to No. 3 this week, with radio increasing by 121% from the week before and keeping the decrease in overall points to a minimum.
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“Natsu ga Kitakara” by ≠ME (“Not Equal Me”) follows at No. 4. Although the twelve-member group’s ninth single didn’t enter the lists for metrics other than sales, it debuts at No. 3 for the metric after selling 229,446 copies in its first week. ≠ME’s best chart rank so far on the Japan Hot 100 is No. 4, so the group’s latest single tied for the highest rank of its career.
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Tsubaki Factory’s “Baby Spider” debuts at No. 5. The 12th single by the girl group sold 88,796 copies to reach No. 4 for sales and hit No. 38 in downloads, surpassing its previous single, “Yuuki It’s my Life!”
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Elsewhere on the Japan Hot 100, Mariya Takeuchi’s “Uta wo Okurou,” the theme song of the ongoing drama Subarashikikana, Sensei!, debuts at No. 20. The latest single by the “Plastic Love” singer-songwriter tops radio and comes in at No. 14 for sales. Also, veteran band Mr. Children’s “in the pocket” bows at No. 33. The theme song for the animated movie The Colors Within rules downloads and comes in at No. 48 for radio.
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The Billboard Japan Hot 100 combines physical and digital sales, audio streams, radio airplay, video views and karaoke data.
See the full Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart, tallying the week from Aug. 26 to Sept. 1, here. For more on Japanese music and charts, visit Billboard Japan’s English Twitter account.
Virtual YouTuber Hoshimachi Suisei recently announced her first concert tour, set to kick off in November. The hololive VTuber with over 2.4 million subscribers on her YouTube channel teased that an “Important Announcement” would be shared on her show streamed on Saturday (Aug. 31). The latter half of the program was also shown on the […]
Kocchi no Kento, the creator of “Hai Yorokonde,” which is going viral on the video platforms, recently sat down for an interview with Billboard Japan. Kocchi no Kento is a multimedia creator who began making music in 2022. He’s also the younger brother of popular Japanese actor Masaki Suda. In this interview, he talked about his roots and what’s behind the creation of his addictive music.
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To start off, could you tell us what led you to start making music?
When I was a freshman in university, I joined an a cappella club. We sang covers of existing songs, and I started writing my own songs in 2022 as an extension of that.
What was the first experience you had with music that opened your eyes to how fun and fascinating it can be?
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There were two things that got me into music. The first was that my dad loved music. He’d often play guitar and sing at home. In the car, too, there was always music playing, and it was often new to me. The other thing is that I played soccer when I was in elementary school. Our offense was amazing, but that meant that us on defense had nothing to do. Apparently, I would just run around dancing. My parents said “dance might be a better fit for him than soccer,” so I started taking dance lessons. That’s what led me to feeling music with my whole body and expressing it through movement.
As an artist and singer, where do you think your own individuality lies, and what do you see as your strengths?
One of my distinctive features is my natural singing voice, but also, in the a cappella group, I spent four straight years doing covers of Disney songs, so I developed the ability to sing with emotion but without becoming pitchy. I think those two are my main strengths.
Where did the name “Kocchi no Kento” come from?
After I graduated university, I worked as a businessman for a year. Putting on that suit and tie, I felt like I was biting off more than I could chew. I wasn’t really myself, so when I was in my suit, I was “that Kento” (in Japanese, “acchi no kento“). When I was singing, on the other hand, I was more my true, natural self. I was “this Kento” (in Japanese, “kocchi no kento“).
Your first single, “Tiny,” is a heartwarming song. It’s the kind of song you wish you could hear when things are tough. I feel that same mindset in all of your songs. I get the sense that that’s what you want to convey and express through your music.
Right. Every time I put out a new song as Kocchi no Kento, I think about the fact that there are people out there who might draw strength from it.
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Have you had any feedback from listeners that really stand out in your mind?
When I released my second single, “Shinuna!” (Japanese for “don’t die”) I was getting dozens of comments a day. Some were saying that they decided to hang in there, while others were explaining why they wanted to die. This flood of comments settled my own turbulent mind, and I was just happy to be able to help people in what little way I could.
“Shinuna!” generated a lot of buzz on video platforms. Is there anything you try to keep in mind or do with respect to how you release your music?
After “Shinuna!” I’d make dances for TikTok to get my music exposed to lots of people. But even more than that, I think it’s important that I make music that I could listen to and enjoy, myself, without ever getting tired of it. Lots of people danced to “Hai Yorokonde,” but what I think is great about that song is that, even now, I like it so much that I can listen to it anytime. If I get tired of a song when I’m making choreography for it with someone, or singing it a cappella, or singing an English version of it, then I can’t put my heart and soul into it. The listeners can hear that. They’d be like “He’s just going through the motions” or “He’s just clinging on to that song.” I think the most important thing is that I really love the music I create, with all my heart.
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On the August 14 dated Billboard JAPAN Hot 100 chart, “Hai Yorokonde” reached a new peak of No.5. When did you first start feeling that this song was getting some traction?
There were a lot of people listening to it on the day it came out. I hadn’t released a song in about six months, so I guess there were a lot of people looking forward to a new song. Then, when I released the dance video on TikTok, even though I hadn’t done a collaboration with anyone, it got a lot of views, so I started realizing “wait a minute, we might have something here.” I got Kazuya Kanehisa to do the music video. He turned it in about a month earlier than expected, and in his email, he wrote “I just couldn’t put my pen down” and “The song is wonderful, so it was smooth and effortless to translate what I was feeling into visuals.” When I looked at what he’d created, I knew it would directly connect with people.
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What kind of song had you set out to create at the start?
Initially, the theme I had in mind was a little different. I suffer from depression but I decided against killing myself. I decided to live. Someone told me “Don’t die,” so I was like “Okay, I won’t,” and I lived. And everyone got used to me being alive, and one day I realized they’d started demanding things of me. Like “You’re alive, and you’ve got time, so how about getting a part-time job?” And I was like, “No, no, no, my goal was to live, and by choosing to live, I’ve already accomplished my goal.” The song was like “You said don’t die, so I didn’t die, but don’t go trying to make more demands.” My goal was, ultimately, to arrive at the conclusion that “Choosing to live is an option in itself. All you need to do is live.” But it gradually became more of an SOS song—more a song about calling out for help.
Like you were doing all you could just by staying alive.
Right, that’s how it turned out.
You released an English version at the end of July. What led to that?
The “giri giri dance” (in English, “at my wit’s end dance”) of the chorus was originally “get it get it done.” But the music video art style was very Japanese, so having a chorus in English didn’t seem right, which is why I changed the way the lyrics were transcribed to “giri giri dance.” Phonetically, they sound the same, but I thought it would be interesting if there were separate Japanese and English versions, and I’d wanted to write an English version from back when I was still in the production stage. Luckily, I got a lot of comments from overseas listeners, so I consulted with my record label, and we decided to release an English version.
I’m sure your number of overseas listeners must be skyrocketing now. Did you think there would be this kind of response from overseas audiences?
No, I wasn’t expecting it. Sure, I hoped that I’d reach people overseas, but I thought that my music would have to take off here in Japan, first, and then after that it would spread overseas. Instead, it happened at almost the same time. I was just really, really lucky. It just goes to show how much we’re living in the age of social media.