Japan
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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.
Number_i’s “INZM” blasts in at No. 1 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100, dated Aug. 28.
The lead single off the three-man group’s first full album called No.Ⅰ, due Sept. 23, was downloaded 54,560 times during the chart week to hit No. 1 for the metric, while also dominating radio airplay and video views. “INZM” is Number_i’s second No. 1 on the tally following “GOAT,” and the former No. 1 single climbed 78-58 after seeing increases in streaming and video. The group’s previous single “BON” also moved 53-40, with increases in downloads on top of streams and video views.
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Bowing at No. 2 is Nogizaka46’s “Cheat Day.” Released on Aug. 21, the group’s 36th single sold 651,536 copies in its first week to hit No. 1 for sales, while coming in at No. 11 for downloads and No. 17 for radio.
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TREASURE’s “KING KONG” is at No. 3, launching with 178,091 CDs (No. 2) and coming in at No. 3 for radio and No. 48 for streaming.
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After holding at No. 2 for five weeks, Mrs. GREEN APPLE’s “Lilac” slips two notches to No. 4 this week. The track is slowing down slightly overall, with downloads at 77% week-over-week, streaming 98%, radio 81%, video 96%, and karaoke 95%. The pop-rock band’s “familie” also falls 3-5, but increased in streaming (118%) and video (137%), and these two songs are dominating the top two spots on the streaming list this week.
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Kenshi Yonezu’s “Garakuta – JUNK” debuts at No. 10. The hitmaker’s latest single is the theme song for the movie LAST MILE and is included in his new album LOST CORNER, which topped this week’s Japan Hot Albums chart. With 11,286 downloads in its first week, the track hits No. 2 for the metric and also comes in at No. 6 for radio, No. 18 for video, and No. 26 for streaming.
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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. 19 to 25, here. For more on Japanese music and charts, visit Billboard Japan’s English Twitter account.
Warner Music Japan has appointed Dr. Kenji Kitatani to the resurrected role of chairman of the label division, effective immediately. Dr. Kitatani will work closely with WMJ’s longtime president and CEO, Kazuyuki “Kaz” Kobayashi, to boost the company’s presence in the globe’s No. 2 music market. Dr. Kitatani currently holds the title of chairman of […]
Kenshi Yonezu dropped his highly anticipated new album LOST CORNER this month. The J-pop hitmaker’s latest project is a tour de force arriving four years after his previous album STRAY SHEEP, packed with 20 tracks including ten high-profile tie-ins such as “Chikyugi – Spinning Globe,” the theme song of Hayao Miyazaki’s animated movie The Boy and the Heron.
Writer Ryutaro Kuroda spoke with the 33-year-old singer-songwriter on behalf of Billboard Japan about his new release, who shared the concept and intent behind the title of “Garakuta” (“Junk”), one of the keywords of this project, and its connection to the title track and more. The “KICK BACK” artist described his current headspace after releasing the epic set as being “bright,” and this outlook seems to symbolize the style of the album in its entirety.
You’ve completed your first album in four years. Tell us frankly how you feel about it now.
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I’m feeling brighter than usual, I guess. There are things I wish I could have worked on a bit more, but I don’t spend my days being tormented by them. It feels healthy and I like that.
With so many songs that were tie-ins, I was wondering how you were going to put them together as an album. How did you come up with the overall image of the set?
As you say, the number of existing songs had grown quite a bit over the past four years, and the album could have ended up consisting mostly of existing singles. That was my initial concern. Some musicians, after a long time in the business, gradually include fewer new songs in their albums and I feel really sad about that. When I was a kid, my idea of an album was something full of songs that I’d never heard before and there was a joy in listening to them collectively, and I still clearly remember that. So when my album turned out to have 11 existing songs on it, the only way I could think of to resolve my main concern was to simply increase the number of tracks, an idea even a fool could come up with. I actually wanted to write more — ideally, I wanted more than half of the songs to be new, but fell short of that goal. I have some regrets about that, but I guess I did OK.
When did you start working on the new songs on the album?
I wrote most of them this year. There are about three tracks I wrote last year — in fact, I was actually planning to release this album last year, but really wasn’t in the mood for it. My motivation for music had dropped so low and there was a long period where I didn’t want to make any more music.
Can you tell us why?
The Boy and the Heron was a huge factor. I grew up on Ghibli films and Hayao Miyazaki was a huge presence in my life. Working on the theme song for one of his movies felt like the greatest honor ever that would probably never come my way again. And when something like that happened, it felt like I’d lived my whole life for that moment. During the last year, especially during the period leading up to the release of the film, I had this strong feeling that there’d be nothing left after this was over. I just couldn’t get into the mindset of making new songs, so I had to postpone [the album] for a year.
What made you turn to music again?
It’s hard to say succinctly, but I stopped thinking about the minutiae — I stopped facing things beyond my control. I felt that I’d just become exhausted unless I started to focus on how strongly I could secure the areas that were within my control and that others couldn’t take away from me.
From an objective standpoint, my music career probably appears full of happiness. I mean, I’ve had opportunities to be involved in various works like the Ghibli tie-in, Shin Ultraman, Final Fantasy XVI, and Chainsaw Man, so it probably looks like smooth sailing. And while I think that’s correct even from my point of view, I also had this sense of urgency. I felt that somewhere along the line, I’d snap and never be able to recover. So, I focused only on what I could control, and to a certain extent, ignored or gave up on what I couldn’t. I had to switch to this way of thinking.
You arranged all of the new songs on the album except “Garakuta – JUNK.” Is this in line with what you just said about securing what you can control?
It really is. Once I decided to do it all myself and began doing it, it was just so much fun.
What you just said sort of reminded me of your works from your diorama era.
Yes, I guess you could say I went back to my roots in that sense.
While the new songs on this album lean towards electronic music, “Garakuta – JUNK” is the only song with a band sound. What image did you have in mind when you started on it?
I wrote it as the theme song for the movie LAST MILE, but the process was full of twists and turns. The first demo I submitted was a completely different song. It was a rather subdued number, sung effortlessly in a low key. I had an urban image in mind and was writing a track that had sort of an icy feel to it, but the producers of the movie said, “Maybe this isn’t the one.” They preferred a gentler, warmer, yet ballad-like song, and I was like, “I have to admit, you do have a point.” When I first met with Ms. Ayuko Tsukahara, the director [of LAST MILE], she mentioned wanting to make this film a popcorn movie. She wanted to make a roller-coaster movie that was emotional and thrilling and could be watched with popcorn in hand. In light of that, I realized my first demo wasn’t the right image. So the current song was born in the process of writing it over again.
My understanding is that the lyrics include your own experiences.
The first one I wrote felt perfect the way it was, so when they told me it wasn’t what they were looking for, I wasn’t sure where to go from there. Around the same time, as a really personal experience, a friend of mine was in a bad spot. They were mentally overwhelmed — the word “overwhelmed” is too mild to express what they were going through. So I went to see them with another group of friends and spoke with them. That conversation and the expression on their face turned out to be a major experience for me. One of the things I remember in particular was that they kept saying, “I’m not broken.” They repeatedly said, “People might look at me that way, but I’m not broken at all. I’m perfectly fine,” and, “I’m just a little more honest than I used to be.”
After I got home and was alone, I wondered if being “broken” was such a bad thing. I thought, even if you’re broken or not, you’re still you, and I intend to accept you either way, so maybe I should have said, “It’s all right if you’re broken.” That experience had a huge influence on the creation of “Garakuta – JUNK” and as I wrote the lyrics in that direction while drawing on parts of the film that link to the emotions of the characters, I ended up with those lyrics.
The light tone of “LOST CORNER” is also notable. How did you go about creating the melody and sound?
I’m not sure, but I wanted this song to be the last track on the album when I started writing it. So I thought it’d be nice and tight if I ended it with something ceremonial or euphoric, or simply put, a ballad, but it didn’t sit very well. As I worked on it, it turned out really bright and light. But I wanted to start the album with a song that tells someone to “disappear” and end it with “not disappearing.”
Could you elaborate on what sort of mental state that reflects?
I sometimes read books about people suffering from depression. Some people can’t help but feel that their lives aren’t worth living, you know? It’s a very serious problem for them, and it’s probably hard for such people to make proper decisions in such a state, and it’s also something that feels familiar to me. It’s really a grave situation and I’m not saying I object to it or anything like that, but I felt that this is vaguely an inverted form of eugenic thinking. Being convinced that you’re not worth living is the reverse of “so long as I have value, I can live,” so you’re in a state of somehow being convinced that you shouldn’t be alive if you’re not productive. I don’t want to sound so harsh to those who are struggling now. But the truth is, it’s OK to be alive even if you aren’t productive, and it’s OK to be alive even if you’re a good-for-nothing or a dunce. While the major premise is that it’s not so simple, I still think there’s an element of not having been able to gain sight of such a basic point.
It’s OK to be “junk” you mean.
I have this feeling as well — there’s a part of me that can’t help but think that I have to be making music and that it’s the meaning of my life. I felt compelled to think about how I should confront that. Some obvious barometers are the number of likes on X (formerly Twitter) or the number of streams for songs, which are things we have to deal with, and in today’s world where social media is so ingrained in society, this isn’t limited to a profession like mine. When you think about how to deal with such visualized standards of value, I think it’s important to create an environment where we can avoid associating with them.
I might have mentioned this at the beginning, but it’s about having things that can’t be taken away from you no matter how much malice you’re exposed to — I sing about turning a curve slowly in “LOST CORNER” and in “Chikyugi – Spinning Globe” I say “I’ll turn the corner.” Maybe it’s important to keep moving at a speed that will allow you to actually feel that the road goes on. I have a feeling I was thinking about things like that a lot.
The phrase “all the dreams, hopes, misfortunes, and anguish/well, that’s that,” from “LOST CORNER” seems to symbolize this work.
Yes. Being nonchalant like that and not getting too uptight about things. Things can be really fierce in a society revolving around social media, you know? A small image of a person is cut out of context and spread out and it becomes more and more disconnected from that person’s real character. This isn’t limited to celebrities and could happen to anyone — a snapshot can be mocked to pieces and damage a person’s dignity, and the way we should live our lives under such circumstances is by separating the real from the imaginary and securing what can’t be taken away from us. I think the world has become a place where it’s really important to have an area that can’t be taken away from you.
You announced a major world tour, making two stops each in Asia, Europe, and the U.S. starting in March next year.
I’ve been to China and Taiwan before, and clearly remember the excitement from those shows. I’m looking forward to going there again.
What about Europe and the U.S.?
I can’t say because I really don’t know what to expect. I have no idea what it’ll be like. A shy Japanese person will be coming from the East, so please be gentle, is maybe how I’m feeling.
—This interview by Ryutaro Kuroda first appeared on Billboard Japan
Billboard Japan launched its Women in Music initiative in 2022 to celebrate artists, producers and executives who have made significant contributions to music and inspired other women through their work. The WIM interview series highlighting female players in the Japanese entertainment industry is one of the main features of this project, and the first 30 sessions were published in Japan as a “Billboard Japan Presents” collection by writer Rio Hirai last year.
For the latest installment of this series, Billboard Japan spoke with YUKKYUN, a self-designated DIVA celebrating his 10th anniversary in entertainment. The 29-year-old multi-hyphenate began his career in 2014 as an idol singer and went on to become a finalist in the coveted miss iD audition in 2017. While active as the member of the duo Cinema and Boy CQ, YUKKYUN began self-producing his solo career called the DIVA Project in 2021 and has branched into various media including songwriting, writing, and podcasting. The “Logout Bonus” singer — who has been vocal about being a fan of female artists — shared his thoughts on the state of gender in the music industry in Japan.
Tell us about your life before you launched your career as YUKKYUN.
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My friends were always more girls than boys since I was little and my parents never stopped me from being who I am, so I’ve managed to avoid being forced into some form of masculinity in life. None of my classmates were like me, so I guess I did stand out.
I first encountered feminism and gender theory in my third year of high school when I started reading books like Chizuko Ueno’s Misogyny after finding out about it in a magazine. Around the same time, I read (Shuichi Kato’s) Introduction to Gender and Sexuality Studies and it was like I understood the true nature of the discomfort I’d been feeling. I realized that I wasn’t wrong after all and that I could do whatever I wanted. I’d always firmly believed that I wasn’t doing anything wrong even before then, but it was a relief to learn that there were people doing proper research on the subject and that it’d been clearly laid out. Until high school, it was a matter of how I felt and acted, but at about age 20 I reaffirmed that everyone including me had many options — there were so many people in Tokyo wearing cute clothes, so I began to dress myself freely in skirts and dresses.
You believed in your potential and decided to present yourself to the outside world as YUKKYUN. Did you feel it was your mission to do so?
It was hard for me to live my life pretending to be something I’m not. I can’t say what I don’t think and I can’t go outside as myself if I’m wearing clothes I don’t want to wear. Forcing what’s become the norm for me to conform to existing values is more taxing. It’s how I’ve always lived, so being different from others wasn’t that much of a problem for me.
I also thought there’d definitely be some people out there who’d get something out of seeing someone like me being gorgeous in public. I think it would have been a relief for me as a teenager in junior high or high school if someone like me had existed. I do feel it’s my mission to shine right in the middle.
And it’s been exactly ten years since you started performing as YUKKYUN.
Yes. I’ve always loved singing and dancing. I started doing what I could within a few months of moving to Tokyo. I’ve been a member of a duo called Cinema and Boy CQ since 2016 and performing in this group is already fun in itself, but the year I graduated from grad school I started the DIVA Project as a solo artist, writing my own lyrics and singing them. I began receiving responses at a rate and depth that I couldn’t have obtained from just my previous activities. Hearing feedback from people who’ve actually listened to my music is such a rich experience, and I’ve discovered lots of things other than what I’d consciously wrote into my lyrics. The way my music reaches each person is slightly different and I find that invaluable.
Many shy people who want to take that first step but haven’t been able to do so listen to my songs, so I want to sing songs that will lift their spirits and inspire them, even if it’s only while they’re listening to a three-minute song. When the things that I’ve said on social media or in interviews are written into a song, the recording can be heard many times and the song sung many times at concerts, and I get a sense that the message really hits home that way. So I think making works of art is wonderful and that everything should be handed down as works of art.
That’s true. As a listener myself, I also have a strong sense of the magnitude of the things we receive from works of art. Like you just said about hearing from people who want to take that first step but can’t, there seem to be many people in Japan today who are intensely afraid of stepping outside of the existing framework. I’m sure this is something you express in your lyrics, but how do you think they can overcome that fear?
I don’t live free of fear or care either, and I want art to always be by my side as something that gives me the courage to take a step forward and to question existing frameworks. And I’d like (my art) to be like that, too.
Try not to overlook any feelings of discomfort that arise within you. I think it’s important to keep being aware of the things that bother you or things you feel you can’t handle, no matter how minor, and to know what you really want to do, what you value, and what you want to change even if you can’t do so right away. I mean, life isn’t just about overcoming things. I hope my music can exist as a way to present possibilities and options to such people. I want to make people feel at ease.
Do you think that by coming across music or idols that you like, for example, and finding things you truly value and don’t want to compromise, people could gradually become less concerned about existing frameworks?
Yes, I do. And when you find that something you like or don’t want to compromise, you don’t have to declare it or be vocal about it. Even if you don’t go out of your way to say, “I like such-and-such” to others, if you can be true to yourself in your heart and be like, “This is how I really feel,” you can live without breaking down.
In my case, I think I needed to listen to music by divas singing about loneliness to validate how I felt. Changing things quickly or being able to do things suddenly isn’t easy, you know? You can’t just be reborn. For example, even if you want to wear only cute clothes from now on, it takes money and time, at least about two years, to completely change your wardrobe. So during that time when I was longing to change, my favorite music protected my heart.
When you think about it that way, it kind of feels like society isn’t designed to allow individuals to value the things they hold dear inside. You were a finalist in the miss iD audition in 2017, a competition that uses the honorific for women in its name [Japanese Wikipedia defines it as “an audition to find diverse female role models who survive in the new era, regardless of appearance, genre, or gender roles”]. Could you share your thoughts on the current social structure?
That was seven years ago now, but I entered the miss iD contest because the judges were all creators that I liked and it wasn’t my intention to challenge the social structure. The current social structure is so exhausting, but I’m trying to broaden the existing framework by expressing with my body that it’s OK to do what I want as a “boy who’s a bit unfettered.” Sometimes it’s like people see whatever I do as social commentary, but I still feel like I’m thinking more about individual people than society as a whole.
You released “DIVA ME” in May 2021 and launched your solo endeavor called the DIVA Project. Could you tell us why you chose the word “diva”?
When I thought about what I’ve received from whom in life and about what I should do in my upcoming solo career, calling myself DIVA made the most sense to me. My definition of DIVA is the will and spirit to be proud regardless of gender or occupation, so I made my solo debut with a song called “DIVA ME.”
Who inspired you to shape your definition of DIVA?
The first DIVA I fell in love with was (J-pop star) Ayumi Hamasaki. I’ve loved her since I was 5 years old and went on to enjoy listening to solo female artists in general, especially those who write their own lyrics and create their own world. I still listen to Hikaru Utada, Ringo Shiina, aiko, Yuko Ando, YUKI, Tomoko Kawase, and others. After moving to Tokyo, I also discovered the music of Seiko Oomori and felt that the music reached my heart more directly. When I think about it, DIVAs have accompanied me throughout my life.
It sounds like calling yourself DIVA is a solution that satisfies you. What changes do you think are necessary to allow for more diversity in the workplace in Japan’s music and entertainment industries in the future?
Something I’ve noticed in the industry is that the producers are mostly men. It’d be better if there were more women in those creative roles. I’m sure there are capable women out there but maybe society isn’t accustomed to giving full authority to women. I don’t compose music, so I’d like to appoint more women to do that for me. I also think there aren’t enough women organizing festivals. I guess I have to become really popular. Then it’ll make it easier for people who want to do what I do to come out. I hope that by taking the lead, I can lower the obstacles for people to start something. Otherwise, it won’t be interesting for me either.
—This interview by Rio Hirai (SOW SWEET PUBLISHING) first appeared on Billboard Japan
Fujii Kaze announced a new Asia tour set for later this year, following his first-ever trek around the region last year. This time, the Japanese singer-songwriter will scale up his shows to arena-sized venues for his upcoming Best of Fujii Kaze 2020-2024 ASIA TOUR. The “Shinunoga E-Wa” artist released the key visuals and special website […]