Ai Carina Uemura, known mononymously as Ai, is a Japanese-American singer-songwriter and rapper. Born in Los Angeles, Ai moved to Kagoshima at age four. Motivated to become a singer, she returned to Los Angeles during her adolescence, attending the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts. While in Los Angeles, she performed as part of a gospel choir at a Mary J. Blige concert and appeared as a backup dancer in Janet Jackson's music video, "Go Deep". She briefly joined the Asian girl group SX4 in 1999 until she graduated high school.
The discography of Japanese-American R&B and pop singer Hikaru Utada consists of eleven studio albums, four compilation albums, eleven video albums and numerous singles and promotional singles. Utada began as a musician in the early 1990s as a member of U3, a family unit made up of her, her mother Junko Utada, also known as 1970s enka singer Keiko Fuji, and her father, musical producer Teruzane Utada. U3 released their debut album Star in 1993, with the hope to debut in America. In 1996, the group was rebranded as Cubic U, an R&B project focusing on Hikaru Utada, resulting in the English language album Precious in 1998 with record label Toshiba EMI.
"Flavor of Life" is Hikaru Utada's 18th Japanese single. The physical single was officially released on February 28, 2007.
"Beautiful World" is a song by Japanese American musician Hikaru Utada. It served as the theme song for Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone, the 2007 film reboot of the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion. It was released as a double A-side single on August 29, 2007 along with her song "Kiss & Cry", which had been released digitally three months earlier. The song was written and co-produced by Utada, while Akira Miyake and the singer's father Teruzane Utada served as producers. In 2009, a remix of the song, "Beautiful World " served as the theme song of the second film in the series, Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance.
"Prisoner of Love" is Hikaru Utada's 21st Japanese single and 30th single overall. It was cut from her fifth Japanese album, Heart Station (2008), making it her first Japanese recut single in nine years since "First Love" in 1999. "Prisoner of Love" is the theme song for the Fuji TV dorama Last Friends, making it her first song since "Sakura Drops" in 2002 to be used as a main theme song. It was released as a digital download on March 26, 2008, and as a CD single on May 21.
"Aitakute Ima" is a song recorded by Japanese singer Misia, from her ninth studio album, Just Ballade. It was released by Ariola Japan as the album's sixth single on November 18, 2009. "Aitakute Ima" is the theme song to the first season of the TBS drama series Jin.
"Sit! Stay! Wait! Down! / Love Story" is an extended play by Japanese recording artist Namie Amuro from her tenth studio album and debut bilingual album Uncontrolled (2012). The EP contains the songs "Sit! Stay! Wait! Down!" and "Love Story" from the parent album and two new tracks "Higher" and "Arigatou". The EP was produced by Michico, T. Kura, Miriam Nervo, Olivia Nervo, T-SK, Tesung Kim, and Nao'ymt, and is divided into two dance-pop songs and two pop ballads.
The discography of Japanese-American singer-songwriter Ai consists of thirteen studio albums, four extended plays (EP), eight compilation albums, one live album, one mix tape, ten video albums and numerous solo and collaboration singles.
What's Goin' On Ai is the fifth studio album by Japanese-American singer-songwriter Ai, released on September 27, 2006, by Island Records and Universal Sigma. It was released after the successful ballad single "Believe," and the upbeat R&B song "I Wanna Know."
Sakurazaka46, formerly Keyakizaka46, is a Japanese idol girl group produced by Yasushi Akimoto. The group was created on August 21, 2015, becoming Nogizaka46's first sister group under the Sakamichi Series. The group was rebranded as Sakurazaka46 after their last concert on October 13, 2020. The group's fans are known as Buddies.
Japanese singer Shizuka Kudo has released eighteen studio albums, fourteen compilation albums, one EP, two cover albums, six video albums, twelve live video albums, two box sets, and forty-three singles. Her career began in 1985 when she debuted as one of the three vocalists of the girl group Seventeen Club. The short-lived group disbanded after two unsuccessful singles. In 1986, she joined the idol girl group Onyanko Club as member number 38, which led to Kudo forming the subgroup Ushirogami Hikaretai the following year. She released her first solo single, "Kindan no Telepathy", on the same day as the last broadcast of the variety show Yūyake Nyan Nyan, from which the Onyanko Club members originated. It debuted at number one on the Oricon Singles Chart and became the first of eleven total number-one singles released in the late 1980s and early 1990s, including "Koi Hitoyo", "Arashi no Sugao", "Kuchibiru Kara Biyaku", "Senryū no Shizuku" and "Please". Miyuki Nakajima penned the following singles released by Kudo during this era: "Fu-ji-tsu", "Mugon... Iroppoi", "Kōsa ni Fukarete", "Watashi ni Tsuite" and Dōkoku". All five singles debuted at number one and, with total sales exceeding a million, "Dōkoku" became the best-selling single of Kudo's career.
"Hitomi o Tojite" is a song recorded by Japanese singer Ken Hirai, from his sixth studio album Sentimentalovers. It was released by Defstar Records as the album's second single on April 28, 2004. It is the theme song to the film Crying Out Love in the Center of the World. "Hitomi o Tojite" was the most successful song of 2004, topping the year-end Oricon Singles Chart with over 800,000 units sold. Hirai performed the song on his fourth appearance on Kōhaku Uta Gassen on December 31, 2004. "Hitomi o Tojite" was one of the eleven recipients of the Japan Gold Disc Award for Song of the Year. Although the song was considered for contention at the 46th Japan Record Awards, Hirai declined the Japan Record Award nomination.
"Ai no Katachi" is a song recorded by Japanese singer Misia, featuring Hide from Greeeen on the chorus backing vocals. It was released digitally by Ariola Japan on July 31, 2018, while the physical single was released on August 22, 2018. The song was written and composed by Greeeen and produced and arranged by Seiji Kameda. It is the theme song of the TBS drama series Gibo to Musume no Blues.
Japanese idol group Nogizaka46 has released thirty-one singles and six albums, as well as numerous music videos and concert performance videos. Million-selling singles have included "Influencer" and "Synchronicity", each of which won a Japan Record Awards Grand Prix, as well as "Kaerimichi wa Tōmawari Shitaku Naru" and "Sayonara no Imi". Album releases include the studio albums Tōmei na Iro, Sorezore no Isu, Umarete kara Hajimete Mita Yume, and Ima ga Omoide ni Naru made. The group also released a compilation of "under" songs, written for members who perform at concerts but are not part of the main selection group for promoting singles, with the title Boku dake no Kimi: Under Super Best. They released the 10-year-anniversary greatest hits album, titled Time Flies.
Official Hige Dandism, commonly abbreviated Higedan (ヒゲダン), is a pop rock band formed in Shimane, Japan in 2012.
King Gnu is a Japanese band formed in 2013. It consists of Daiki Tsuneta, Satoru Iguchi, Kazuki Arai (bassist) and Yu Seki (drummer). The band's main songwriter is Daiki Tsuneta, who also performs as part of the creative collective Millennium Parade.
Ado is a Japanese singer and songwriter. In 2020, at the age of 17, she made her debut with the digital single titled "Usseewa", which peaked at number 1 on Billboard Japan Hot 100, Oricon Digital Singles Chart, and the Oricon Streaming Chart. The song reached 100 million plays on Billboard Japan within 17 weeks of charting, which was the sixth fastest in history and the youngest for a solo singer. In 2022, her song "New Genesis" was used as the theme song for the anime film One Piece Film: Red and topped Apple Music's Global Top 100 charts.
"Story" is a song written and recorded by Japanese-American singer-songwriter Ai. It was released on May 18, 2005, by Island Records and Universal Sigma. The song served as the second single from Ai's fourth studio album, Mic-a-holic Ai.
"Aldebaran" is a song recorded by Japanese-American singer-songwriter Ai, released on November 1, 2021, by EMI Records and Universal Music Group. The song served as the theme song for the Japanese television drama, Come Come Everybody and subsequently served as the third single from Ai's twelfth studio album, Dream.
