~From Miki Asakura's upbringing to her debut album 'SEXY ELEGANCE'~

—This time, many of the songs we've released since our debut are finally available for streaming.

Miki Asakura (hereinafter, Asakura): Yes, it seems there was a huge amount... I had a feeling there would be quite a lot (laughs).

—I think there are people who know you from your TV appearances and hit songs, but who don't know about your past activities, so please tell us more about them. You're from Osaka, right? What kind of child were you?

Asakura: Until I was about three years old, I wasn't shy around strangers, and I was the kind of child who would toddle off anywhere. My father loved mountain climbing, so we were often taken hiking and climbing mountains. I remember how much fun it was to say "hello, hello" to people coming towards us when we were on a mountain. Also, my sister told me that I would wander off to all sorts of places, so they apparently had to tie me up with a rope (laughs).

—You must go to a lot of places (laughs).

Asakura: Yes, I was quite a tomboy.

—Did you learn to play a musical instrument when you were little?

Asakura: We had an organ at home, so I was taking organ lessons, but then when I started elementary school, an upright piano was suddenly brought in, and I was suddenly made to start taking piano lessons.

—So it wasn't something you wanted to do yourself?

Asakura: That's right. Apparently, my mother had a feeling that she couldn't do it because of the war. It seems that her family had taken violin and piano lessons. So, she wanted her children to do it too, and I remember starting with the organ, but then I switched to the piano. I didn't really like practicing, so I was often scolded by my piano teacher (laughs).

—Was your older sister with you too?

Asakura: Yes, my older sister was already taking lessons seriously. I, on the other hand, would suddenly get really excited when it came to piano recitals (laughs).

—So, you had an environment at home where music was always playing, right?

Asakura: That's right. My parents weren't musicians, but we had a stereo and they played movie music and things like that. It was the era when TV shows featuring the Osmond Brothers were broadcast in Japan, so I watched those shows a lot too. My father usually watched baseball games, but I remember him changing the channel when it was time for baseball.

—Where did your first musical experience come from?

Asakura: At first, it was like a phonosheet from when I was a child, with nursery rhymes and such, but I think the first single record I ever bought myself was "Rainbow and Snow Ballad" by Towa et Moi.

—The theme song for the 1972 Sapporo Olympics. That means you were probably in the upper grades of elementary school.

Asakura: Around that time, I loved NHK's "Stage 101," so I remember buying the "Stage 101" album. My sister had quite an influence on me. That's why, when it came to Western music like Queen, I listened to what my sister listened to. My sister couldn't go, so she told me to "go ahead," and the first Western music concert I ever went to was Ray Charles at the Osaka Kosei Nenkin Kaikan.

—That sounds like a great experience.

Asakura: I had absolutely no idea about it, but when I went there, it was incredibly crowded (laughs).

—But your sister has some rather sophisticated tastes, doesn't she?

Asakura: It was certainly a sophisticated taste. My sister had a big influence on me starting to listen to Stevie Wonder and other artists. But when I got to middle school, I started listening to things like the Beatles, which everyone else was into.

—What other music were you listening to avidly back then?

Asakura: Actually, I was a fan of Tulip. So when Masatoshi Ueda helped me with my first album, 'SEXY ELEGANCE,' it was hard to tell him... I kept thinking, 'When should I tell him? When should I tell him?' and it was pretty close to the end that I finally said, 'Actually, I was a fan of Tulip.'

—Oh, really?

Asakura: I think it was in junior high school, I had a friend who was also a Tulip fan, and I remember getting our parents' permission to go see a concert at the Kosei Nenkin Kaikan with her. I think Kai Band was the opening act.

—That's wonderful. Did you ever actually sing or play in a band?

Asakura: Not at all. I just started taking singing lessons when I was in junior high school. That's because at the time, audition programs like "Star Tanjou" were all the rage, and I had a friend who loved singing, so I would go with her to auditions, and on the way back we'd eat anmitsu (a Japanese dessert). I guess I was drawn to it by the anmitsu (laughs).

—That sounds appealing (laughs). Did that friend have any influence on you?

Asakura: No, I had absolutely no desire to sing on my own. But then one day she said to me, "I don't want to audition alone, so let's audition together." That was the audition for School Mates that Watanabe Production was running.

—Oh, so it wasn't on TV.

Asakura: I absolutely hated the idea of ​​being on TV. I don't remember what song I sang at the time, but I passed the audition. But my mother told me, "Absolutely not." That's when I started to think that singing "might be kind of fun." So, I secretly went to an audition for a singing academy. I passed, and when I told my mother, she said again, "I'm going to turn it down."

—That's tough.

Asakura: So we went together to decline, but they said, "Those who pass the audition will get one month of tuition free," and explained to my mother, "There are also people who don't pass." Feeling bad about that, she said, "Then I'll let her attend for a month." And as I went, I found it incredibly interesting. I was in my second year of junior high school at the time, and it was a period when I wasn't very good at maintaining my mental balance, so I was a bit of a truant. But I still went to the singing academy diligently, which amazed my mother.

—So you've found your place, then.

Asakura: So, they said, "If you like it that much, you can keep coming here forever." They also said, "You can come here, but make sure you also go to school properly." I thought that made sense, so I talked to the teacher about various things. From then on, I continued to go to school while also getting along well with my friends.

—That's a great story. Have you been attending a singing school all this time?

Asakura: Until junior high school. Actually, the offer to debut came right around the time I was taking entrance exams. I hesitated for a moment, but I said I wanted to try it and even did some recording. But my voice changed midway through.

—Have you entered puberty?

Asakura: My voice changed completely. I wasn't really suited to being an idol mentally, so I thought it might be just right. But by then I had already taken the entrance exam for a high school in Tokyo.

—Was that a deliberate act?

Asakura: I did it on purpose (laughs). During a meeting with my teacher, I said something like, "I'm going to Tokyo!" The teacher was surprised and called my mother, who was also surprised, but she said, "Well, if that's what she says," and the teacher looked into schools in Tokyo for me. Looking back now, I realize how selfish I was (laughs).

—Just like with the auditions, Ms. Asakura is quite the strategist (laughs).

Asakura: However, my place of residence was decided due to family circumstances, and I was told to find a school close to there, so I didn't have many options. But I got accepted there, so my mother said, "There's nothing we can do about it." My father also gave up. But that didn't mean my debut was decided, I just wanted to go to Tokyo to study properly. —How was your high school life?

Asakura: Well, my three years of high school were incredibly fun (laughs). All my friends were really funny.

—Not like a club activity or anything like that.

Asakura: I was in the dance club for a while, but I couldn't attend my singing lessons because of club activities, so I quit halfway through. It was a bit of a shame. But for some reason, I was asked to help out with the broadcasting club, so I was hanging out with them. The teachers were friendly and let me do all sorts of things properly.

—It sounds like it was a good school.

Asakura: It was a great school. I was having so much fun that I didn't even go to lessons very often (laughs). I was renting a room in an apartment building, so everyone would come over to my room. If I said I was in trouble graduating, they would come over and stay the night to help me study, so I had a really fun three years.

—So, you enjoyed your student life during high school, right?

Asakura: That's right. During that time, I auditioned for record companies and also helped out with writing commercial jingles to learn about the craft.

—What did you do after graduating from high school?

Asakura: After graduating, I thought I'd like to do a little bit of part-time work. During high school, my mother had told me, "Part-time work is absolutely forbidden!" After graduating, I actually wanted to go to university, but since my parents had invested in me for all three years of high school, I didn't think I could ask them to go to university as well. When I said I wanted to do a little bit of part-time work, my sister persuaded my mother for me. In the meantime, I auditioned to be a model for the magazine "Soen".

—That's quite a different turn of events, isn't it?

Asakura: Actually, my older sister was a model exclusively for "Mrs." magazine. She's much taller than me. So, sometimes they'd ask us to model together as sisters, and I'd help out with my sister's pages. Then the editor-in-chief said to me, "We're looking for models, so tell your sister to audition." I had this image that you had to be tall to be a fashion model, but they said, "There are all sorts of pages," and I thought, "Ah, I see." My sister also told me, "If you're going to debut, you should properly study fashion," and I agreed with that too. So I auditioned and passed, and I worked as a model for "Soen" for about a year. It was during that time that my debut was decided.

—So, being a model was a positive experience for you then?

Asakura: That's right. On the other hand, my debut song, "Misty Twilight," was the theme song for Onward Kashiyama's women's clothing brand, "Jane More," so in that sense, I think it was good that I, a model for "Soen," was the one singing it.

—What was the process that led to your debut?

Asakura: Originally, "Misty Twilight" had English lyrics and was already being used as a commercial jingle for "Jane More." Apparently, Onward received a lot of inquiries from viewers asking, "Can I buy that on record?" So, the production company was approached about releasing the song on record. The original English part was sung by Sandy I. So, they decided to hold auditions to release it on record, and I auditioned as well. However, they hadn't decided which record company to use, so they contacted several companies, and King Records immediately raised their hand.

—So, you had the song first, then you chose the singer, and then the record company. That's the reverse of the usual process.

Asakura: It seems that this pattern is common in commercial jingles. That's why "Misty Twilight" has melodies added before and after it. Apparently, lyricist Machiko Ryu and composer Yuji Ohno added the parts before and after to create a complete song.

—I see. So, that means that singer Miki Asakura was created with the intention of getting a commercial tie-in, right?

Asakura: That's right.

—After doing a little research, I found that "Misty Twilight" was released in August 1981 and reached number 31 on the singles chart. I suppose that means it was a moderate hit, but did you feel that way at the time?

Asakura: Not at all. But it seems like they played my songs on quite a few radio programs. I think they sold quite well in Hokkaido. So I was able to go to Hokkaido two or three times a month to appear on programs, and I was very happy about that. At that time, idols were at their peak. But it seems that many of the people who went to buy my records were office workers, so some people said, "Aren't they just being bought by paid actors?" Also, it seems there was a demand for my songs in car audio systems, and there were quite a few women who would take me for drives, and when one of my songs was played, they would say, "That's how I heard it and became a fan."

—Oh, really?

Asakura: So I'm very grateful to salaried workers (laughs).

—I don't think it was specifically targeted at office workers, but I'm sure Ms. Asakura had a mature image from the time of her debut, so she probably gained support from adult men who weren't satisfied with idols.

Asakura: Mentally I was still a child. That's why I was often told, "Don't talk." Like, "Zip your mouth!" (laughs).

—The cover photo for "Misty Twilight" already has a commanding presence, doesn't it?

Asakura: That's right, so it seems that idols would say things like, "He's a little scary, so we can't talk to him." Much later, when I was on a travel show with Yosuke Tagawa, he told me that there was a show on NHK at the time that Tagawa was hosting, and when I appeared on that show, he thought, "What's with this guy, he doesn't talk much." He said, "Huh? Was he always this talkative?" so I said, "Sorry, I was told not to talk too much at the time, so I kept my mouth shut" (laughs).

—I see (laughs).

Asakura: "It was a mature-sounding song, wasn't it? If I start talking, it'll give me away," (laughs).

—To get back to the topic, "Misty Twilight" was your first recording, right? Do you remember that time?

Asakura: I remember it well. Mr. Yuji Ohno was there too. He stayed with me the whole time during the vocal overdubs, recording with me the whole time. If I got nervous, he would give me a shoulder massage, and he would bring me snacks and say, "Eat this, eat that" (laughs).

—Mr. Ohno is also very entertaining when he talks, isn't he?

Asakura: That's right, he was always making puns. At first I thought he was kind of scary, so I thought it was interesting that he was so different from how he looked and acted. He would say, "Just sing softly and gently," and "Relax more," and he was with me the whole time.

—So, you recorded, released a single, and did a promotional campaign. Was it decided that you would release an album soon after that?

Asakura: It had already been decided that we would release it. But when people asked me, "What kind of album would be good?", I was like, "Hmm..."

—Did you have a specific concept for how you wanted to market Miki Asakura?

Asakura: Well, it's a catchphrase I would never use now, but it was "Beautiful urban singer" (laughs).

—That's exactly right, isn't it? (laughs)

Asakura: We were told to make a sophisticated, urban album. We also had members of the band that Ueda from Tulip started, who we mentioned earlier, participate, and since their pianist, Suzuki Koji, can also do arrangements, we had him arrange about half of the songs.

—That's your first album, 'SEXY ELEGANCE'. Other arrangers like Ichizo Seo, Megumi Wakakusa, and Kazuo Otani also worked on the arrangements, and it's quite diverse, but overall it has a mature feel to it.

Asakura: That was definitely the image I was aiming for. Songs like "Hikishio" and "Konya Dake Koibito" are pretty good songs, and ever since I was in high school, I've wanted to sing these kinds of mature songs. However, when it comes to whether they actually match my own spirit, there are still many things that I haven't quite caught up with. Like, if I sang them now, I could sing them a little better (laughs).

—At that time, it was the heyday of idols, but at the same time, there was a boom in beautiful jazz singers like Yasuko Agawa, and mature singer-songwriters like Asami Kado and Keiko Mizukoshi were also being promoted.

Asakura: I think that's probably the direction they were aiming for. Other artists who debuted at the same time as us include Jun Horie and Yasuha. They were probably trying to make the kind of music that's now called city pop.

Continued from Vol.2

We've started streaming all 200 songs, from past works to our latest releases!

Click here for each streaming site.
https://bio.to/MikiAsakura_200

Click here for special site
https://cnt.kingrecords.co.jp/miki_asakura200/

Miki Asakura's Profile

In 1981, she debuted with the CM song "Misty Twilight." Her theme songs "HERO" and "What a feeling ~FLASH DANCE" from the legendary TV dramas "School Wars" and "Stewardess Story" still leave a strong impression.
Her exceptional singing ability, transcending genres, is undeniable. She won the "Karaoke Battle: Entertainment Industry No. 1 Championship" (TV Tokyo), a competition where even accomplished singers struggle with scoring by a karaoke machine, earning her accolades for her singing ability that even the karaoke machine approves of! Currently, in addition to her singing career, she is active in musicals and other stage productions, as well as working as a reporter for travel programs. In 2017, she was diagnosed with breast cancer on the TBS television program "The Doctor's Seal of Approval!". Despite undergoing a mastectomy, she made a miraculous recovery and returned to the stage just three weeks later. She has continued her energetic musical activities ever since. Furthermore, in 2018, she established "Pink Ribbon Fujisawa" in her hometown of Fujisawa. She also actively participates in breast cancer awareness campaigns such as the "Pink Ribbon Walk" and the "Pink Ribbon Symposium".

Hitoshi Kurimoto Profile

A music and travel writer and music selector. Born in 1970 in Osaka. Began writing as a music writer while working for a record company. After leaving the company, he traveled around Central and South America for two years, and after returning to Japan, he worked as a freelance writer for magazines and websites, and composed and selected music for radio and in-flight broadcasts. After working as a booking manager for Billboard Live for about five years shortly after its opening, he returned to working as a freelancer. His books include "Buenos Aires: A Travel Notebook of Goods and Culture" (Mainichi Communications), "Argentine Music Notebook" (DU BOOKS), and co-authored works such as "Kissaten Rock" (Sony Magazines) and "Light Mellow Japanese Music Special" (Rattles). His book "Understanding the Basics of City Pop with These 100 Albums!" (Seikaisha Shinsho), published in February 2022, has attracted attention, and he has appeared in various media.