Jap Female Vocalists!

Here's a nice slow one from one of my fav Japanese female vocalists, Mika Nakashima.

Mika Nakashima (中島美嘉, Nakashima Mika, born February 19, 1983), born in Kagoshima Prefecture, on the island of Kyūshū, Japan, is a Japanese singer, model, and actress.



The next one's from Utada Hikaru....

Utada Hikaru (宇多田ヒカル, Utada Hikaru born January 19, 1983), also known by her fan-nickname of Hikki (ヒッキー, Hikkī), is a third culture Japanese pop singer-songwriter, arranger and record producer.

She has been hailed as one of the most successful, influential and acclaimed musicians in Japanese music history. With the release of her seven studio albums, including one compilation and two all-English, 24 solo singles (18 Japanese and 6 English) and several VHS/DVD releases, she has sold a combined estimated total of some 36,000,000 records in Japan as of 2007, making her the 9th most successful musical act ever in Japan.^[1][2] Her worldwide total sales of albums, singles and VHS/DVDs to date is well past 40,000,000 units. Her unusual success has been, in large part, because of her fluent bilingual skills in English and Japanese, having been raised in New York City and Tokyo.

Oasis and Last Christmas

This song is by one of my favorite acoustic guitarists, Kotaro Oshio from Japan.

Kotaro Oshio (押尾コータロー, Oshio Kōtarō) is an acoustic guitarist from Japan. Born in Osaka, on February 1, 1968, he is most well known for his work on the steel string guitar.
Oshio's music is classified within various categories including pop, new age, and jazz. His style has drawn comparisons with other highly regarded musicians such as Michael Hedges. Oshio's musical technique includes fingerpicking, slap harmonics, and precise strumming.

It's a very simple song with a melody that reminds me so much of my childhood days, in a way i can't really explain.

Kotaro Oshio - Oasis (Youtube Video)

Here's another amazing arrangement by Kotaro, Last Christmas by Wham:

Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence

This is my first post on my first blog. So far, it's been really easy to set up. Amazingly easy.

Here's my first featured piece of music, it's a song off the movie Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence, a film set in WWII. I've never watched it, but i heard the song a long time ago and thanks to the wonders of technology i chanced upon it on Youtube.

Off Wikipedia:

Ryuichi Sakamoto (坂本 龍一 Sakamoto Ryūichi, born January 17, 1952, Nakano, Tokyo, Japan) is an Academy Awards-winning, Grammy-winning, Golden Globe-winning Japanese musician, composer, producer and actor, based in New York and Tokyo.

Here's the video of RS playing the song on piano live:



Never fails to put me in a simple, calm, evocative mood.