Chihiro Onitsuka

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 This article's tone or style may not be appropriate for Wikipedia. Specific concerns may be found on the talk page. See Wikipedia's guide to writing better articles for suggestions. (October 2008)
Chihiro Onitsuka
Born October 30, 1980 (1980-10-30) (age 29)
Origin Nango, Miyazaki, Japan
Genres Folk, folk-rock, ballads
Occupations Singer, songwriter
Instruments Piano
Years active 2000-present
Labels Toshiba EMI/Virgin Tokyo
Universal Sigma/A&M Records
Website onitsuka-chihiro.jp

Chihiro Onitsuka (鬼束 ちひろ Onitsuka Chihiro?) (born October 30, 1980) is a Japanese singer-songwriter.

In 2000, Onitsuka released her debut single "Shine" and gained massive popularity through her second single "Gekkou". Her first studio album Insomnia released in following year, topped the Japanese chart and sold more than a million copies.[1][2] "Memai", one of the singles from her Insomnia album provided her with honor of winning the prize for lyrics of the 43rd Japan Record Awards in 2001.[3]

After the contract with EMI was ended in 2004, Onitsuka's career as a recording artist has been repeatedly going into hiatus.[4][5][6] However, she has temporarily returned to music industry and released several materials, including the album Las Vegas that came out in 2007.

As of 2008, she has released 4 studio albums, 14 singles and several compilations and DVDs, and those sales have been estimated more than 4.1 million units.

Contents

[edit] Biography

 This article's tone or style may not be appropriate for Wikipedia. Specific concerns may be found on the talk page. See Wikipedia's guide to writing better articles for suggestions. (September 2008)

Her parents encouraged Onitsuka to listen to Western music and by the time she was ten, she wrote her first poems, receiving praise from her parents, friends and teachers, who called them 'earnest efforts'. Secretly, however, she knew that just writing 'earnestly' wasn’t enough. From that time onward, she tried to write every day, and by the time she was in junior high school, she began to gain more confidence.[citation needed]

Having been influenced by Alanis Morissette in junior high school days, it was the encounter with Jewel’s music and presence during the high school years that strongly compelled Onitsuka to become a singer-songwriter. With some 70 original compositions and several other auditions under her belt, Onitsuka entered the 1998 Virgin Tokyo Artists Audition, going on to winning Grand Prize. Then only 17, Onitsuka started her career as a professional and moved to Tokyo in spring 1999 after graduating from high school.[citation needed]

February 2000 saw the release of Onitsuka’s debut single "Shine." The following single "Gekkou" was the ending theme song to the TV drama Trick. While "Gekkou" remained a long-term best-seller, the up-tempo single "Cage" was released in November 2000, followed by the fourth single "Memai/Edge" in February 2001 which was Onitsuka's first love song. The highly anticipated debut album Insomnia was then released in March 2001, immediately topping the Oricon album sales charts in the first week of release.[citation needed]

After the release of the first DVD/video Me And My Devil, a collection of her video clips, Onitsuka went on her first tour Chihiro Onitsuka Live Tour 2001. She then appeared at various rock festivals across Japan in summer of 2001. She was only accompanied by a piano on stage at the festivals full of famous rock bands.

"Infection/Little Beat Rifle", the first single since debut album was released in September.　The release of the first live DVD/video Cradle On My Noise followed in November 2001. Onitsuka was awarded The Best Lyrics Award for "Memai" at The Japan Record Award (December 2001) and Rock Album Of The Year for album "Insomnia" at The Japan Gold Disc Award (March 2002).

2001 also saw Onitsuka’s music travel overseas. "Innocence" from her first album Insomnia was used in the soundbed of the TV campaign for Applied Materials based in Silicon Valley. The TV campaign aired on different channels including CNBC and CNN, resulting in many phone calls from the viewers asking who the singer was that they heard on the TV spot.[citation needed] Also, her song "Rasen" was used in the Luc Besson film Wasabi starring Jean Reno and Hirosue Ryoko.

In 2002, Onitsuka released her sixth single "Ryuuseigun" in February, followed by the second album This Armor on March 6. This Armor showcases her many different expressions. Then her second live tour Chihiro Onitsuka Live Vibe 2002 took place with great reaction at each venue.

In early September 2003, Onitsuka recorded her October single "Ii Hi Tabidachi, Nishi e," a cover of a 1978 song, to be used as the theme for Japan Railway's "Discover the West" campaign. She recorded this song right before she took a hiatus to have throat surgery.[1]

In early 2004, Toshiba EMI released a Singles Box against the wishes of Onitsuka. She left Toshiba as a result and signed on as an artist under Universal Music, and given a lot more freedom in her work. She released one single, "Sodatsu Zassou (育つ雑草)", which was a major change from her folk-pop style into rock. Prior to the release, she held a concert in which she performed the song and a Nirvana cover. Contrary to popular belief, she did not announce a hiatus at this time; no hiatus was announced and the subsequent lack of release from her had been a great mystery to her fans, who eagerly anticipated the next release and hoped that one would indeed be forthcoming.[citation needed] At one point she said that the reason for her departure from the music scene was because of mental fatigue caused by the series of new releases and tight schedules.[citation needed] However in an interview printed in the October 19, 2007, issue of the Japanese popular music magazine Barfout (http://barfout.jp/), done while promoting the album Las Vegas, Onitsuka said that in 2004 she had attempted suicide by overdosing on medication (French report: http://www.mimu-net.net/news.php?pge=8&newsid=1304 - Japanese Wikipedia site has full Japanese sourcing). In addition, Onitsuka mentioned a polyp on her vocal cords around that time, as well as an eating disorder that saw her weight drop as low as 79 pounds (36 kilograms).

Onitsuka started her full come-back to the music industry in 2007, with a live performance on March 17 at AP BANG! Tokyo Kankyo Kaigi, Studio Coast, Tokyo and has announced plans to release a come-back album and do concert touring. Her first release is the single titled "Everyhome", which was released on May 30. It reached #9 on the Oricon weekly charts.

Even though Onitsuka is on a different label now, Toshiba EMI has still been releasing her music in the forms of DVDs and singles collections. The singles collection does not even have a photo of Chihiro as the cover, and instead a drawing replaces her.

Chihiro Onitsuka's single "Bokura Barairo no Hibi" reached #13 on the Oricon top 100 charts.

The preorders for 'LAS VEGAS' made the album #4 on Amazon.com Japan Music Top Sellers.[7] The album reached #2 on the Oricon Daily Charts and #6 on the Weekly Charts.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Studio albums

Year Album Chart positions Label RIAJ Certification
JP
[8]
2001 Insomnia 1 Toshiba EMI/Virgin Tokyo 6x Platinum
2002 This Armor 3 2x Platinum
Sugar High 2 Platinum
2007 Las Vegas 6 Universal/A&M
2009 Dorothy 10

[edit] Compilation albums

Year Album Chart positions Label RIAJ Certification
JP
[8]
2004 The Ultimate Collection 3 Toshiba EMI/Virgin Tokyo Platinum
2005 Singles 2000-2003 7 Gold

[edit] Singles

Year Single Chart positions Label RIAJ Certification
JP
[9]
2000 "Shine (シャイン Shain?)" - EMI
Virgin Tokyo
"Gekkou (月光?)" 11 2x Platinum
"Cage" 15 Gold
2001 "Memai (眩暈?)" 6 Platinum
"Infection"/"Little Beat Rifle" 5 Gold
2002 "Ryuseigun (流星群?)" 7 Gold
2003 "Sign" 4
"Beautiful Fighter" 9
"Ii Hi Tabidachi, Nishi e (いい日旅立ち、西へ?)" 4 Gold
"Watashi to Waltz wo (私とワルツを Watashi to warutsu wo?)" 8
2004 "Sodatsu Zassou (育つ雑草?)" 10 Universal
A&M
2007 "everyhome" 9
"Bokura Barairo No Hibi (僕等 バラ色の日々?)" 13
2008 "Hotaru (蛍?)" 11
2009 "X"/"Last Melody (ラストメロディー Rasuto Merodii?)" 11
"Kaerimichi wo Nakushite (帰り路をなくして?)" 13
"Kagerou (陽炎?)" 13

[edit] DVD

  • Me And My Devil (11 April 2001)
  • Cradle On My Noise L*I*V*E ~Live Insomnia Video Edition~ (7 November 2001)
  • Princess Believer (11 December 2002)
  • Ultimate Crash '02 Live At Budokan (21 May 2003)
  • the complete clips (1 December 2004)
  • NINE DIRTS AND SNOW WHITE FLICKERS (6 August 2008)

[edit] Trivia[10]

 Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (December 2007)
  • The production of LAS VEGAS started in 2006. Many of the songs were written during the year before last.
  • "Angelina" from her Las Vegas album, was named after Angelina Jolie.
  • During the long disappearance, Chihiro stayed at home most of the time, reading comics and listening to Tori Amos and Arashi.
  • Chihiro wishes to do live concerts. She is asking her record label to let her make a Europe tour.
  • She had a hard time recording the songs on 'Las Vegas' because she had lost weight. She once weighed only 36 kg.
  • She regards "everyhome" as one of her most important works that can stand the test of time.
  • She prefers singing to writing songs. Prone to stage fright, she does not like live performance very much.

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Search results of the Japanese Oricon Weekly Albums Chart, in the third week of March 2001" (in Japanese). oricon.co.jp. Oricon. http://www.oricon.co.jp/search/result.php?kbn=ja&types=rnk&sw=+&search_type=album&year=2001&month=3&week=3&web.x=37&web.y=15&web=Oricon+Search. Retrieved 2008-12-16. 
  2. ^ "List of the albums certified million by the RIAJ" (in Japanese). riaj.or.jp. Recording Industry Association of Japan. http://www.riaj.or.jp/data/others/million_list/2001.html. Retrieved 2008-12-16. 
  3. ^ "List of the 43rd Japan Record Award Winners" (in Japanese). http://www.jacompa.or.jp/rekishi/d2001.htm. Retrieved 2008-12-14. 
  4. ^ "鬼束ちひろ、突然事務所との契約打ち切り" (in Japanese). nikkansports.com. Nikkan Sports. http://web.archive.org/web/20040602230336/http://www.nikkansports.com/ns/entertainment/p-et-tp0-040530-0005.html. Retrieved 2008-12-08. 
  5. ^ "鬼束ちひろ 年内休養" (in Japanese). daily.co.jp. Daily Sports. http://web.archive.org/web/20041205002402/http://www.daily.co.jp/gossip/2004/10/27/148146.shtml. Retrieved 2008-11-14. 
  6. ^ "Chihiro Onitsuka cancels concert tour" (in Japanese). bounce.com. Tower Records. http://www.bounce.com/news/daily.php/16188?K=%B5%B4%C2%AB%A4%C1%A4%D2%A4%ED. Retrieved 2008-09-29. 
  7. ^ Amazon.co.jp ƒxƒXƒgƒZƒ‰ [: ‰¹Šy‚Ì’†‚Å?Å‚à?l‹C‚ª‚ ‚é?¤•i‚Å‚· B?î•ñ‚Í1ŽžŠÔ‚²‚Æ‚É?X?V‚³‚ê‚Ü‚· B
  8. ^ a b "Yamachan Land (Japan's charts archives) - Albums Chart Daijiten - List of the Oricon Top 100 Charting Albums by Chihiro Onitsuka". http://www7a.biglobe.ne.jp/~yamag/album/al_onizuka.html Yamachan Land (Japan's charts archives) - Albums Chart Daijiten -. Retrieved 2008-12-13. 
  9. ^ "Yamachan Land (Japan's charts archives) - Singles Chart Daijiten - List of the Oricon Top 100 Charting Singles by Chihiro Onitsuka". http://www7a.biglobe.ne.jp/~yamag/single/onizuka.html Yamachan Land (Japan's charts archives) - Singles Chart Daijiten -. Retrieved 2008-12-13. 
  10. ^ Frozen Call (Chihiro Onitsuka fan site) - In the News
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