Chihiro Onitsuka

Chihiro Onitsuka

Chihiro Onitsuka (鬼束ちひろ, Onitsuka Chihiro, born October 30, 1980 in Nango, Miyazaki) is a female Japanese popular music singer-songwriter and pianist.

Onitsuka debuted with her single Shine in early 2000 and has captured many people with her vocals. She can reach incredibly high and low tones, giving her a wide array of options for singing, from fast-paced guitar melodies to melancholy piano pieces.

Biography

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.

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 impelled 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.

February 2000 saw the release of Onitsuka’s debut single "Shine." The following single "Gekkou" was selected the theme song to a TV drama series, gaining nationwide attention to this new artist. 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.

After the release of the first DVD/video Me And My Devil, a collection of her video clips, Onitsuka embarked on the first tour Chihiro Onitsuka Live Tour 2001, fascinating her fans with her irresistible charm and vocal performance. She then appeared at various rock festivals across Japan in summer of 2001, solidifying her status as a performing artist. Her strong presence was imprinted on many rock fans as 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. "Infection" conveyed a grand scale and dynamics while "Little Beat Rifle" was of a completely different taste, and the double A-side portrayed the infinite potential of Onitsuka’s.　The release of the first live DVD/video Cradle On My Noise followed in November 2001. Onitsuka’s words and music were then honoured in public as she 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. Also, her song "Rasen" was used in the Luc Besson film Wasabi starring Jean Reno and Hirosue Ryoko, further showing the potential that Onitsuka’s music has of penetrating the international market.

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. This caused so much anguish for her that she left Toshiba 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. Later on, she admitted 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.

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.

It is interesting to note that 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. It is most likely that they will stop soon as there are no more new songs or footage that they own.

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

Discography

Singles

• "Shine" (9 February 2000)
• "Gekkō" (9 August 2000), also used as the closing theme for the television series Trick
• "Cage" (8 November 2000)
• "Memai / Edge" (10 February 2001)
• "Infection / Little Beat Rifle" (7 September 2001)
• "Ryūseigun" (6 February 2002), also used as the closing theme for the television series "Trick 2"
• "Sign" (21 May 2003)
• "Beautiful Fighter" (20 August 2003)
• "Ii Hi Tabidachi, Nishi e" (29 October 2003)
• "Watashi to Warutsu wo" (27 November 2003), also used as the closing theme for the television series "Trick 3"
• "Sodatsu Zassō" (27 October 2004)
• "everyhome" (30 May 2007)
• "bokura barairo no hibi" (19 September 2007)

Albums

• Insomnia (7 March 2001)
• This Armor (6 March 2002)
• Sugar High (11 December 2002)
• The Ultimate Collection (1 December 2004)
• Singles 2000-2003 (7 September 2005)
• LAS VEGAS (31 October 2007)

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)

External links

• Official website Template:Jp icon
• Chihiro Onitsuka Links An extended overview of (mostly) English websites about Chihiro Onitsuka.
• Frozen Call The latest news on Chihiro Onitsuka in English
• Nippop Profile | Chihiro Onitsuka
• Chihiro Onitsuka International