In 2014, approximately 10 years after her hiatus in Japan, Angela Aki announced that she would be resuming her activities in Japan at the same time as participating in the music production for the Toho musical "In This Corner of the World." On February 7, 2024 (Wednesday), the musical song “Everywhere in this World” will be released.
They made their major debut with the single "HOME" in 2005, and since the Beatles' first performance in Japan in December of the following year, they have been a hot topic since their debut, including their first-ever piano solo live performance at Nippon Budokan. Singer-songwriter Angela Aki ( angela-aki.online ).
In 2008, she released the single ``Letter ~Dear 15 Kimi e~'' NHK Minna no Uta (August-September 2008 song) ~ 75th (2008) NHK National School Music Contest ``Junior High School Division'' theme song ~ received a platinum disc. Even now, 15 years after its release, it continues to be sung throughout Japan as a national chorus and graduation song. In 2013, they announced that they would cease their activities in Japan. In 2014, he moved to the United States to study composition from scratch in order to pursue his long-held goal of becoming a musical musician. In 2016, he took part in Walt Disney's short musical productions as a lyricist, taking a step forward as a musical music writer, and began working on Broadway production projects. He has also been active as a lyricist and composer, including providing songs to Japanese artists.
In 2024, he will resume his activities in Japan by participating in the production of the Toho musical "In This Corner of the World", and will release the musical song "Everywhere in this World" on February 7th (Wednesday). This work is based on the Toho musical “In This Corner of the World” which will be performed across Japan from May 2024.https://www.tohostage.com/konosekai/) A song written for. This is a rearranged version of a song created for the main performance of the musical and sung by himself. In other words, this is a work in which "singer-songwriter" Angela Aki sings the songs she created as a "musical music writer."
It has been about 10 years since the best album “TAPESTRY OF SONGS-THE BEST OF ANGELA AKI-” was released in Japan in March 2014, and the first new song was the single “Yume Endu Ai no Hajime” released in July 2013. Please look forward to this work, which will be the first time in a while.
Regarding the restart in Japan for the first time in 10 years, Angela Aki herself said, ``I have decided to participate in the musical ``In This Corner of the World'' as the music director.
I wanted to become a music writer for musicals, so I entered a music college in the United States 10 years ago to re-learn composition. After that learning experience, I am truly honored to have come across this wonderful work.
With the announcement of this work, we will resume our activities in Japan.
Writing songs as a singer-songwriter and writing songs as a musical composer. The biggest difference is perspective. When I write a song as a singer-songwriter, I write it from my personal perspective, but when it comes to musicals, it's from the character's perspective. Try to think about what the character is feeling in which scene, from that point of view, and think about it using sounds rather than words. I try to find out what kind of sound is being made at that time. Although it was difficult, I felt that it was extremely rewarding.
Musical is a comprehensive art. Everyone involved searches for answers and creates the work together, rewriting and rewriting it over and over again. This joy, this experience, is not something that you can do once and end with, ``That was fun.'' I want to continue making musical music for the rest of my life while sticking to Japanese. That's what I think. ” commented.
Angela Aki has added new skills as a singer-songwriter and musical music writer, and is resuming her activities in Japan for the first time in 10 years. It is truly a "restart." With this restart, we also launched SNS such as official Instagram and X. The official homepage and YouTube will be renewed, and more information will be disseminated to the world than ever before. Angela Aki has faced music from various angles during her 10 years of living in the United States and has grown stronger, so please keep an eye on her future activities.
Angela Aki Angela Aki
Bicultural (Japanese and American) unique singer-songwriter/musical music writer
Born to a Japanese father and an Italian-American mother.
They made their major debut in 2005 with the single "HOME". Their debut album “Home” was released in 2006 and became a long-seller, selling over 600,000 copies. ``Final Fantasy XII,'' whose insert song was ``Kiss Me Good-Bye'' co-written with Nobuo Uematsu, a composer who worked on the popular game series ``Final Fantasy,'' became a worldwide hit. In December of the same year, since the Beatles' first performance in Japan, he held his first ever solo piano performance live at the traditional Nippon Budokan, which has a half-century history as a concert hall, and was a great success. He has established himself as a highly accomplished and unique live artist. Their second album ``TODAY'' released in 2007 reached number 1 on the Oricon chart for the first time. In 2008, the single ``Letters ~Haikei Jugo no Kimi e~'', which was written as a theme song for the ``NHK National School Music Contest Junior High School Division'', received a platinum disc. It became a big hit and a long-seller that transcended generations. Their third album ``ANSWER'', released the following year in 2009, reached number 1 on the Oricon charts for the second time in a row. Since then, they have continued to energetically release their 5th album ``WHITE'', 6th album ``SONGBOOK'', and 7th album ``BLUE''.
In 2013, they announced to their fans that they would be suspending their activities in Japan indefinitely starting the following fall. In 2014, she released her first best album ``TAPESTRY OF SONGS-THE BEST OF ANGELA AKI'', which is the culmination of 10 years of activities in Japan. After performing at the Nippon Budokan on August 4th, he went on an indefinite hiatus as a singer-songwriter, and then moved to the United States. I started learning music from scratch in order to create a musical piece, which had been my goal for some time.
In 2016, he participated in the production of Walt Disney's short musical "Out of Shadowland" as a lyricist along with composer Jeanine Tesori, who has won a Tony Award for numerous Broadway productions. It was shown on the Hangar Stage at Tokyo Disney Sea, and he took his first step as a musical composer. After that, he began to be involved in Broadway production projects. Also, from this time on, he began providing music to numerous Japanese artists as a lyricist and composer.
In 2023, he will be in charge of the music for "In This Corner of the World," a musical that will be performed across Japan from May 2024. In conjunction with the release of this work, which was entirely composed of music, they announced that they would be resuming their activities in Japan. He is currently the most important singer-songwriter/musical music writer.
Overview of the single “Everywhere in this World”
Digital single “Everywhere in this world” (from the musical “In This Corner of the World”)
Delivered on Wednesday, February 7, 2024
Angela Aki related information
Angela Aki Official HP
Angela Aki Official YouTube Channel
Angela Aki Official X
Angela Aki Official Instagram
Angela Aki discography
Musical “In This Corner of the World” Performance Information
Musical “In This Corner of the World”
creative & cast
Original work: Fumiyo Kouno “In This Corner of the World” (Zenon Comics/Coa Mix)
Music: Angela Aki
Screenplay/Direction: Kazugo Ueda
Suzu Urano: Natsumi Kon/Sakurako Ohara (Double cast)
Shusaku Hojo: Naoto Kaiho/Yoshihiro Murai (W cast)
Rin Shiraki: Aya Hirano/Reika Sakurai (Double cast)
Keiko Kuromura: Katsura Otsuki and others
Produced by: Toho ©Fumiyo Kouno/Coamix/Toho
Performance schedule
[Tokyo performance]
May 2024 Risheng Theater
[National tour performance]
June 2024
Hokkaido performance Sapporo Cultural Arts Theater hitaru
Iwate Performance Iwate Prefectural Civic Hall Large Hall
Niigata Performance Niigata Prefectural Civic Hall Large Hall
Aichi performance Misonoza
July 2024
Nagano Performance Matsumoto Civic Arts Center
Ibaraki Performance Mito Civic Hall Globis Hall
Osaka Performance Sky Theater MBS
Hiroshima Performance Kure Shinkin Bank Hall
Official site of the work