| Sorry for typing in English, but I don't know how to type Japanese.
I'm probably the newest Akina fan here. I just became a fan last week. My background is very different from most people.
I was born in 1970 in Tokyo. I liked some older Japanese singers, such as Junko Yagami and Saki Kubota (Ihoujin). I started listening to "Yougaku" in early 80's, and started playing the guitar in 1985. I've been a rock musician ever since (still play the guitar everyday.) So, I didn't really listen to those idol songs in the 80's.
I moved to the USA in 1990 to go to a university. After graduating from the university, I decided to stay in the US. I live in California now. In short, I don't know most of Japanese music in the last 25 years. Matsuwa from Amin was probably one of the newest Japanese songs for me.
Earlier this year, I really wanted to listen to "Ihoujin". It's just a nostalgy thing. I searched it on YouTube, and found some videos. Then, I wanted to buy a CD. I found a Japanese online CD store that shipped to the US. I searched for "Ihoujin", and found "Utahime Best". I checked the song list, and found a few songs that I knew, such as "Iihi Tabidachi". So, I ordered the CD, along with other CDs, such as Amin, Junko Yagami and Saki Kubota. That was in January this year.
I listened to Akina's "Ihoujin", and I didn't really care. Every once in a while, I lisnted to "Utahime Best", and I thought her voice was really low, but in a very cool way. It was like "how low can she sing?" I started thinking she had the special voice, and she's a great singer. Her vibrato is great. Besides, I always like dark and heavy music (mostly British rock). Most songs in "Utahime Best" are pretty dark and heavy, a lttle depressing, though.
Last week, I searched Akina on YouTube. I listened/watched a lot of videos. I remembered a few old songs, like "Shoujo A" and "Kazarijanainoyo Namidawa". I kind of remembered "Desire", only the "Get up, Get up..." part. The "Desire" videos were really cool with the Kimono dress. I probably watched them 50 times in a few days. I was still in Japan, when "Desire" came out, but then, I was already playing in a few bands, and listening to heavier rock, such as Ozzy, Metallica and Deep Purple. I had never watched Akina singing "Desire" on TV back then. It's a little shokcing, when I finally watched the video last week. She's really cool, especially when she lifts her knees twice with her hands in the air.
A few days ago, I checked more Akina videos on YouTube, and found those live videos from "The Last Destination". I really liked the big band version of some songs. I was really impressed by her performance, too.
I searched more about Akina (that's how I found this site), and ordered more CDs. I got "Best Finger" and "Enka" now. I ordered "Double Decade", "Ballade Best", "Destination" and "Unbalance+Balance". I had to import them from Japan and Taiwan, so it'd take some time to get here.
Anyway, ファンになったきっかけは "Ihoujin". If I didn't search for "Ihoujin", I wouldn't have even known Akina was still singing/performing. I'm glad she's still singing. | |