Takamasa Ishihara. Free Essay Example

Takamasa Ishihara, commonly known as Miyavi (his stage performing name), was born in 1981(Olsen, 2009). He is a Japanese singer, guitarist, actor, record producer, and songwriter. He is well known for his unique style of finger slapping while playing his guitar. At the age of 17 years, Miyavi began his career as a guitarist with “Miyabi” as his stage name for a rock band named visual kei (Olsen, 2009). After the band dissolved, Miyavi made his first appearance on stage as of 2002 as a solo artist with his new stage name changed to Miyavi (Olsen, 2009). He joined S.K.I.N., a supergroup as of 2007, and began his company in 2009 by J-glam (Olsen, 2009). He took a turn around in his music style to pop/acoustic, which made expand his fan base. To enlarge his fan base, even more, Miyavi learned English. In 2015, Miyavi toured in many countries where he performed in 30 different countries, 250 shows (Olsen, 2009). In 2016, he made a release of 27 singles and ten albums of solo music (Olsen, 2009). Miyavi got featured in the film Unbroken which was directed by Angelina Jolie, making known of his acting skills. Miyavi has achieved more since he began his career, as will be discussed below. The study entirely focuses on Miyavi, his background story, his career life, his achievements, and the impact he has had on his fans worldwide.

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Personal Background Information

Miyavi was born on 14th September 1981 by a Korean Japanese father and a Japanese mother in Nishikujo, a district in Konohana-Ku ward (Olsen, 2009). Yoshie is the name of Miyavi’s sister. The family resided in Nishikujo. Miyavi, at the age of nine, joined a local elementary school where he began his education. Miyavi and his mother moved to Kawanishi, which is in Hyogo Prefecture after his parents’ divorce. At school, Miyavi was among the good students. He enjoyed playing football, where he joined the junior team. For the love he had on soccer, Miyavi dreamt of pursuing it as a career, but in his second year, his dreams got shuttered after experiencing a severe injury in his knee. A friend visited him with a guitar after the injury and played him some songs to soothe him. It was then that Miyavi developed a liking in the music industry and bought his guitar. In a later interview, Miyavi elaborated on his first encounter with a guitar. He said that he could picture himself on stage, performing to a huge crowd of people. He took his time practicing to be a better musician. His journey was not a bed of roses, but he pressed on. In his third year, he joined "Loop," his first band at that time. His friend, who introduced him to the industry, died, and Miyavi, due to the strong brotherly bond he had with him, could no longer bear living in Hyogo. At the age of 17, Miyavi shifted to Tokyo, where he played guitar at clubs to get money for his upkeep (Olsen, 2009). He also began modeling where he made many friends, and his talent became known to many. In 1999, he adopted “Miyabi" as his stage name after joining the "Due le Quartz" musical band (Olsen, 2009). He played the role of a guitarist and a backing vocalist in the band. With interest in the industry, Miyavi begun lyrics writing, composed, and arranged them. With no time, he became the chief songwriter for the band. The band made it big in 1991, releasing Mikansei no Jelly to Hyde, which marked their first album (Olsen, 2009). The band’s first tape, Ama to Muchi Wo got released on 19th July and 21st August 2000 (Olsen, 2009). The next demo tape, Rob Song got released in 2001, and on 12th May 2002, Rodeo (Olsen, 2009). The band’s live last concert got held at Akasaka Blitz on 22nd September 2002 (Olsen, 2009). The dissolution of the band came after the withdrawal announcement of the bass player, Kikasa. At this time, Miyavi had enough experience and began his solo career with the name Miyavi. Miyavi sealed a contract with P.S. Company, and as of 31st October, Gagaku, his debut album got released (Olsen, 2009). The album comprised of ten tracks that he wrote. He released the other three more albums before the end of the year i.e., Jingle Bell; Pop is dead, and Shindemo Boogie-Woogie. His third album, Jingle Bell, was the only that managed to get enlisted among the top 40 on singles Oricon charts (Olsen, 2009). Still, in 2002, Miyavi got featured for the first time in the "Ryomano Tsumato Sono Ottoto Aijin” film (Olsen, 2009). The film reunited him with Sakito, his former bandmate. As of 23rd April 2003, Miyavi held his first concert as a solo in the public hall by Shibuya (Olsen, 2009). On 2nd December the same year, Miyavi made his second album, Galyuu, available to the public (Olsen, 2009). The album comprised 14 songs, charted on the Oricon chart position 44th (Olsen, 2009). Three more singles got released before the year-end, and all got listed on the Oricon chart as follows; Jibun Kakumei number 40, Tariraritarara number 30, and Coo quack cluck (Ku. Ku. Ru), number 42 (Olsen, 2009). Still, in the same year, Miyavi got featured in “Oresama” as his second film, where he played as himself. The film, however, got released on 25th February 2004, which performed quite well. Still, in February, he went on a solo tour Tokyo Dassou for his first tour as a solo artist (Olsen, 2009). He performed in Japan, Taiwan, and Korea. In June 2004, Ashita, Genki Ni Naare, which marked his seventh single got released, which managed to hit position one on Indies chart and position 22nd on the Oricon chart (Olsen, 2009). In October, Miyavi signed a contract with a musical group named Universal but still did not withdraw fully from P.S. Company. After the new major contract, Mayavi released one major single Rock no Gyakushuu, making it tenth on Oricon charts (Olsen, 2009). As of May 2005, he released yet another single that charted 10th on the chart, Freedom Fighters (Olsen, 2009). Miyavizm was his third album that got released on 1st June 2005 (Olsen, 2009). Again it became position ten on the Oricon chart. Still, in the same year, Miyavi released one of his best-charted singles, Kekkon Shiki Uta, which meant “Are you ready to rock?” The single together with one that he released in 2006, dear my friend got ranked as position six on the Oricon chart. As of December 2005, Miyavi took part in performing at a carnival for a peace and smile event planned by P.S. Company (Olsen, 2009). In late 2005, Miyavi shifted to a new music style. He began employing the pop/ acoustic style reflected in the M.Y.V. Pops album that got released on 2nd August 2006, and Miyaviuta Dokuso released on 13th September the same year (Olsen, 2009). The two got position 15th and 25th on Oricon’s chart (Olsen, 2009). Due to his change of style, on the one hand, he lost most of the old fans, but on the other hand, he managed to attract many more fans. As of September 2006, the “25 Shunen Kinen Koen” concert that got held in Tokyo gave him a platform to demonstrate his new adopted musical style (Olsen, 2009). He received a lot of applause for the style. To expand his fans and make his music international, Miyavi went to America to learn English and dance. While there, he utilized his weekends by performing on the streets. He was in the U.S.A. for six months, and as of 17th February 2007, he got invited for a concert by Mr. Freeze, a breakdancer (Olsen, 2009). That was his debut in the United States as a solo artist. At another concert in Las Vegas, Miyavi got said to have agreed to join the S.K.I.N. band and by 29th June, their first concert in California (Olsen, 2009). Sakihokoru Hana no you ni (Neo Visualizm), Miyavi’s seventh single got released in Japan after his return from the United States. It emerged position twelfth in the Oricon’s chart. The release of a remixed of his past hits, which got position 44, was followed by his countrywide tour that officiated on 16th July (Olsen, 2009). He performed in Bonn, Seoul, South Korea, and Germany at Animagic. As of November 2007, he released his next major single, Subarashikikana, Kono Sekai, "What a Wonderful World" that got ranked as position thirteen (Olsen, 2009). As of 19th March 2008, Mayavi’s sixth album termed as ‘This Iz the Japanese Kabuki Rock’ got released that got 25th position (Olsen, 2009). After its release, Miyavi took a worldwide tour where he covered 33 concerts in 14 countries (United States, Brazil, Germany, Chile, England, Spain the Netherlands, Sweden, France, Finland, Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea) (Olsen, 2009). Later on, he made a performance in China. The concerts were mainly covered and sold out by media organizations. The tour turned out to be the most fruitful worldwide tour in the history of Miyavi. He performed in September in Beijing, and on 24th December, his second remix got released but failed to get listed among the top 100 (Karp, 2019). On 3rd January 2009, he made his performance at a concert organized by P.S. Company during the commemorative 10th anniversary (Karp, 2019). On 5th April, his ten-year contract with the P.S. Company expired, and he left. On 8th April 2009, Miyavi launched, J-glam Inc., which was his company (Karp, 2019). On the 22nd same month, the third album compilation got released (Karp, 2019). He took his second international tour this time he visited Moscow, Hungary, Austria, Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, and Italy. He was to pass through the United States, but he fell sick and got injured, which made it canceled. As of September, the same year, he opened his international fan club. On 31st December 2009, he entered into a contract with music Japan E.M.I. (Karp, 2019). It released "Survive," his single on 10th March 2010 (Karp, 2019). Concurrently, Miyavi proceeded with a tour where he visited Canada, the United States, and in October, he visited Australia, which marked his first visit there. On 13th October same year, "What is my name" his seventh album got released (Karp, 2019). The album got ranked 26th in the Oricon’s chart. In early 2011, Miyavi made his next worldwide tour, where he covered Japan and Europe. In May 2011, his live recording in London got released, and in October same year, Strong, a major single, got released after he proceeded with his tour to South and North America. On 19th February 2012, he performed at rocks event hosted by E.M.I. On 30th June, he became the only representative of the Asians at the festivals held in France (Karp, 2019). In August same year, Miyavi performed in Rusia at the Kubana Festival. Later that year, he performed also at the 908 festival in Saitama Super Arena. On 19th June 2013, “Miyavi," his eighth album got released, which marked his best-selling of all albums (Karp, 2019). The album got ranked position eight on Oricon charts. On 28th February 2013, Miyavi became a professional actor with Unbroken as his first film and with Angelina Jolie as a second film director (Karp, 2019). Miyavi admitted to having had second thoughts about taking the job offer since it was kind of sensitive to the people of Japan. Still, after meeting Jolie, he accepted the offer after learning it was all based on forgiveness. In 2013, he got nominated as the best Japanese act for the music award, MTV Europe, and won the best category collaboration with Yuksek (Karp, 2019). On 22nd February 2014, he went for yet another world tour where he toured Malaysia, Europe, Mexico, and the U.S.A. (Karp, 2019). The film got released in December of the same year. In the film, Miyavi played the role of an army sergeant. In 2014, Horizon, music got nominated still at MTV for the best video done by a male. As of 15th April 2015, The other album got released. In the group of his studio album, The others were his ninth (Karp, 2019).