Chinen Rina (知念 里奈) is a female former Japanese popular music artist, turned Japanese TV Drama Actress. Her blood type is O. Rina was born in Okinawa in February 6, 1981. Although Okinawa is now part of Japan, it has evolved its unique culture and music blended from Chinese, Japanese and Pacific influences. Rina was trained in dance and song at the Okinawa Actors School, whose graduates include Namie Amuro and SPEED.

Debuting in 1996 with the Single “Do-Do for Me”, Rina’s career transitioned through bouncy pop songs and ballads to rock and then R&B. Rina had a powerful and versatile voice and could deliver powerful rock ballads such as “In Your Eyes”, hard rock “Yes!” or bouncy pop-cum-dance “Baby Love.” Her voice is at its best when she sings at lower, throaty pitches. Some earlier songs such as “God Bless the World” and “Wing” sung in a high-pitched voice, perhaps in an attempt to come across as cutesy, are not so pleasant to the ear. Although there are many high-pitched singers in Japan, in Rina’s case this tended to polarise listeners in a way seldom seem. The songs were hits nonetheless. Like other Okinawa Actors School alumni, she is an accomplished dancer.

n 2002 Rina appeared in the Japanese TV Drama “Yume no California” (夢のカリフォルニア, “Dream of California” also known as “California Dreamin’”). She subsequently moved to another drama, “Kochira Hon Ikegami Sho” (こちら本池上署, Central Ikegami Police) and was with the successful show for its entire five season run. In 2007, she appeared[6] in the Tokyo Production of Les_Miserables.

Song: On My Own (From Les Miserable)

Song: Baby Love

What’s up with the head banging? Btw, that’s Maria Cross, the cross dresser.

Lyrics:

konna koto ii na
dekitara ii na
anna yume konna yume ippai aru kedo

this sort of thing is good
I wish I could do it
that sort of dream, this sort of dream, I have many of them but

minna minna minna
kanaete kureru
fushigina POKKE de kanaete kureru
sora wo jiyuu ni tobitai na

all of them, all of them, all of them
he grants my dreams
he grants my dreams with a mysterious pocket
I want to fly freely in the sky

(hai! takekoputaa!)

(Here! Bamboo-copter!)

AN AN AN
tottemo daisuki
DORAEMON

ah ah ah
I love you very much,
Doraemon

shukudai touban shiken ni otsukai
anna koto konna koto taihen dakedo

homework, school duties, exams and errands
because that sort of thing and this sort of thing are awful

minna minna minna
tasukete kureru
benrina dougu de tasukete kureru
omocha no heitai da

all of them, all of them, all of them
he helps me
he helps me with a convenient tool
look! a toy soldier

(sore! tototsugeki!)

(Here! Attack!)

AN AN AN
tottemo daisuki
DORAEMON

ah ah ah
I love you very much,
Doraemon

anna toko ii na
iketara ii na
kono kuni ano shima takusan aru kedo

that place is nice
I wish I could go
this country, that island, there is many of them, but

minna minna minna
ikasete kureru
mirai no kikai de kanaete kureru
sekai ryokou ni ikitai na

all of them, all of them, all of them
he makes me able to go to them
he uses a gadget of the future to grant my wish
I want to go on a world trip

(ufufufu… doko demo DOA!)

(ehehehe… Anywhere Door!)

AN AN AN
tottemo daisuki
DORAEMON

ah ah ah
I love you very much,
Doraemon

AN AN AN
tottemo daisuki
DORAEMON

ah ah ah
I love you very much,
Doraemon

This are last year’s contenders, this year’s haven’t been decided yet so I thought I’d do a recap over J-Pop’s top 10 female artist.

Berryz Kobo (Berryz工房, Berryz Kobo? Literally ‘Berryz Workshop’. Sometimes romanized as Berryz Koubou or Berryz Kōbō) is a J-pop group within Hello! Project. The original eight members are originally from Hello! Project Kids and often are back-up dancers for W (Double You)’s music videos. Prior to the band’s formation, some members worked with members of Morning Musume in such side projects as Aa! and ZYX, and in the Mini Moni movie Okashina Daibouken.

They were first announced at a Hello! Project Club Event on January 14, 2004. Hello! Project promoted the band by releasing three singles within a month of each other, starting in March of 2004 with “Anata Nashi de wa Ikite Yukenai”. Their first album, 1st Cho Berryz, followed the trilogy of debut singles in July 2004.

In February 2007, Berryz Kobo made news headlines after it was announced that the group would be holding a concert at Saitama Super Arena on April 1. Not only did the tickets for the two performances sell out (a total of 20,000 seats) almost two months before the premiere, but this event also marked an historical record in that the band officially became the first to perform in the arena, whose members average age did not exceed 14 years (thereby dethroning Morning Musume, whose average was 16.3). This makes them the youngest girl group in Japan.

Check out their official website: Berryz Kobo

I have never heard this song before. And it’s easily becoming a favorite :)

Ai Otsuka (大塚 愛, Ōtsuka Ai?, born September 9, 1982) is a female Japanese pop singer-songwriter and pianist from Osaka, Osaka Prefecture, Japan. She is best-known for her 2003/2004 hit Sakuranbo, which stayed in the Top 200 Oricon Weekly Singles Chart for 101 weeks. Ai Otsuka is signed to record label Avex Trax, one of the biggest record labels in Japan and one of the largest independent record labels in the world, which also manages other high-profile artists like Ayumi Hamasaki, Kumi Koda, Sweetbox, BoA, Namie Amuro, Ami Suzuki, Hitomi Shimatani, and Every Little Thing. She is qualified to teach kindergarten, and has said she will become a kindergarten teacher if her singing career collapses.

Her first single, 2003’s “Momo no hanabira”, was only a minor hit, peaking at #24 on the Oricon singles top 100, but stayed on the charts for 21 weeks.

Her next single, “Sakuranbo”, released December of 2003 would become the 12th best selling single of 2004. Gradually climbing the charts to top 5, the single stayed on the chart for 101 weeks (almost two years), and a special “encore press” version was commissioned, which peaked at #4.

In early March, 2004 Otsuka released her last single before her first album. “Amaenbo” was used in a television advertisement for Sato Healthcare’s cold relief tablets Stona Rhini S (ストナリニS, sutona rini S?). “Amaenbo” was unable to reach #1 on the Oricon Charts and ended up at #6 while at the same time “Sakuranbo” was #5. This was the first time in Japanese music history a female artist was able to have two singles in the top ten in the same week, until 2005 Kumi Koda was able to beat Ai with three singles within the same week.

By end of March 2004, her first album “Love Punch” was released, which debuted at #3 on the Oricon charts and sold 190,265 copies in its first week. She continued to release singles and gradually built a diverse and devoted following.

wiki

Taking one of the favorite oldies and transforming it into a beautiful piano piece.