Today, Jun Buya will give you a complete introduction to the legendary Yasushi Akimoto in the Japanese music scene
Yasushi Akimoto has many identities, but when it comes to him, we are most familiar with him, and he is also the lyricist who likes to give himself the title, he is the first lyricist in Japan to sell tens of millions.
In 1981, he officially went out as a songwriting person by Yasushi Akimoto. The following year, the following year, he composed Kyohei Tsutsumi, and Koichi Kagaki's recitation song "Dramatic Rain", Yasushi Akimoto' Sakuto Tochi, and Rinju's first-class Sakuya procession.
In 1984, Akimoto Yasuaki Ryo Justifiable Koizumi Kyoko, Other Koizumi Kyoko Kyoko 1st Neck Akimoto Kyoko Kakumoto's Ified Girl Idol Song,Complete Photo-Finish Kyoko Koizumi's Work in the Inner World, Nhk Hakuka kai performance chanting, Yayuan Yasushi Nami.
The most famous song written by Yasushi Akimoto is "Kawahito", composed by the legendary singer Hime Miku Skylark, "Kawahito", which was later considered a famous song in Japan and even the world
The river flows slowly through generations
The slowly flowing river never stops
Flowing into the distance and merging with the sunset on the edge of the sky
Life is like travel
On this road with no end in sight
Hand in hand with those who love each other
Find your dreams together
- "The River Never Stops"
This made Yasushi Akimoto really feel that he was a lyricist, adding a lyricist to his many titles, precisely because Miku Skylark sang the songs he wrote.
In the 1980s, Yasushi Akimoto's other major achievement was the creation of the teenage idol group Kitten Club, which became a social phenomenon that affected all of Japan. Yasushi Akimoto's own wife, Asamiko Takai, and Takuya Kimura's wife, Shizuka Kudo, are members of the group.
After the dissolution of the Kitten Club, Yasushi Akimoto was not idle, and at the same time engaged in many works such as screenwriters, directors, writers, filmmakers, orators, such as writing lyrics to V6, Mika Nakajima, TOKIO, KinKi Kids, Junior Team, etc., such as the novel "Ghost Call", which was later made into a movie, and he personally served as a producer.
He even served as a visiting professor at Kyoto University of the Arts and later became vice president of the university. As well as giving speeches to entrepreneurs from time to time, and also serving as the chief planner of the Japanese concerts of K-pop artists, this Korean artist is slightly rude, wearing sunglasses for meetings, and Yasushi Akimoto is still drinking water when he speaks.
Nearly 20 years after the kitten club was disbanded, Yasushi Akimoto returned to the idol stage. In 2005, he established AKB48 and later became a national idol that influenced all aspects of Japanese society, and won the annual number one in the sales charts for many consecutive years. He almost wrote the lyrics to thousands of songs by AKB48 and its sister group. As we all know, AKB48 songs are almost all about the troubles of young girls, but Yasushi Akimoto, as a middle-aged uncle, has a hand in the lyrics.
Even the members of the group were more girly than the girls, and Yuko Oshima called him "Japan's first girlish heart", and even matsunaya Yumi, the queen of poisonous tongues, said that "Yasushi Akimoto is a young girl". Feel free to feel a few words
Sneak a look at you sitting in the seat in front of you
Suddenly, my heart became a little melancholy
Really like you
But I don't dare to tell you about it
Whisper to your back
This lonely like mood
- "Ponytail and Hair Ring"
Put your hand in your mouth
Pull out the affection that is stuck in your heart to see you...
"I like you" sincere words
As long as it can be conveyed to your heart, even if it does not get a response
Even if you get a confused expression, you can have a happy mood
- "Sign of Love"
Can you imagine that these shameful lyrics are from a middle-aged uncle, perfectly writing the youthful mood of an adolescent girl and how Yasushi Akimoto wrote it
These words are not very reasonable, comparing first love to strawberry cake, no matter how the fruit on the cake changes, the cake itself has not changed, the favorite is still strawberry. So he wrote the song "Strawberry Cake" (Yuki Kashiwagi solo song)
Friends around me began to get married one after another
Happiness is actually close to you
Only now did I suddenly understand
How easy it would be if I could say I like it
It's so strong that I don't even touch my hands...
It was not the object of love at all
Green plum bamboo horse You grew up together
Little by little
Something has quietly changed
Although there is no feeling of heart pounding
This kind of comfort and steadfastness
Love also exists, and I finally realized it
- "Strawberry Cake"
This posture is also slightly girly
Of course, in addition to the lyrics full of girls' hearts, Yasushi Akimoto also occasionally wrote more handsome lyrics for AKB48. AKB48's first single "River" to reach the top of oricon was the same theme as "Endless River".
Don't give up
Throw out the stones to make your dreams come true
But even the landing was silent and quiet
There's also a river flowing between your square inches
A river of hardships and tribulations
Although there are also adversities although occasionally extinguished
As long as you lose and fight again and again
Never give up on the other end, there must be a beautiful other shore
Someday arrive ashore
——《river》
For example, from time to time to instill chicken soup for the soul to the members, but it is just a topic of eating... Yasushi Akimoto really likes to use all kinds of metaphors to speak
As well as giving the members a spiritual mentor, but his elaborate reply did not get a good response from the members...
Taking pictures of the members between breaks, being spat at like a dad, taking pictures too slowly, and when everyone eats, he is still busy replying to various messages.
However, Yasushi Akimoto can write so many lyrics full of girls' hearts, in large part because he directly understands the troubles and various ideas of girls at this age.
You must have wanted to graduate several times, right, and the early members graduated one after another, so the idea was even stronger. A few years ago, you said "I have something to say," so we went to the Italian restaurant in Azabu Juban to eat together. I'm sure at that time, you really wanted to discuss the timing of graduation with me, and I took it as a joke. It's like trying to report that someone wants to get married, and I'm the father who doesn't want to face it, and I always feel that your graduation is always mixed up by the distraction of focus.
Even so, you still think about the future of AKB48, think about the younger generations, and never refuse. So I relied on you and thought about how nice it would be if you could stay at AKB48 even if you were over 30. Finally, I seem to be able to say it to you well. "Yang Cai, can you stay with AKB a little longer?" No, just kidding. You can't rely on Yang vegetables like this anymore. It looks soft, it seems to have no energy, it looks like it is mixing.
——Yasushi Akimoto's letter to Yoshinori Kojima
In addition to the 48 series, Yasushi Akimoto is also the producer of nogizaka 46 and Uzaka 46, and the Sakamichi clan is also very popular today, and his production requirements for Nogisaka are also quite strict.
Yasushi Akimoto's goal is not just to dominate Japan, but to export Japanese culture to the world
Yasushi Akimoto realized that the influence of Japanese culture in the world was still very small, and he wanted to export the 48 series, a unique Japanese female idol culture, to the world, and later established JKT48 in Indonesia, and this year established sister groups in the Philippines, Taiwan, and Thailand.
Why can the 48 series be on fire?
This is how foreigners would not understand this idol culture
Then we saw that countries outside of Japan were influenced by this idol culture, and in Shanghai, Former Munaya Jun did see that there were also wota artists among the fans of domestic idol groups, and even shouted call in Japanese, to some extent, this is the way of responding to the support formed by the influence of Japanese idol culture.
Japanese news commentator Soichiro Tahara
Yasushi Akimoto has several duties, naturally every day is busy until the sky is dark, so how does he arrange his work and rest, we follow the footage of the "2160 Hours" series of documentaries, taking the production of AKB48's single "so long" as an example to feel the way Akimoto Yasushi works
Before shooting the MV, the MV director and other behind-the-scenes production staff were called together to a meeting to let them express their feelings after listening to the song, but due to the problem of uncoordinated cooperation between various personnel, some directors said that they had not heard the song, and Akimoto Yasushi was very unhappy: "Why didn't you hear it, then why did you come to this meeting today", and the meeting site fell into a dead silence.
In addition to the main song (A-side song), the single of AKB48 has an MV, and the CW song (B-side song) will also shoot MV, and the director is generally a newcomer director. However, it was only a few days before filming, and Yasushi Akimoto had not yet written the lyrics, but this was a common thing for Yasushi Akimoto
King Records AKB48 single producer Shunji Yuasa
Generally speaking, the complete song (including lyrics) is filmed a month before shooting, and the MV is shot according to the song style, while AKB48 is the opposite, so we often find that AKB48's songs are not a theme at all with the MV
Shikazu Kawa, who has directed several AKB48 MVs
Takahashi Eiki, who has directed several AKB48 MVs
Therefore, the directors do not know the lyrics of the MV, how to shoot, the location is a very headache, and a few days later to shoot, Akimoto Yasushi called everyone to a meeting to say that after listening to the song to give a complete set of shooting plans is indeed a very difficult thing
AKB48 Image Leader Kenji Kitagawa
AKB48 costume designer Shinobu Chikuno
Although the time is tight, but Akimoto Yasushi is not ambiguous at all, will not make compromises, as Xiao Shinobi said, the time is tight and he may have a compromise point to reduce his requirements, but Akimoto Yasushi does not have it.
It was only 4 days before the MV shooting, but Yasushi Akimoto still hadn't finished the lyrics, and he went to Nagoya to watch the performance of the SKE48 new theater on this busy day
On the way to Nagoya, he also had to consider the song selection for the album of NMB48 in Osaka, when the lyrics of the AKB song that would start shooting in four days had not yet come out
The day before the first MV was filmed, Yasushi Akimoto had not yet finished the lyrics of any of the songs, and he had a lot of other work on this day, and the person in charge of the song began to fidget
Head of songs at Yasushi Akimoto Office Takahiro Kumamoto
Takahiro Kumamoto, who was in charge of sorting out the lyrics, wanted to ask Yasushi Akimoto when he would be able to complete the lyrics, so he also had to record and choreograph, which required lyrics, but he did not dare to urge
Finally waiting for the lyrics late at night, and the recording studio recorder Tanaka Sensei had been waiting for a long time, immediately filled out the words, summoned the singer to record DOME, at this time only a few hours before the MV began filming
At the same time, Tanaka gave the lyrics to a choreographer who needed to choreograph the dance according to the lyrics immediately, and then left at 3 a.m. to go to the shooting scene and teach the members to dance early in the morning
The lyrics are coming, the choreography is good, is this reassuring? Yasushi Akimoto, who is striving for excellence, sent Tanaka sensei his modified lyrics, many modified parts, again found a small sample singer, re-recorded DOME, Tanaka and the producer in charge of the MV to communicate that the dance should also be modified, and at this time the MV is already filming
The first day of the song was filmed, and the next day was even more severe, there were two songs to be filmed, the lyrics had not yet come, and all the staff had to wait all night again
Looking forward to the stars and hoping for the moon, the lyrics are finally coming! The song is called Step on the there, the interesting song title eases the nervous and anxious atmosphere of the recording studio, and later Akimoto Yasushi explained the song that even if you step on the, you have to go on a date, indicating that the other party is important (the brain hole is really strange, and it is a figurative lyric), in short, the MV scene has nothing to do with dating, and there is no.
By the day of the shooting, the lyrics have not yet come, even the dance can not be choreographed, the scene, the sub-shot can not be assigned, the director must do a variety of plans, of course, but also have the worst plan
In other words, lyrics, demos, dances, and MV shooting may also be carried out almost simultaneously
After the MV was filmed, Yasushi Akimoto looked over and made an evaluation of the MV, and several directors listened to it
Although Yasushi Akimoto still had some suggestions, he was generally satisfied, and the nervous directors took a deep breath by passing it
The next thing is to invite members to officially record, so there are many AKB members, everyone has work outside the group, so it is difficult to record songs at the same time, there is a chorus part and a personal singing part, and recording songs is also a very troublesome thing
Do you think the MV is over? Next is the official recording, Yasushi Akimoto will also change the lyrics, and the recorded members will have to record again. It is also possible to prepare several versions of the same lyrics, record them first, and then choose one at the end
Didn't I mention the origin of the song before, is the song easier than the lyrics and the MV? The perfectionist Yasushi Akimoto must also be harsh, and it has to be modified again and again
Inoue ヨシマサ has written many popular songs for AKB48, such as "Beginner", "Everyday, カチューシャ", "真夏の Sounds good", etc., he said that he often met with Akimoto Yasushi until midnight, and after returning home at 5 a.m., he could still receive information from Yasushi Akimoto. Inoue wrote a special poem "Yasushi Akimoto's Text Message" to feel the resentment of the staff
So the MV of the AKB48 that we usually see is usually done in this way
How a person can do so many things, Yasushi Akimoto said to be imaginative and dedicated
Another apt metaphor
Yasushi Akimoto's words are really poignant, and the sensual literati can really touch any scene. No matter how powerful a person is, he can't escape the baptism of time, unconsciously Akimoto Yasushi is close to the year of the flower armor, holding several positions, full of tables, can his body really eat and consume?
Last year, he repeatedly expressed his poor physical condition on the public chat software
"I feel so tired."
"Ahhh, I have a cold. Is it fatigue accumulating too much? There's a lot of work that's close to being done. ”
"Energetic business contacts are waiting for the end of the year. Excuse me. I'm going to sleep today. Because the cold can't get better. ”
"Although it has risen, it has not made any progress. The coughing couldn't stop. Coughing is actually very physically demanding. I'm also holding an inhaler in one hand now, barely working. This cold was so bad. Colds can't get better. I still can't stop coughing. ”
I hope that Yasushi Akimoto can also worry more about his physical state and bring more and better works with a better spirit