I absolutely adore Chara who is one of the most interesting women in Japanese music. A childlike singer who's very quirky and kooky with messy hair, big eyes and a big mouth. She's a real talent who wears many hats as composer, lyricist, singer, pianist, artist, actress, producer, wife and mother. I was introduced to her via my friend Keiko and I'm sure glad she did. At the time, since I was used to more clear-cut pop or rock music, when I first heard Chara's music I wasn't sure what to make of her. But as I kept listening to more and more songs, I became inexplicably drawn into her unique sound.

Nicknamed Chara as a child in school when she would do "chara-chara" (the written sound of someone fidgeting restlessly) in class all of the time. The name stuck with her into adulthood and even now, few people know her real name. As a young girl Chara was a bit of a child protege showing a natural ability to compose fairly complex songs at the age of 4. After getting formal lessons, by age 6 she had her first recital with her own original composition. In the years to come she would become reknowned for her skill with they keyboard and her passion for American and British pop. She also seemed to wear rollerskates wherever she went. At the age of 14 she started her own pop band playing keyboards and writing songs. It took some effort to find a good vocalist for her music until Chara realized she could do it herself. Her childlike singing was perfect for communicating her similarily childlike songs. By 1990, Chara had attracted the attention of Epic/Sony records and was signed to a 5 year contract. While not an instant success, after more nationwide TV exposure Chara soon became one of the fastest rising music stars in Japan.

Chara has always had a persona of an eternal child. In many ways she's always seemed to be 5 years old. Although she is a smart and saavy woman, Chara has a certain kind of youthful innocence that carries into the way she looks, acts, sings and lives life. It's no act either, this is her real self. This persona has won her countless dedicated fans from all over Japan who admire her youthful look and behavior. Her singing style is wispy and childlike, yet soulful. The thing I came to appreciate most is how textured and multi-layered her songs are. Not only in the musical arrangement but with her singing too. She does so many great things with her voice and all of her songs take influence from many styles like pop, jazz, R&B, hip hop, blues, 70's rock, soul folk and funk. It is based in pop influences, but I wouldn't hesitate to call it alternative since it's usually so hard to categorize.

1995 and 1996 were pretty eventful years for Chara. She married actor/producer Tadanobu Asano and gave birth to a baby girl whom she named Sumire. A couple of months later she released a greatest hits album (which was my first exposure to Chara) with a title that pays homage to her daughter. The addition to a daughter to her life seemed to have a destinct impact on Chara's creative output making her even more willing to express her youthful personality.
In the early years of her career, Chara tried to go against her usual persona and made an attempt to foster a more glamourous and sexy look. But her personality always came through regardless. So she tended to be a bit of a mismatch. But sometime after the birth of Sumire, Chara began to lose the glamour look and has gone with a more natural and earthy look that goes better with her free-spirited character. Chara had become a favorite of famed director Shunji Iwai starring in three of his movies, Picnic (1994) and Swallowtail Butterfly (1996). In Swallowtail, Chara played a character of Glico who was part of a rag-tag group of outcasts in a fictional near-future Japan where the high value of the yen had caused the country to become a veritable gold-rush country filled with immigrants trying to make a better life for themselves. Glico's gang came to call themselves the Yen Town Gang. For her role she won an academy award as best actress. Chara along with Iwai and some others formed a rock-based band called the Yen Town Band spun off from the same band they played as in the movie. Chara in fact played the movie's character Glico as part of the shtick. Produced by Takeshi Kobayashi, a well known producer of some of my other favorite bands like Mr. Children and My Little Lover, Yen Town Band released one album together of songs featured in the movie. Also Chara joined another group "The 99 1/2" as the vocalist. Afterwards, Chara went back to her solo work in 1997 to release her best selling album to date "Junior Sweet". This year she's followed up her landmark album with yet another groovy album "Strange Fruits".