Born in New York City and raised by parents rooted in the Japanese music industry, Utada Hikaru always had talent for music. At age 16 her Japanese debut album "First Love" sold over 2 million albums during her first week alone and is still the best selling album in Japanese music history. Since she began writing her own music at the age of 12, she has always led the direction of all the music she produced. Sure she's a talented singer/songerwriter but to me she represents more than just that.

Whether we see it directly or indirectly, faith and philosophy has always embedded itself into our culture to shape the way we see the world around us. This rule encompasses everyone regardless of whether or not we embrace or reject what we see around us. I suppose that's one explanation to why I connect with her so well. The language of her lyrics are Japanese, but the language of her music isn't. In her music she makes plenty of references to faith and prayer but she clearly isn't religious. Although an iconic pop star in Japan, she says that she can never be Japanese...nor American. She has neither sold out nor has she become irrelevant, and her music continues to evolve as well as her themes.

I was always the black (yellow?) sheep; moving from city to city, school to school, crowd to crowd. Secretly I hated my parents for leaving Japan and raising me here. Back then I would've gladly exchanged whatever I had here just to be a normal student in Japan. I wish I could tell you how everything has changed since then. I wish everyone spoke Japanese so that everyone could hear what I hear when I listen to this song because no translation could ever come close to what this song has to offer. I wish I could explain why I don't need your love. I wish I could explain why I don't need to belong anywhere and that all I need is my own identity and this little thing called "faith". I wish I could explain why there's no more fear, no more loneliness, even at the darkest hour of the night. Unfortunately I can't, which is why I created this blog. It's not my intention to dramatize but it's just the way I am.

神道