Aoi Teshima

Early life

Aoi Teshima was born on June 21, 1987, in Kasuga, Fukuoka, Japan. From an early age, she was influenced by her parents' liking for classic musical films, such as The Wizard of Oz, The Secret Garden, The Little Prince, and Breakfast at Tiffany's. Of that, Teshima has attributed the song, Moon River, along with the music of Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, and Billie Holiday as the basis for her love for Jazz music, and as major influences on her musical style. In junior high school, Teshima found herself moved by Bette Midler's 1979 song, The Rose, her amateur cover of which became the trigger of her debut as a singer.

Career

After graduating junior high, Teshima enrolled at the C&S Music School in Fukuoka, to acquire the qualifications of high school and junior college while simultaneously developing her singing abilities. There, she began a music career as an amateur in 2003. In 2003 and 2004, she participated in the musical event DIVA, held in Fukuoka, as part of the Yamaha Music-sponsored Teen's Music Festival.

In March 2005, she performed at the Japan-Korea Slow Music World event in South Korea, where her performance was favourably received amongst the audience, attracting the attention of anime director Gorō Miyazaki. The Studio Ghibli music producer, Toshio Suzuki, was reportedly very impressed when he listened to her demo version of “The Rose” at the recommendation of Miyazaki.

On June 7, 2006, the release of “Theru's Song” became her major debut. The song was the theme of the Gorō Miyazaki directed film, Tales from Earthsea, in which she also voices the character Theru. This song debuted at #5 on the Oricon charts, with the number of CD shipments numbering at about 300,000, along with music downloads recorded at about 650,000 downloads, which was the largest for the theme song of the Studio Ghibli series at the time.

She was featured singing two songs in the Nintendo Wii game, Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon, called “Light” and “Warmth of the Moon”. In 2006 her song "Miracle Star" was used as the theme song for the Japanese version of Arctic Tale. In 2011, she once again collaborated with Gorō Miyazaki on his second feature, From up on Poppy Hill (2011), singing “Summer of Goodbye”, the main theme of the movie and other songs in the film, as well as voicing the character Yuko.

On September 30, 2012, she was presented with the Citizens Cultural Award of Kasuga City.

On February 10, 2016, she released the first single from her 10th album, Ren'dez-vous, titled “”. This song was used in the Japanese drama Love That Makes You Cry, and charted at top on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart.

Personal life

Teshima has described herself to be 'stubborn and strong-willed', and added that she is also camera-shy.

Discography

Original albums

Cover albums

Teshima's cover albums are sung in English.

Compilation albums

Singles

References

References

1. "Aoi Teshima Biography - 手嶌葵 バイオグラフィ". aoiteshima.com.
2. 株式会社ローソンエンタテインメント. "手嶌 葵 本人によるアルバム紹介！".
3. (24 November 2017). "【インタビュー】不安や寂しさに寄り添いたい、手嶌葵 自身にも重ねた「東京」".
4. Nakamura, Hirokaku. (11 June 2008). "So-net Music: 手嶌葵 インタビュー".
5. Imaizumi, Koichi. (11 June 2008). "塩谷哲・手嶌葵インタビュー".
6. (5 June 2006). "あの歌の主をいよいよお披露目！「ゲド戦記」挿入歌CD発売記念記者会見".
7. "主題歌・音楽について".
8. "Ghibli Adapts Kokuriko-Zaka Kara Shōjo Manga (Update 4)". Anime News Network.
9. (19 September 2008). "キャラアニ.com: DVD: ゲド戦記". キャラア".
10. (2011-08-21). "『コクリコ坂から』手嶌葵が熱唱し1,000人を魅了！被災地訪問時エピソードを披露し涙ぐむ場面も｜シネマトゥデイ".
11. (2011-11-08). "実力派シンガー手嶌 葵、これまでとこれからを綴るメモリアルな1枚『Collection Blue』発売".
12. "プロモーション楽曲に手嶌葵さんの「恋するしっぽ。」――「夢ねこDS」".
13. "Ghibli's N. American Arrietty BD to Have U.S. & U.K. Dubs (Updated)". Anime News Network.
14. "Aoi Teshima to Perform Ronia the Robber's Daughter's Theme Song". Anime News Network.
15. (1 November 2012). "市報かすが 平成24年11月1日号".
16. テレビ東京『みゅーじん』、2007年10月14日。
17. "AOI Teshima Official Website | Discography ディスコグラフィー".
18. "アーティスト： 手嶌葵". [[Oricon]].
19. "オリコンランキング情報サービス「you大樹」". [[Oricon]].
20. "Ren'dez-vous | 手嶌葵".
21. "Miss AOI-Bonjour, Paris! | 手嶌葵".
22. "Cheek to Cheek ～I Love Cinemas～ | 手嶌葵".
23. "Hot 100｜JAPAN Charts｜Billboard JAPAN". Billboard.
24. link. RIAJ
25. link. [[RIAJ]]. (December 20, 2006)