Biography
The J-pop partnership Chage & Aska, consisting of Fukuoka natives Shuji Shibata and Shigeki Miyazaki, both singer/songwriters, has moved more than 30 million units across a lengthy run that mixed early folk leanings with later mainstream pop and featured numerous side ventures plus extended breaks, reaching its greatest heights between the late 1980s and early 1990s. The pair came together in the late 1970s after Miyazaki encountered Shibata at a regional school concert and persuaded him to enter the 1979 Yamaha Popular Song Festival; their winning entry, “Hitori Saki,” served as the debut single and preceded the first album, Kaze Mai (1980). Follow-up single “Banri No Kawa” (1980) marked their initial major commercial success, and by 1985, when seventh studio album Z=One appeared, their standing was firmly set; the following year alone yielded three full-length releases.
Aska’s initial solo outing, the modestly received Scene, surfaced in 1988, yet greater impact arrived with the 1989 album Pride, which remained on the charts for years and became a perennial favorite. In 1991 the solo single “Hajimariwa Itsumo Ame,” drawn from Scene II, moved a million copies, while the duo’s “Say Yes,” tied to the television drama 101st Proposal, shifted three million units and turned into a staple at Japanese wedding receptions. Three additional singles from the same era each surpassed the million mark, matching the tallies of album Tree (1991) and compilation Super Best II (1992); “Yah Yah Yah” then became their second three-million seller in 1993. The duo received the Japanese Artist of the Year Award in both 1992 and 1993.
Seeking wider recognition in 1995—after already dominating East Asia—they performed live in Europe for the first time. Aska contributed “Something There” to composer Charlie Midnight for the live-action Street Fighter film starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and supplied “Time” to the Sylvester Stallone vehicle Judge Dredd. Their track “On Your Mark” also accompanied a short film of the same title directed by Hayao Miyazaki. That year they became the first Japanese act to claim a Monaco World Music Award. In 1996 they became the first Asian performers to appear on MTV Unplugged in London, and several of their compositions received covers from Chaka Khan, Boy George, Londonbeat, and Marianne Faithfull on the tribute collection One Voice.
The partnership dissolved afterward, with both members pursuing solo careers until reuniting in 1999 for the album No Doubt and a satellite-broadcast New Year’s marathon concert in Fukuoka to mark the millennium. Subsequent releases included Not at All (2001) and Stamp (2002), the year they served as Japanese ambassadors for the World Cup and performed in South Korea. Another separation followed until 2007, when they issued the singles “Here & There” and “Man and Woman” alongside the album Double. In early 2009 both artists again declared a return to solo endeavors.
Aska’s initial solo outing, the modestly received Scene, surfaced in 1988, yet greater impact arrived with the 1989 album Pride, which remained on the charts for years and became a perennial favorite. In 1991 the solo single “Hajimariwa Itsumo Ame,” drawn from Scene II, moved a million copies, while the duo’s “Say Yes,” tied to the television drama 101st Proposal, shifted three million units and turned into a staple at Japanese wedding receptions. Three additional singles from the same era each surpassed the million mark, matching the tallies of album Tree (1991) and compilation Super Best II (1992); “Yah Yah Yah” then became their second three-million seller in 1993. The duo received the Japanese Artist of the Year Award in both 1992 and 1993.
Seeking wider recognition in 1995—after already dominating East Asia—they performed live in Europe for the first time. Aska contributed “Something There” to composer Charlie Midnight for the live-action Street Fighter film starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and supplied “Time” to the Sylvester Stallone vehicle Judge Dredd. Their track “On Your Mark” also accompanied a short film of the same title directed by Hayao Miyazaki. That year they became the first Japanese act to claim a Monaco World Music Award. In 1996 they became the first Asian performers to appear on MTV Unplugged in London, and several of their compositions received covers from Chaka Khan, Boy George, Londonbeat, and Marianne Faithfull on the tribute collection One Voice.
The partnership dissolved afterward, with both members pursuing solo careers until reuniting in 1999 for the album No Doubt and a satellite-broadcast New Year’s marathon concert in Fukuoka to mark the millennium. Subsequent releases included Not at All (2001) and Stamp (2002), the year they served as Japanese ambassadors for the World Cup and performed in South Korea. Another separation followed until 2007, when they issued the singles “Here & There” and “Man and Woman” alongside the album Double. In early 2009 both artists again declared a return to solo endeavors.
Albums
Singles
