Chara

Chara distinguishes herself among Japanese female singers through her untamed hairstyle, doll-like lips, thoughtful songwriting, and one-of-a-kind vocal delivery that merges a lispy squeak with a raspy moan. Her approach avoids the prevailing currents of J-pop, club pop, and Jindies rock, preserving an entirely personal character instead.

Born January 13, 1968, in Kawaguchi-shi, Saitama county, she received the name Chara from an elementary-school instructor at age eight. The nickname attached itself so completely that even longtime acquaintances have never learned her original name. She experimented with a toy piano well before learning to speak, an activity that eventually persuaded her parents to enroll her in lessons at four. While in junior high she developed a fixation on the film American Graffiti and adopted its 1950s retro look, going so far as to organize an American-style cheerleading squad in a country where such ensembles were virtually unknown. At the same time she absorbed the New Romantic music of the 1980s, playing keyboards in the school band and refining her singing.

In 1990, at twenty-two, she mailed a demo tape to CBS/Sony and obtained a contract with Epic Records. After a year of recording she made her stage debut at Tokyo’s celebrated club Quattro in September 1991; the single “Heaven” and album Sweet followed in November. A devoted cult audience quickly filled the venue for a return engagement before year’s end. Growing visibility also brought advertising work for Suntory, Shiseido, Marui, and other companies. Three further albums appeared in quick succession—Soul Kiss in 1992, Violet Blue in 1993, and Happy Toy in 1994—each backed by extensive and well-attended tours.

She gave birth to her first child, daughter Sumire, in 1995. During the break Sony/Epic issued a career-spanning compilation accompanied by a remix disc. In 1996 she stepped away again to star in Shunji Iwai’s film Swallowtail Butterfly opposite actor Tadanobu Asano, whom she married later that year. The role earned her a Best Actress award from the Japanese Academy Awards and generated a soundtrack album credited to the fictional group The 99 1/2, with Chara supplying the vocals. She capitalized on the exposure with the enormously popular Junior Sweet, produced with Towa Tei and Ashley Ingram; the record sold a million copies and ranked among 1997’s biggest sellers. Strange Fruits arrived in 1999, the same year she welcomed her second child, son Himi. She remains active as a recording and touring artist, though no further film projects are currently planned.