Mariya Takeuchi

Takeuchi was born in Taisha in the Hikawa district of Shimane Prefecture in Japan. She grew up in the family Shinise Ryokan (Japanese long-established inn) business by the name of Takenoya, that her paternal great grandfather Shigezo Takeuchi (竹内繁蔵) founded in 1877.[2] Her family always played records from all over the world. She had already learned to play piano and guitar by third grade, but the Beatles left an impression that inspired her to travel.[2]

In 1972, for her third year of high school, she studied in Rock Falls, Illinois, United States, as an international exchange student through the AFS Intercultural Programs. Her nickname was Mako, as one of the AFS yearbooks has a caption that reads Mariya "Mako" Takeuchi.[1][2][3] She entered the Japanese Keio University in 1974, majoring in English literature and won a nationwide English recitation contest by The Japan Times in the spring of that year.[2] She married fellow musician Tatsuro Yamashita in April 1982.[1] They have one daughter.[4]

Takeuchi joined the music club of her university and there she was invited to participate in Masamichi Sugi (杉真理)'s recordings and in March 1978 so-called the omnibus album Loft Sessions (ロフト・セッションズ) recordings.[1] In August that year she signed up with the RCA recording label, and in November her debut single "Modotte oide, Watashi no Jikan" (戻っておいで・私の時間, Please come back, my time), and her debut album Beginning were released.[1][5] The 1979 singles "Dream of You: Lemon Lime no Aoi Kaze" (ドリーム・オブ・ユー〜レモンライムの青い風〜, Dream of You: Blue Breeze of Lemon Lime) and "September" were hits, and with that she won the 1979 Japan Record Awards, Tokyo Music Festival, Japan Music Awards, Shinjuku Music Festival, and Ginza Music Festival best new artist awards as a singer.[1][5] The 1980 single "Fushigi na Peach Pie" (不思議なピーチパイ, Mysterious Peach Pie) was also another hit.[6][7][5] Takeuchi has had one song "Apple Papple Princess" (アップル・パップル・プリンセス) (1981) that appear on the NHK program Minna no Uta.

From the late 1970s to the early 1980s, she recorded five albums and several singles. Those recordings featured dozens of prominent Japanese and North American songwriters, instrumentalists and producers, including Kazuhiko Katō, Tetsuji Hayashi, Shigeru Suzuki, Masamichi Sugi, Takashi Matsumoto, Al Capps, Peter Allen, David Lasley, Alan O'Day, David Foster, Jim Keltner, Jay Graydon, Steve Lukather, Jeff Porcaro, David Hungate, and a fellow RCA artist and her future partner and husband, Tatsuro Yamashita.[8] One of her songs from the 1980 album Miss M (Miss M), "Heart to Heart" (music by Roger Nichols), was given English lyrics and a new title, "Now". It was recorded by the Carpenters, released in 1983, and was the last recording by Karen Carpenter before her death. At the end of 1981, after the release of her fifth album Portrait (PORTRAIT), she announced she was going to take a break for a while and paused holding concerts and new releases, and got married six months later.[1] While taking a break she continued composing for numerous different idols and singers such as Naoko Kawai, Hiroko Yakushimaru, Yukiko Okada, Akina Nakamori, Miho Nakayama, Hiromi Iwasaki, Masahiko Kondo, among many others.[1][9]

Several of these songs scored top-ten on the Oricon, such as "Kenka wo Yamete" (けんかをやめて, Stop the Fighting) and "Invitation" performed by Naoko Kawai, "Dreaming Girl: Koi, Hajimemashite" (-Dreaming Girl- 恋、はじめまして, Dreaming Girl: Love, Nice to Meet You) performed by Yukiko Okada, and "Iro: White Blend" (色・ホワイトブレンド, Color: White Blend) performed by Miho Nakayama. Takeuchi has often re-recorded those songs for her own album. "Eki" (駅, Station), a song originally written for the album by Akina Nakamori, became known by the composer's recorded version, and had been covered by many artists. "Genki wo Dashite", a song first recorded by Hiroko Yakushimaru, is recognized as one of Takeuchi's notable compositions. The song was later covered by Hitomi Shimatani in 2003, and became a moderate hit.

Since her return to the Japanese music industry in 1984, she has recorded seven successful studio albums that mainly consist of her self-written songs, and all of them had reached No. 1 on the Japanese Oricon chart.[10] As a singer-songwriter, she has produced eight top-ten hit singles on the Oricon chart, including "Single Again" (シングル・アゲイン), "Kokuhaku" (告白, Confession), "Junai Rhapsody" (純愛ラプソディ, Pure Love Rhapsody), "Kon'ya wa Hearty Party" (今夜はHearty Party, Hearty Party Tonight), and her only No. 1 hit "Camouflage" (カムフラージュ).[11] In addition to her work as a performer, she has continued writing songs and lyrics for other singers, including Ryōko Hirosue, Takako Matsu, Riho Makise, Seiko Matsuda, Masayuki Suzuki and Tackey & Tsubasa.[9]

Several of these songs scored top-ten on the Oricon, such as "Maji de Koi suru 5 byō mae" (MajiでKoiする5秒前, 5 Seconds Before I Fall in Love Seriously) performed by Ryōko Hirosue, "Miracle Love" performed by Riho Makise, "Minna Hitori" (みんなひとり, Everybody is Alone) performed by Takako Matsu, and "Minna no Happy Birthday" (みんなのハッピーバースデイ, Everyone's Happy Birthday) performed by Mana Ashida.

Takeuchi in 2019

Up to September 2014, Takeuchi had released 12 studio albums, 42 singles, several compilations and a live album which was recorded in 2000. Her total sales have been estimated at more than 16 million units by 2009. Her 1994 compilation, Impressions, sold more than 3 million copies in Japan alone, and became her best-selling album.[10] In addition to her musical career, she has also managed her family's Ryokan Takenoya since May 2018 "until the next generation can take over".[2]

Outside of Japan, she is best known for the city pop song "Plastic Love" from her number-one album Variety (1984). At the time of the song's release, Takeuchi had not considered attempting to release her music in the Western world, stating in a 2018 interview, "Considering that [the song] was mostly performed in Japanese, we figured it would be impossible to go abroad."[2] The song went viral after it was uploaded to YouTube during the mid-late 2010s.[12][13] Popularized overseas via the vaporwave and future funk scenes, the song has received more than 67 million views on YouTube as of June 2021.[2] It has received critical acclaim, with Noisey calling it "the best pop song in the world"[14] and Gorillaz calling it "a wonder woman slab of Japanese funk".[15] K-pop singer Yubin's "City Love" is also based on this song.[16] The Blessed Madonna closed a Resident Advisor November 2017 mix with a rendition of this song as well. Chai released a cover of the song in 2020.[17] "Plastic Love" has also inspired numerous fan art and videos.[2] On 17 May 2019, Warner Music Japan released on YouTube a short version of a music video for the song, 35 years after its initial release.[18] A longer, five minute version was subsequently released on 11 November 2021.

In 2021, Takeuchi formed a new duo called Peach & Apricot with Anri, a Japanese pop singer-songwriter. "Peach" refers to Takeuchi 's popular hit "Fushigi na Peach Pie" (不思議なピーチパイ, Mysterious Peach Pie), while "Apricot" comes from Anri’s debut album title Apricot Jam. On November 3, 2021, they released their first song together, "Watching Over You".[19] The lyrics were written by Takeuchi, while the music was composed and arranged by Tetsuji Hayashi. The song marks the first collaboration between Hayashi and Takeuchi in 40 years since "Ichigo no Yuuwaku", and Takeuchi's first with Anri in 38 years since "You Are Not Alone".[20]

Kiyoshi Matsuo, a Japanese record producer, who had mentioned Johnny Kitagawa's sexual harassment allegations in various media, had his management contract terminated in the middle of the period by Smile Company, to which he had belonged. He stated that Takeuchi and her husband Tatsuro Yamashita, who also belong to the company, agreed with the company's policy.[21][22][23]

• Official website (in Japanese)
• Mariya Takeuchi discography at Discogs
• Warner Music Japan | Mariya Takeuchi (Japanese)
• History of Takeuchi family on the Takenoya roykan site