Nanase Aikawa

Biography

Nanase Aikawa (相川 七瀬, Aikawa Nanase; born February 16, 1975) is a Japanese singer. She publishes her music under the Motorod label, a division of Avex Group.

Early life

She was born in Higashiyodogawa-ku, Osaka, Japan on February 16, 1975. Throughout her school years, Nanase had sung and participated in several singing competitions. When Aikawa auditioned for Sony Music Entertainment at the age of 15, she failed, but met a well-known music producer Tetsuro Oda.
At the age of 17, she dropped out of school, and she contacted Oda to be trained by him. At the age of 20 she released her first single, Yume Miru Shoujo ja Irarenai on November 8, 1995.

Career

After she released her first single on November 8, 1995, she released three more singles, and then her first full album Red in 1996, which sold more than two million copies in its first month. That album won her an invitation to perform on Kōhaku Uta Gassen, a New Year's Eve singing contest between male and female teams of popular singers sponsored by NHK (one of Japan's television networks).
Since then, she has released about one album each year, plus an average of three mini- or maxi-singles. Her second album, Paradox×paraDOX2 July 1997 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1CAT on the Street4:332天使のように躍らせて5:113トラブルメイカー (trouble mix)4:084明けることのない夜 沈むことのない太陽5:385鳥になれたら4:196a piece of memory1:167恋心4:028こんなに愛しても(water version)5:359Love merry-go-round5:0410Sweet Emotion (S.V. mix)5:1111Two of us4:47, was released in July 1997, selling 1.8 million copies, coinciding with her first concert tour Live Emotion '97 (consisting of 20 concert dates, and attracting a total of 65,000 fans, according to Avex).
July 1998 saw her third album Crimson×crimson8 July 1998 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1○○○○？4:512Nostalgia4:443さよならを聴かせて4:524眠れない夜4:075Night Wave1:426Bad Girls4:407fragile5:248Velvet moon4:389たまんない瞬間3:5610彼女と私の事情5:0411優しいうた6:22, and another concert tour with over 40 concert dates. Her 1999 release, I.D. was a compilation album, but it debuted at number one on the rock chart, her fourth consecutive album to be released at the number one slot.
Some music-journalists said that a large part of her fan base, during the 1990s, was the Bōsōzoku (motorcycle gang) youthes especially those in the western areas of Japan.
In 2001, she also released a 'mini-album' (sometime between a full album and a single) with only 7 tracks called the Last Quarter of uncharacteristically soft ballad-style music, recorded during her later months of pregnancy.
It was not until 2003 that she released another album, another compilation, called ID: 2.

At the 11th Annual Japan Gold Disc Awards, Nanase's album Red was voted the Best Album (Japanese Rock and Folk music, female vocalist category). Her album Paradox was also voted Best Album of the Year at the 12th Annual Japan Gold Disc Awards.
In February 2004, three years after her last original album and many singles, she released 7 Seven×7 seven18 February 2004 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks1LIE LIE LIE4:212R-指定3:283BLUE KNIFE4:524恋愛体質3:045BLACK ANGEL4:086目下の恋人3:007ダリア －She Knows Love－4:538愛ノ詩 －マジェンタレイン－5:569夏の日のコーラル4:3310火をつけろベイビー!!4:2011時の風5:1212NIGHT RAINBOW4:2713Shock of Love5:18. An album devoted to feelings relating to music and color, with each song dedicated to a certain color. Since then she has released four more singles.
In 2004, her song BYE BYE was covered by the English singer Jennifer Ellison as "Bye Bye Boy", and Swedish girl group Play as "Girls Can Too".
As of August 2004, Nanase Aikawa has released six albums, plus two compilation albums and the mini-album, a total of 24 singles, and no less than three separate concerts and two music video collections on video and DVD.
A year later, in February 2005, she released The First Quarter mini-album. This album focused more on ballads and soft music than her well-known rock edge. In November of that same year she released R.U.O.K?!, a mini-album with seven songs. In July 2007, Nanase Aikawa began work on her new album.
Her first music release while working on this album is as part of a limited unit called "Crimson-FANG" for the soundtrack of Kamen Rider Kiva: King of the Castle in the Demon World, having performed on the soundtrack on Kamen Rider Blade in 2004. The single for "Circle of Life", was released on August 6, 2008.
Subsequently, Aikawa released her first digital single off her album Reborn×REBORN18 February 2009 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 23 tracks · 2 discsDisc 11Yumemiru..4:112Keep Singin’4:093I love my way3:234PRISM3:595Come Closer5:036REBORN3:407GOODBYE YESTERDAY5:488Dark & bright4:239Glorious Night4:2210「すきだよ」4:34Disc 21LIKE A HARD RAIN2トラブルメイカー3R.U.O.K?!4彼女と私の事情5恋心6Bad Girls7SEVEN SEAS8FLY TO RAINBOW RAY9BREAK OUT!10EVERYBODY GOES11PRISM12PRISM (MUSIC CLIP)13「すきだよ」 (MUSIC CLIP) entitled PRISM×PRISM24 May 2008 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1PRISM4:10, which was released May 24, 2008. Her thirty-first single, Yumemiru..., a remix of her debut single Yumemiru Shoujo Ja Irarenai was released January 2009.
Aikawa Nanase released tAttoo, on November 11, 2009.
December 8, 2010, is the release date of "Fine Fine Day," the first single from the "Rockstar Steady" project. A break from her previous image, Rockstar Steady is an all-girl rock band with Aikawa as its singer, and with songs such as "Fine Fine Day" entirely in English . For the music video, Nanase Aikawa went to Paris to work with the fashion film duo of Antoine Asseraf & René Habermacher, who gave the video a lesbian-chic aesthetic.

Band members

A list of her band for the album R.U.O.K?! and with whom she toured for the album:

Guitar: Marty Friedman (ex. Megadeth, ex. (Cacophony)
Guitar: Pata (X Japan, Ra:IN)
Bass: Crazy Cool Joe (Dead End)
Drums: Shinya (Luna Sea)
Keyboards: D.I.E (Ra:IN, ex. hide with Spread Beaver)

Personal life

Aikawa Nanase was married on her twenty-sixth birthday, February 16, 2001 and their first child, a boy, was born on September 6, 2001. Aikawa had their second child, another son, on September 9, 2007. On September 15, 2012, Nanase gave birth to a third child, a baby girl. In the summer of 2025, Aikawa filed for divorce from her husband, stating "It was the choice we made to remain a family".
Aikawa is a good friend (as stated in an interview) of Yumi Yoshimura from Puffy.

Albums

Red (July 3, 1996)
paraDOX (July 2, 1997)
Crimson (July 22, 1998)
I.D. (May 19, 1999) (Compilation) Oricon number 1
Foxtrot (February 16, 2000) Oricon number 3
Purãnã (February 21, 2001) Oricon number 7
The Last Quarter (September 27, 2001) (Mini Album) Oricon number 15
ID:2 (March 26, 2003) (Compilation) Oricon number 29
7 Seven (February 18, 2004) Oricon number 33
The First Quarter (February 16, 2005) (Mini Album)
R.U.O.K?! (November 19, 2005) (Mini Album)
REBORN (February 18, 2009) Oricon number 45
Gossip (February 11, 2011) (As Rockstar Steady)
Konjiki (今事紀) (February 6, 2013)
Treasure Box -Tetsuro Oda Songs- (October 28, 2015) (Cover Album)
Now or Never (October, 26 2016)
ROCK GOES ON (June 20, 2018)
Naka Ima (January 25, 2023)
Rock Monster (November 8, 2023) (Cover Album) Oricon digital albums chart number 40

Mini-Singles

"Yumemiru Shoujou Ja Irarenai" (November 8, 1995) Oricon number 12
"Bye Bye" (February 9, 1996)
"Like a Hard Rain×LIKE A HARD RAIN17 April 1996 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1LIKE A HARD RAIN3:592最後の夜4:453LIKE A HARD RAIN (original karaoke)3:58" (April 17, 1996) Oricon number 8
"Break Out!×BREAK OUT!5 June 1996 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1BREAK OUT!4:132今でも…。5:373BREAK OUT! (original karaoke)4:12" (June 5, 1996) Oricon number 4
"Koigokoro" (October 7, 1996)
"Troublemaker" (Japanese: トラブルメイカー) (February 13, 1997) Oricon number 2
"Sweet Emotion×Sweet Emotion1 May 1997 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1Sweet Emotion5:112こんなに愛しても5:293Sweet Emotion (original karaoke)5:08" (May 1, 1997) Oricon number 2
"Bad Girls×Bad Girls12 November 1997 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 4 tracks1Bad Girls4:472さよならを聴かせて4:553BREAK OUT! (live version)5:004Bad Girls (original karaoke)4:44" (November 12, 1997) Oricon number 5
"Kanojo to Watashi no Jijou" (Japanese: 彼女と私の事情) (February 4, 1998) Oricon number 6
"Nostalgia×Nostalgia8 May 1998 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1Nostalgia4:572Sweet Kiss4:093Nostalgia (original karaoke)4:52" (May 8, 1998) Oricon number 7
"Lovin' You" (November 6, 1998) Oricon number 8
"Cosmic Love×COSMIC LOVE17 March 1999 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1COSMIC LOVE5:272Crying5:223COSMIC LOVE (original karaoke)5:25" (March 17, 1999) Oricon number 6

Maxi-Singles

"Sekai Wa Kono Te No Naka Ni/Heat of the night" (July 23, 1999) Oricon number 7
"Jealousy×Jealousy29 September 1999 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1Jealousy5:022憂鬱な月を抱きながら5:203Motor☆Girl4:01" (September 29, 1999) Oricon number 8
"China Rose×China Rose8 December 1999 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1China Rose5:022BUB3:433White Song4:38" (December 8, 1999) Oricon number 13
"Midnight Blue×midnight blue31 May 2000 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracks1midnight blue3:522trust me4:23" (May 31, 2000) Oricon number 10
"Seven Seas×SEVEN SEAS9 August 2000 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 4 tracks1SEVEN SEAS5:302midnight blue (Live Version)4:023trust me (Live Version)4:434SEVEN SEAS (TKO mix)6:54" (August 9, 2000) Oricon number 10
"No Future×NO FUTURE31 January 2001 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracks1NO FUTURE5:522Dearest:my friend5:39" (January 31, 2001) (Zoids: New Century Zero opening theme) Oricon number 15
"~dandelion~×~dandelion~31 January 2001 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 4 tracks1~dandelion~4:492~dandelion~ (TECH ROCK MIX)5:003~dandelion~ (Shining Man Brothers Remix)5:284~dandelion~ (Eden mix)4:57" (January 31, 2001) Oricon number 17
"Owarinai Yume" (June 5, 2002) (InuYasha third opening theme) Oricon number 14
"Roppongi Shinjyu" (October 9, 2002) Oricon number 10
"Shock of Love×Shock of Love13 February 2003 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1Shock of Love5:172THAT DAY + THAT MOMENT3:093不謹慎な望み5:00" (February 13, 2003) Oricon number 39
"R-Shitei" (November 27, 2003) Oricon number 37
"Ai no Uta -Magenta Rain-" (January 21, 2004)
"Round ZERO ～ BLADE BRAVE" (February 18, 2004) (Kamen Rider Blade first opening theme) Oricon number 11
"Mangekyo/UNLIMITED" (September 29, 2004) (Samurai 7 first opening theme) Oricon number 49
"Kagiriaru Hibiki" (January 19, 2005)
"EVERYBODY GOES×EVERYBODY GOES15 February 2006 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 5 tracks · 2 discsDisc 11EVERYBODY GOES3:592EVERYBODY GOES (English Ver.)3:583EVERYBODY GOES (Instrumental)3:57Disc 21EVERYBODY GOES (MUSIC CLIP)3:582SPECIAL INTERVIEW" (February 25, 2006) (Madan Senki Ryukendo first ending theme)
"PRISM×PRISM24 May 2008 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1PRISM4:10" (May 24, 2008) (Digital Single)
"tAttoo×tAttoo11 November 2009 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 5 tracks · 2 discsDisc 11tAttoo3:492Back to the day3:583DAHLIA 〜you’re my universe version〜5:59Disc 21tAttoo (MUSIC CLIP)2Back to the day (MUSIC CLIP)" (November 11, 2009)
"Ai ga Tomaranai" (September 29, 2010)
"Hikarinomi" (October 31, 2012)
"Sakura Maioriru Koro, Namidairo" (March 5, 2014)
"Across" (July 6, 2016)
"Mangetsu ni SHOUT!" (August 26, 2015)

Theme songs

"No Future×NO FUTURE31 January 2001 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracks1NO FUTURE5:522Dearest:my friend5:39" – Zoids: New Century Zero opening theme
"Owarinai Yume" – InuYasha third opening theme
"Unlimited" – Samurai 7 opening theme
"Round ZERO ~ BLADE BRAVE" – Kamen Rider Blade first opening theme
"EVERYBODY GOES×EVERYBODY GOES15 February 2006 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 5 tracks · 2 discsDisc 11EVERYBODY GOES3:592EVERYBODY GOES (English Ver.)3:583EVERYBODY GOES (Instrumental)3:57Disc 21EVERYBODY GOES (MUSIC CLIP)3:582SPECIAL INTERVIEW" – Madan Senki Ryukendo ending theme
"Love Terrorist" – Heavy Metal Thunder OST
"Circle of Life" with Crimson-FANG – Kamen Rider Kiva: King of the Castle in the Demon World theme song
"Yumemiru.." – K-tai Investigator 7 third ending theme