Local fans of Japanese pop are having it pretty good at the moment: after queen of J-pop Ayumi Hamasaki's recent show comes a performance by the country's top R&B diva, Misia.
Like Hamasaki, Misia is also celebrating her 10th year in the music industry with a jaunt around Asia, and the Tour of Misia Discotheque Asia 2008 concert series will include stops in Hong Kong, Taipei, Shanghai, Seoul and Singapore.
The singer, whose real name is Misaki Ito, was in town a couple of months ago to promote her show, but due to a combination of language problems and over-protective handlers who limited questions to the singer, the press got little insight into the world of the star who has sold millions of records and become a household name in Japan.
How does she feel about playing in Hong Kong? 'This is my first concert in Hong Kong and I'm very happy to perform here.'
What numbers will she be playing? 'It's a secret for now.'
So far, so vague. But the best answer came in reply to a question about the origin of the disco theme of her latest concert series. 'I believe that dance and music is an internationally common language and wanted to find the best way to represent these ideas - and I came up with disco.'
What we do know is that Misia's arrival on the Japanese music scene in the late 1990s marked the beginning of a musical shift towards a more soulful, R&B style of J-pop. She is largely recognised as the first Japanese artist to bring in influences from American R&B, and helped pave the way for other artists such as Utada Hikaru and Crystal Kay. Since then she has established herself as one of the industry's biggest stars and is regarded by many as the R&B queen of Japan.
