UA Billboard Japan Women In Music Interview – Billboard

Since 2007, billboard‘s Women in Music event honored artists, producers and executives who have made significant contributions to the music industry and empowered women through their work as Woman of the Year and other awards. Billboard Japan launched its own WIM initiative in 2022 and featured diverse women in the music industry in a number of projects, including the interview series highlighting pioneering women in the industry.

UA is the next guest in line. The singer will perform at the Billboard Japan Women In Music Vol. 0 event, which will take place on March 3 at Billboard Live Osaka. Since her debut in 1995, the Osaka native has released numerous hits, including 1996’s hugely popular “Jounetsu” (“Passion”), and continues to challenge new artists today. She is a mother of four children and lives in Canada. The 50-year-old singer looks back on her career and shares her thoughts on work-life balance in this new interview.

What women did you look up to as a child?

UA: I saw a lot of people on TV but when I was little I looked up to people who were closer to me like my aunt who took care of me for a while. She was funny and charming, and her presence really helped me at the time.

The first artists I became a fan of were Aretha Franklin and Janis Joplin. I met Aretha as a teenager, fell in love with her voice and collected her records. Information wasn’t readily available back then, so I didn’t know anything about the kind of life she had led. I felt a strong attraction to her and admired her voice and singing talent. I first met Janis in a cinema when I saw recordings of her singing at a big festival. I was struck by lightning and cried on the spot.

These two artists helped me realize that there are two kinds of people in the world: those who sing on stage and those who see it. I started thinking that I want to be one of those guys who sings on stage if possible.

So I have that kind of fan mentality, but I also feel like I don’t know who these people really are. I have long thought that while I could be someone’s fan, there really is no one whose personality I admire wholeheartedly.

If not a specific person, do you have a definition of your ideal type of woman?

Humans are fragile and change easily from day to day, and in the real world nobody is perfect. That’s why I feel good when I meet people who have the ability to accept and listen and who enjoy doing so. I think that’s the kind of woman I admire.

The direction I’m going as the person I am when I’m with my family and friends and as UA, the artist expressing things is different. So I think maybe the kind of woman I want to be as an individual and the kind of woman I admire as a UA might be a little different.

The person you are at home and the performer on stage go in different directions. That’s an interesting observation.

For the last 27-28 years I’ve wondered what it’s like to maintain a good balance between the two and feel like I’m still working on it.

In your youth you became a fan of Aretha Franklin and Janis Joplin and then made your debut as a singer on stage. Their hit single “Jounetsu” was released in 1996 and the following year they gave birth to their first child, (actor) Nijiro Murakami. Then in 2000 you formed the band AJICO with Kenichi Asai, so just looking at the timeline it must have been a very eventful time. How have pregnancy and childbirth influenced your career?

If you look back chronologically, it was certainly a turbulent time. [Laughs] But you see, I’m actually the type of person who insists on taking my time, so after making an album and touring with it I’ve been able to give myself a real break. I knew from the start that if I kept working all the time, I would burst. I was young when Nijiro was born, so I think I took about three months off and then started getting back to work.

I have seen something so pure and beautiful and clear in (Nijiro’s) new life. Also, some terrible incidents happened (in Japan in 1997) and it felt like the world was changing fast. The single I released before giving birth was “Amai Unmei” (“Sweet Destiny”), a song with lyrics about wanting to leave things to a “sweet” fate, but after giving birth I wanted to get over in a vivid way singing a dystopian world This is how “Kanashimi Johnny” (“Sad Johnny”) came about.

The experience of pregnancy and childbirth and the time I was able to invest in it were like gifts for me. He was my first child and raising a child was a real challenge. I kinda feel like I caused some inconvenience to Nijiro and now I want to apologize to him for a few things. In any case, the experience was like being able to practice becoming a parent while still a child yourself.

When someone’s career is interrupted by pregnancy or childbirth, that is sometimes interpreted negatively, but I love how you describe the experience as a gift that has had a positive impact. Has being a woman influenced UA in other ways?

I’m the type of person who thinks I’d like to be a woman even if I were to be born again. Even now I feel like I can sing because I’m a woman. If I had been born a male I might not have chosen to sing, although I can’t say for sure because I’ve never been one. Men are so unfamiliar to me, and I am constantly presented with issues to think about from my partner.

But you raised boys. Any discoveries from this experience to share?

I have four children. One is a girl and the rest are boys. I try not to say unreasonable things to my boys like “you’re a boy” or “you’re older” (act a certain way because) and try to tell them how they should be as humans instead of her Gender. But I think I have a special empathy for my girl.

You mentioned earlier that you sing because you are a woman. Have you encountered difficulties as an artist or in other areas of your daily life because you are a woman?

No really. I don’t know why… but I’ve never felt like this before. I think I’ve been very fortunate as an artist. I didn’t have much of an amateur time and it was like I made my debut when I got serious about music, so I didn’t understand anything. I’ve always struggled to get any job done. There was pressure and I was always nervous, but I faced it and got over it, and then I laid out another blank piece of paper in front of me and wrote another song. Looking back now, I had no other choice. But it seems to me that I didn’t make a single mistake.

In the 2022 year-end Billboard Japan Hot 100 list, 58 of the top 100 acts were male, 27 were female, and 15 were mixed-gender groups. What do you think of this result considering there are many great female artists in Japan?

I think one way to interpret this finding is that the power of women who are fans of the opposite sex was strong, and not a lack of skill on the part of female artists. Even around me, I feel like there are many women who have a strong drive to support their favorites across generations.

That’s a really interesting take. Based on what you’ve said so far, what do you think is needed to make it easier for women to thrive in the music and entertainment industry?

This is not limited to the music industry, but the functionalities of male and female bodies cannot be changed for now. You can choose how you live, but you cannot choose the function of your body, and changing it is not easy. I think the reason people don’t have children because of their careers (in Japan) is because the government doesn’t provide enough support and security during the time of having and raising children. Personally, I am glad that I was able to experience pregnancy and childbirth and therefore wish that an environment is created in which more women can be more positive about the decision to have children. It would be nice to have a system that allows women to take the next step in their lives while experiencing these things instead of thinking “pregnancy and childbirth = career break”. I think it’s a national problem, not a music industry problem.

—This interview by Rio Hirai (SOW SWEET PUBLISHING) first appeared on Billboard Japan