East Asia is the 20th studio album recorded by Japanese singer-songwriter Miyuki Nakajima, released in October 1992.
The album features "Shallow Sleep (Asai Nemuri)", a hit single released in July 1992. Nakajima wrote the song as a theme for Shin'ai Naru Mono e, a television drama that she made guest appearance on as a doctor. Shin'ai Naru Mono e's theme song peaked at No. 2 on the Japan's Oricon chart in the summer of 1992, and thus became her first single. This song has sold more than a million copies.
Prior to the release of the album Shin'ai Naru Mono e, the songs "Two Boats" and "Haginohara" were already performed on Yakai, which are experimental theaters Nakajima has performed annually since 1989.
"Thread (Ito)" is a love song Nakajima dedicated to Zenji Nakayama, a later leader of Tenrikyo who got married at that time. In 1998, it was featured on the television drama Seija no Koushin and was also released as a double A-Side single with "Another Name for Life". This song has become well known through a cover version recorded by the Bank Band, a project which Kazutoshi Sakurai and Takeshi Kobayashi launched for a charity. Their interpretation, featuring Sakurai's vocals, was included on their 2004 Soushi Souai album.
In December 1992, East Asia won the 34th Japan Record Awards for 10 Excellent Albums, which is a prize that honors ten exceptional studio albums.
Nakajima's song is the inspiration of the 2020 film Threads: Our Tapestry of Love. Regarding the film adaptation, Nakajima commented: "Every time I hear different people sing the song I'm amazed at how it takes on different colors. I'm looking forward to seeing a new version of 'Tapestry' through this film."
Track listing All songs written and composed by Miyuki Nakajima, arranged by Ichizo Seo (except "East Asia" co-arranged by David Campbell) "East Asia" – 6:48 "" – 4:39 "" – 5:21 "" – 6:35 "" – 6:49 "" – 4:49 "" – 4:39 "" – 8:12 "" – 5:07
Personnel Miyuki Nakajima – lead and backing vocals Hideo Yamaki – drums Eiji Shimamura – drums Jun Aoyama – drums programming Kenji Takamizu – electric bass Yasuo Tomikura – electric bass Chiharu Mikuzuki – electric bass Tsuyoshi Kon – electric guitar, pedal steel guitar Takayuki Hijikata – electric guitar Shigeru Suzuki – electric guitar Chuei Yoshikawa – acoustic guitar Elton Nagata – acoustic piano, keyboards Yasuharu Nakanishi – acoustic piano, keyboards Nobuo Kurata – acoustic piano, keyboards, synth bass Nobu Saito – percussion Toshihiko Furumura – alto sax Joe's Group – strings Neko Saito Group – strings Syd Page Group – strings Keishi Urata – computer programming Nobuhiko Nakayama – computer programming Tatsuhiko Mori – computer programming Ichizo Seo – computer programming, backing vocals Yuiko Tsubokura – backing vocals, featuring vocals on "Two Boats" Kazuyo Sugimoto – backing vocals, featuring vocals on "Two Boats" Keiko Wada – backing vocals Yoko Yamauchi – backing vocals Raven Kane – backing vocals Julia Waters – backing vocals Maxine Waters – backing vocals Akiya – backing vocals
Production Recording engineer: Tad Goto Additional engineers: Takanobu Ichikawa, Ray Blair Assiatant engineers: Yutaka Uematsu, Yoshiyuki Yokoyama, Hajime Nagai, Masataka Itoh, Takamasa Kido, Naomi Matsuo, Nobuhiko Nakayama, Tomotaka Takehara, Masashi Kudo, Shouji Sekine, Kenji Nakamura, Jim Gillens Mixing engineers: Tad Goto, Joe Chiccarelli Assistants for the mixing engineer: Tomotaka Takehara, Jamie Seyberth Music coordinators: Koji Kimura, Fumio Miyata, Tomoko Takaya, Ruriko Duer Art direction and photographer: Jin Tamura Cover designer: Hirofumi Arai Illustrator: Shigeko Kashima Hair and make-up: Noriko Izumisawa Artist management: Kouji Suzuki Assistant: Maki Nishida Management desk: Atsuko Hayashi General management: Takahiro Uno Promoter: Tadayoshi Okamoto, Shoko Aoki. Narihiko Yoshida Artists and repertoire: Yuzo Watanabe, Koichi Suzuki Assistant for the record producer: Tsuyoshi Ito Promoter for the recording artist: Yoshio Kan Dad: Genichi Kawakami Mastering at Future Disc Systems in Los Angeles, by Tom Baker
Chart positions Album YearChartPositionWeeksSalesCertification(RIAJ)1992Japanese Oricon Weekly Albums Chart (Top 100)2(CDDA)15357,000+Platinum8 (APO-CD)3
Singles YearSingleChartPositionWeeksSalesRIAJ Certification1992"Birth" (double A-Side with "Maybe")Japanese Oricon Weekly (top 100)13769,000—"Shallow Sleep"2241,050,0004× Platinum1998"Tapestry" (double A-Side with "Another Name for Life")1211159,000Gold
Awards Japan Record AwardsYearTitleCategory1992 (34th)East Asia10 Excellent Albums
Release history Country Date Label Format Catalog numberJapanOctober 7, 1992Pony CanyonCDPCCA-00397APO-CDPCCA-00398Audio cassettePCTA-00146May 23, 2001Yamaha Music CommunicationsCDYCCW-00023November 5, 2008YCCW-10072
References