is a Japanese singer and voice actress from Kasuga, Fukuoka. She is known for singing and acting in several Goro Miyazaki movies including Tales from Earthsea and From Up on Poppy Hill.
Early life Aoi Teshima was born on June 21, 1987, in Kasuga, Fukuoka, Japan. From an early age, she was influenced by her parents' liking for classic musical films, such as The Wizard of Oz, The Secret Garden, The Little Prince, and Breakfast at Tiffany's. Of that, Teshima has attributed the song, "Moon River", along with the music of Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, and Billie Holiday as the basis for her love for jazz music, and as major influences on her musical style. In junior high school, Teshima found herself moved by Bette Midler's 1979 song, "The Rose", her amateur cover of which became the trigger of her debut as a singer.
Career After graduating junior high, Teshima enrolled at the C&S Music School in Fukuoka, to acquire the qualifications of high school and junior college while simultaneously developing her singing abilities. There, she began a music career as an amateur in 2003. In 2003 and 2004, she participated in the musical event DIVA, held in Fukuoka, as part of the Yamaha Music-sponsored Teen's Music Festival.
In March 2005, she performed at the Japan-Korea Slow Music World event in South Korea, where her performance was favourably received amongst the audience, attracting the attention of anime director Gorō Miyazaki. The Studio Ghibli music producer, Toshio Suzuki, was reportedly very impressed when he listened to her demo version of "The Rose" at the recommendation of Miyazaki.
On June 7, 2006, the release of "" became her major debut. The song was the theme of the Gorō Miyazaki directed film, Tales from Earthsea, in which she also voices the character Theru. This song debuted at #5 on the Oricon charts, with the number of CD shipments numbering at about 300,000, along with music downloads recorded at about 650,000 downloads, which was the largest for the theme song of the Studio Ghibli series at the time.
She was featured singing two songs in the Nintendo Wii game, Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon, called "" and "". In 2006 her song "Miracle Star" was used as the theme song for the Japanese version of Arctic Tale. In 2011, she once again collaborated with Gorō Miyazaki on his second feature, From up on Poppy Hill (2011), singing "Summer of Goodbye", the main theme of the movie and other songs in the film, as well as voicing the character Yuko.
On September 30, 2012, she was presented with the Citizens Cultural Award of Kasuga City.
On February 10, 2016, she released the first single from her 10th album, Ren'dez-vous, titled "". This song was used in the Japanese drama Love That Makes You Cry, and charted at top on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart.
Personal life Teshima has described herself to be 'stubborn and strong-willed', and added that she is also camera-shy.テレビ東京『みゅーじん』、2007年10月14日。
Discography
Original albums Title Album Information Oriconalbumscharts Sales (subscription only) Tales from Earthsea Song Collection Released: July 12, 2006 Label: Yamaha (YCCW-10028) Formats: Compact disc, digital download, rental CD2055,000 Released: February 7, 2007 Label: Yamaha (YCCW-10028) Formats: Compact disc, digital download, rental CD3814,000 Released: July 23, 2008 Label: Yamaha (YCCW-10049) Formats: Compact disc, digital download, rental CD785,900 From up on Poppy Hill song collection Released: July 6, 2011 Label: Yamaha (YCCW-10156) Formats: Compact disc, digital download, rental CD3324,000 Ren'dez-vous Released: July 23, 2014 Label: Victor Entertainment (VICL-64074) 125
Cover albums Teshima's cover albums are sung in English. Title Album Information Oriconalbumscharts Sales The Rose: I Love CinemasWestern film theme songs Released: March 5, 2008 Label: Yamaha (YCCW-10044) Formats: Compact disc, digital download, rental CD4815,000 La Vie en rose: I Love CinemasWestern film theme songs Released: October 7, 2009 Label: Yamaha (YCCW-10102) Formats: Compact disc, digital download, rental CD656,000 Christmas SongsWestern Christmas songs Released: November 24, 2010 Label: Yamaha (YCCW-10119) Formats: Compact disc, digital download, rental CD1273,900 Miss Aoi – Bonjour, Paris! Paris-themed songs Released: December 12, 2012 Label: Rendezvous (RDV-0008) Cheek to Cheek~I Love Cinemas~Western film theme songs Released: December 19, 2018 Label: Victor Entertainment (VIZL-1503/VICL-65075)
Compilation albums Year Album Information Oriconalbumscharts Sales Collection BlueReleased: November 9, 2011 Label: Yamaha (YCCW-10162) Formats: Compact disc, digital download, rental CD
Singles Release Title NotesChart positions Oriconsales AlbumOricon singles chartsBillboard Japan Hot 100*RIAJ digital tracks*2006Gold certification for cellphone downloads 5 — —228,000Ged Senki Kashū2007Digital release — — ——Haru no Kashū 32 — —4,000Niji no Kashū2008Digital release — — —— 110 — —2,900"Can't Help Falling in Love"Elvis Presley cover, digital release — — ——Collection BlueDigital release — — ——2009Digital re-release — — ——Haru no Kashū"La Vie en rose"Édith Piaf cover, digital release — — ——La Vie en rose Digital release — — ——Collection Blue2010 — — ——"Because" (Yoko Kanno x Aoi Teshima) — — —— — — ——2011 22 13 1127,000Kokurikozaka kara Kashū2016 16 1 12021 *Japan Hot 100 established February 2008, RIAJ Digital Track Chart established April 2009.
References
External links
Aoi Teshima profile at Oricon