Tsunku


Tsunku is a prolific Japanese record producer, songwriter, and vocalist. Total sales of the singles he has written exceed 37.9 million copies, making him the fifth best-selling lyricist in Japan.
He is best known for having two major roles in the Japanese music landscape: first as the lead singer of the popular rock group Sharam Q, and now as the producer, primary composer, lyricist, and primary studio backing vocalist for highly popular idol group Morning Musume, in addition to Aya Matsuura and other associated idols under the Hello! Project banner, for whom he has written and produced the vast majority of their chart-topping hits. He has also produced music for other Japanese artists, including Ayumi Hamasaki's. As his musical influences he cites The Beatles, Japanese popular music, American and European hits being played on the radio when he was a schoolboy, disco acts such as Chic, Kool & the Gang and Earth, Wind & Fire, and bands like Duran Duran and The Power Station.

Personal life

In June 2006, Tsunku married Kanako Idemitsu, a 25-year-old former model from Fukuoka. The couple have fraternal twins born in 2008 and one daughter who was born in 2011.

History

Tsunku later worked with Nintendo and J.P.ROOM to create the music video game, Rhythm Tengoku. It was released for the Game Boy Advance exclusively in Japan on August 3, 2006, and later as an arcade machine on September 20, 2007. He also worked on Rhythm Tengoku Gold for the Nintendo DS, Minna no Rhythm Tengoku for the Wii, and Rhythm Tengoku: The Best Plus for the Nintendo 3DS.
On October 1, 2006, it was announced that Tsunku had created a new company called TNX consisting of singers such as Ami Tokito and other people including Tatsuya Naka, a magician who appeared on Hello! Morning.
On September 26, 2007, Tsunku released a compilation album with the temporary title of "Sharam Q ~ Morning Musume" ~Tsunku 15 Years in Entertainment Commemoration Album~, containing songs by both Sharam Q and Morning Musume, and another one on December 5, 2007 titled Tsunku Best Work Collection, containing songs sung by Tsunku himself.

Music composition and lyrical works

Hello! Project

Tsunku is responsible for majority of the musical composition and lyrics in Hello! Project, noticeably for Morning Musume where all of their singles have ranked in the Oricon Weekly Singles Top 5. Arranging is typically left to outside parties with track records in arranging popular anime and game music.
His works are mainly pop-oriented with catchy melodies and romantic, idealistic and sometimes even humorous lyrics, the latter in particular often being pitched to appeal to a young audience. However, many of the female vocalists who perform his songs have a large, dedicated fan base composed of older male wota, as well as male fans who are not wota, both of whom are usually in their twenties and thirties, and occasionally older. Some of his works in the late 2000s were particularly mature and hard-hitting, such as the Morning Musume singles "Kanashimi Twilight, "Onna ni Sachi Are" and "Resonant Blue". Although his own work as a soloist and in Sharam Q tends to lean towards pop-rock, he is best known for working with various arrangers to create highly melodic, richly-textured sequencer-driven electronic dance music which often features synthesizers, as well as guitar riffs and solos which sometimes hint at hard rock or heavy metal influences. Typical vocal arrangements in the songs he writes for Hello! Project's groups tend to revolve around the members taking turns at singing lines and sometimes even small parts of lines in succession, building up to a chorus in which most members sing in unison rather than using vocal harmonies; any harmonies that are present in the songs are often sung by other people. However, there have been some exceptions, such as the Morning Musume songs "Morning Coffee", "Furusato", "Memory Seishun no Hikari", "Love Machine" and "I Wish", where most of the backing vocals were sung by the group's members themselves. Furthermore, in the past few years, it has become even more common for members of Hello! Project's groups to provide the backing vocals for their songs themselves.
Recent years have also seen Hello! Project moving in a new direction musically, with prominent elements of dubstep and electro being incorporated into much of their recorded output, resulting in songs which seem at times to be almost experimental in style, at least by idol music standards.

Nice Girl Project!

Tsunku is also involved in Nice Girl Project!.

2011 – present

As a result of the Japanese earthquake 2011, Tsunku wrote a song titled Love is here ~Kibou no Hikari~, dedicated to the victims. Tsunku is one of the many Japanese celebrities who have stepped up to support the victims and their loved ones.
In March 2014, Tsunku announced on his blog that he had laryngeal cancer, which he found out after having throat surgery due to an unspecified condition. He also stated that he has been seeking treatment for it. On April 4, 2015, Tsunku revealed that he had his vocal cords removed as part of his cancer treatment.
In his memoir, Dakara, Ikiru, which was published in September 2015, it was revealed that he stepped down as Hello! Project's General Manager sometime after Morning Musume's New York concert that happened on October 5, 2014. He still remains involved with Morning Musume as its Sound Producer.
On May 4, 2020, Tsunku was among the 121 members of Up-Front Group to participate in a YouTube telework to support the frontline workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

List of music composition and lyrical works

Release dateNameMusic composition / lyricPerformerSingleAlbumReference & notes
1992-7-22Jū Hakka Getsumusic composition* & lyricsSharam QJū Ha18 ka Getsu*music co-composed with Hatake
1992-9-23Sakuretsu! Henachoco Punchmusic composition & lyricsSharam Q---Sakuretsu! Henachoco Punch
1992-9-23ラーメン大好き小池さんの唄lyricsSharam Q---Sakuretsu! Henachoco Punch
1992-9-23お嬢様lyricsSharam Q---Sakuretsu! Henachoco Punch
1992-9-23現代の不良になれない少年たちmusic composition & lyricsSharam Q---Sakuretsu! Henachoco Punch
1992-9-23パパとイきたい！music composition* & lyricsSharam Q---Sakuretsu! Henachoco Punch*music co-composed with Hatake
1992-9-23どうして「スキ」と言えなかったの？music composition* & lyricsSharam Q---Sakuretsu! Henachoco Punch*music co-composed with Hatake
1993-2-24Tottemo Merry-Go-Roundmusic composition & lyricsSharam QTottemo Merry-Go-Round
1993-3-24友達はいますかmusic composition* & lyricsSharam QUrekko e no Michi Jūtaichū*music co-composed with Shū
1998-1-28Morning Coffeemusic composition & lyricsMorning MusumeMorning CoffeeFirst Time
2012-3-28"Mirai ga Watashi o Matteiru"lyricsAfilia Saga East*music composed by Chiyomaru Shikura

Albums

Singles