A decade ago, Watanabi and his longtime friend Hiroko Koto launched Watanabes music publishing company, and they’ve since produced more than 30 releases.
Watanagi and Koto, both 30 years old, are now on a quest to find the next great Japanese rock band.
For now, they’ve started with Koto’s “The Sun,” which is the most catchy song in Watanagas catalog.
“It’s so catchy, it’s so simple,” Watanashi said of the song.
“I wanted to write a song about a girl, so I wrote ‘The Sun’ and it ended up being a song that’s been really popular in Japan, a popular song in Japan right now.
She really loves it, and I think it’s something that really resonates with her.” “
Koto’s the kind of person who’s able to sing really simple songs.
She really loves it, and I think it’s something that really resonates with her.”
It’s the second Japanese pop song to feature Koto in the last few months.
In March, the country’s second-most-watched television program, “The Supergirl” , premiered a clip of Koto performing “The New Sun” on the cover of its September issue.
Koto has also collaborated with Kpop group Twice, a track she penned with former pop group EXO’s member Sehun.
“She’s very supportive of the music industry,” Watano said.
“Her songs are very upbeat, but they also have a lot of power in them.”
A year ago, KOTO’s album Koto: The New Sun hit No. 1 on the Japanese charts.
Watano says the song is so well-liked, the label even released it as a singles release.
The album’s soundtrack includes a cover of a track from the band’s 2008 single “The Song That Never Was.”
“When we started thinking about a song, we were really trying to write something that was really different,” Watani said.
The first version of the track was called “A New Sun,” but Watanani and KOTO quickly realized they didn’t want to go that route.
Instead, they opted to create a new song, one that would be more about the band, and “a song that had more of an emotional aspect,” Wataino said.
For “The Sky,” the duo used a “dance floor” from Watanyaku, the Japanese dance hall, and the song was initially meant to be a tribute to the Japanese culture of “Kanjis and Shinas.”
Watanabee said he decided to go the “dancing floor” route because it was “so simple” and “we wanted to bring the atmosphere of the room back to the song.”
Watani’s favorite song is the “Kokoro” track from Watano’s 2009 single “Kikoku,” which has since gone platinum in Japan.
“We were trying to find a song with that same feel and feel of the kokoro dance floor,” Watannabe said.
But when the band tried to release the song as a single, they found that many Japanese were not familiar with the dance floor and Watanabis team was overwhelmed with the reaction from listeners.
“There’s so many people who didn’t know about it,” Watanyagi said.
In a country that’s known for its culture of singing and dancing, the song resonated with people because it reflected the way the Japanese live, Watanyabe said, and it resonated so much with people that the company decided to release it as singles.
“Because of that, it became an instant hit,” Watanie said.
KOTO released the singles on a whim, Watannabes co-founder Hiroki Nakagawa said.
A group of friends who had been friends for a decade came together and formed Watanabs label.
Watanyaba says the two decided to record the songs in the first place after the group realized that the group was “pretty close” and the band was in a similar place to Watanbys music publishing business.
Watane says that even though Watanbeats music publishing deal is “a little bit different” than what he and Watani have done previously, they are grateful that the band and the fans have embraced it.
“That’s what’s really important to us, to have the support of the fans,” Watane said.
Watani and Nakagawas first met in high school and they went on to become close friends.
Watainabe says the music business “wasn’t the only thing that I was interested in,” but it was the one thing that “was going to keep me alive.”
Watano and Nakawas music publishing is currently in its fourth year.
Watannaba says he’s looking forward to growing his business even more.
“Music is a big part of our lives,” he said.
As Watano prepares to launch a new label, Watainabi hopes to continue