I wrote yesterday that Oku Hanako will start streaming on YouTube. This is just a quick update that her stream is now live. Be sure to check it out and say hello in chat!
Category Archives: News
Oku Hanako to Start Streaming on YouTube
I have some exciting news for you today! Oku Hanako made a blog post[jp] a couple of days ago, and if I’m reading it right, it seems she’s going to try some live streaming activities on YouTube.
For those unaware, Oku Hanako has an official artist channel on YouTube where her songs that are available on YouTube Music and a few promotional videos are posted. It is the perfect place her to try out this new medium. She’s never streamed before, but she has regularly been on radio and done many live performances, so it shouldn’t be too new to her.
She hasn’t decided on what she’s going to do yet; I suspect that it’ll be similar to her radio shows in that we might get a mixture of chatting and perhaps some live song performances. But as she said in her post: “とにかく何かを始めなければ何も変わらないから、やってみようと思います！”, which roughly translates to “I’m going to give it a shot because nothing will change unless I start something!”. This resonates with me a lot because I find the hardest part of doing something and changing your life for the better is often just actually starting the execution of an idea. You can think about how you want to do this and that all you want, but unless you actually start acting on it, nothing is going to happen.
Her first stream is going to be on July 3 at 9pm JST, which is coming up very soon! She will be streaming from the basement of her office where she writes and records her songs. There’s no stream reservation posted yet, but when it’s up, you’ll be able to find it on her channel. Don’t miss it!
I’m excited to hear more from her, and I’m glad she’s trying new things and making things better for herself. Good luck, Oku Hanako! I know you’ll do great. 頑張ってください、奥華子さん。応援するよ！
Long time no blog post
No, I’m not talking about this blog, although it has been a while since the last post.
First of all, a belated happy birthday to Oku Hanako! She turned 44 just a couple of days ago (March 20).
Fellow reader Andreas Straub pointed out in a comment in the discussion thread that Oku Hanako had published a blog post for the first time since 2019. It’s aptly titled Ohisashiburi desu. / お久しぶりです。 (“It’s been a while.”).
Oku Hanako ALL TIME BEST released!
Oku Hanako’s 15th anniversary album, “Oku Hanako ALL TIME BEST“, is out! It was released last week on November 13.
奥華子「奥華子 ALL TIME BEST」ダイジェスト映像 by ponycanyon [YouTube]
(I find it interesting that more recent promotional images are used for the older songs without a music video instead of ones from the time they were released.)
There are three editions available: 3CD (PCCA-04828), 3CD+BD (PCCA-04827), and the 15h Anniversary 875BOX (PCCA-04864), which includes some extra goodies.
Regular edition (3CD) cover art
Special edition (3CD+BD) cover art
875BOX cover art
Each edition comes with three CDs. Much like on her previous best collection, “Oku Hanako BEST -My Letters-“, the songs on each of the CDs are grouped by theme. This time around, the CDs are labelled “花 – HANA” (“Flower”), “空 – SORA” (“Sky”) and “月 – TSUKI” (“Moon”).
Oku Hanako gives this note (translation is mine):
It’s approaching 15 years since my debut. I’m really happy to have lots of grateful memories. Thank you!
I think the work to make the 15-year compilation best album that I wanted is complete. To those who are always helping me out, to those whom I will meet after this, I hope even one of you will want to collect my music.
It was really difficult choosing from my many songs, but I’ve managed to divide them into 3 categories:
- Flower: Things that are lovely because they are fleeting
- Sky: Things that are always there
- Moon: Things you can see only because there is darkness
I am delighted to give you what’s almost like three new albums to listen to.
Of course, I still treasure all the songs I didn’t put in this release. I hope from here on in, my music will reach even more people.
Oku Hanako
花 – HANA
The unifying theme of the HANA (“Flower”) disc is “things that are lovely because they are fleeting”. Interestingly, around half of these songs reference flowers in their titles, and it may very well be that the lyrics of all of them have something to do with a flower.
- Hanabira (new song) / はなびら(新曲)
- Propose / プロポーズ
- Hatsukoi / 初恋
- 365 Nichi no Hanataba / 365日の花束
- Toshiue no Kare / 年上の彼
- Fuyu Hanabi / 冬花火
- Sakura Namiki / 桜並木
- Statice / スターチス
- Koi Tsubomi / 恋つぼみ
- Futari Kinenbi / 二人記念日
- Garasu no Hana / ガラスの花
- Koi / 恋
- Lost Time / ロスタイム
- Yasashii Hana / やさしい花
This disc includes Oku Hanako’s new song, Hanabira / はなびら, which was the theme song of the movie, Korosanai Kare to Shinanai Kanojo / 殺さない彼と死なない彼女.
空 – SORA
The unifying theme of the SORA (“Sky”) disc is “things that are always there”. Many of the songs included appear to have a theme of longevity and distance.
- Cinderella / シンデレラ
- Garnet / ガーネット
- Ai to Iu Takaramono / 愛という宝物
- Waratte Waratte / 笑って笑って
- 10 Nen / 10年
- Michi / 道
- Mahou no Hito / 魔法の人
- Ichibanboshi / 一番星
- Aitai Toki ni Aenai / 逢いたいときに逢えない
- Tomoshibi / 灯-ともしび-
- Kaette Oide / 帰っておいで
- Happydays
- Haruka Tooku ni / 遥か遠くに
- Ashiato / 足跡
- Jiyuu no Kame (new recording) / 自由のカメ(新録)
Of special note is the new recording of Jiyuu no Kame. This song is an indies song included on her indies compilation album vol.best. The digest video gives a preview at 2:53. It appears to include an arrangement with drums, guitar, brass, and of course her piano. It reminds me a bit of the album version of Kimo no Egao, except I have less of a problem with the arrangement at first glance.
月 – TSUKI
The unifying theme of the TSUKI (“Moon”) disc is “things that you can see only because there is darkness”. Many of these songs have a sad or otherwise dark undertone in their lyrics.
- Anata ni Suki to Iwaretai / あなたに好きと言われたい
- Toumei Kasa / 透明傘
- Utakata / 泡沫
- Rainyday
- Kawaranai Mono / 変わらないもの
- Madobe / 窓辺
- Period / ピリオド
- Aishiteta / 愛してた
- Kusabi / 楔-くさび-
- Aoi Heya / 青い部屋
- Trump / トランプ
- Shiroi Ashiato / 白い足跡
- Aimai na Kuchibiru / 曖昧な唇
- Koi no Hate / 恋の果て
- Meiro / 迷路
“Rainy Day” is probably the new 2017 recording.
MV Collection Disc
This disc is a collection of all her music videos and is only available in the 3CD+BD and 875BOX editions.
- Mahou no Hito / 魔法の人
- Chiisana Hoshi / 小さな星
- Garnet / ガーネット
- Tegami / 手紙
- Hatsukoi / 初恋
- Cinderella / シンデレラ
- Fuyu Hanabi / 冬花火
- Kusabi / 楔-くさび-
- Hanabi / 花火
- Kimi ga Kureta Natsu / 君がくれた夏
- Kimi no Hana / キミの花
- Saigo no Kiss / 最後のキス
- Omoide ni Nare / 思い出になれ
- Kaban no Naka no Yakimochi / 鞄の中のやきもち
- Hanabira / はなびら
- Off Shot Movie
I think “off shot” in this case means “backstage”. That is, the “off shot movie” is likely a compilation of clips or interviews taken while the staff were filming the music videos. A “making of” video, if you will.
On another note, they never make mention of the Music On! TV music video for Anata ni Suki to Iwaretai. I wonder if it’s because they don’t have the rights to it.
875BOX Goods
In addition to the discs, the 875BOX comes with extra goods: a special photo book, an “original multi-stand” (I think “multi” here means “multipurpose”; it looks like a phone stand), and a 15th anniversary Oku Hanako bandana.
An original multi stand, available only in the 875BOX.
15th anniversary bandana, only available in the 875BOX.
Additionally, if you bought the release at the Pony Canyon Shopping Club, you also received a special acrylic keychain featuring a Chiro Oku Hanako (Chiro is Oku Hanako’s white cat).
Chiro Oku Hanako keychan, exclusive to Pony Canyon Club shoppers.
Released at the same time as the ALL TIME BEST is the soundtrack for the movie, “Korosanai Kare to Shinanai Kanojo” (PCCR-00689). It contains Hanabira as well as 23 other tracks.
Korosanai Kare to Shinanai Kanojo soundtrack album cover art
Kaban no Naka no Yakimochi / 鞄の中のやきもち
Kaban no Naka no Yakimochi / 鞄の中のやきもち: “Jealousy Inside a Bag”
- kaban / 鞄
- “bag”
- no
- A particle indicating modification.
- naka / 中
- “middle”, “inside”
- no
- A particle indicating modification.
- yakimochi / やきもち
- “jealousy”, “feelings of jealousy”
Happy 41st birthday, Oku Hanako, and congratulations on the new release! Her 10th album, “KASUMISOU”, was released earlier today.
Kaban no Naka no Yakimochi / 鞄の中のやきもち is the opening track on the album. It’s the song that sets the tone for the rest of the album, and based on the songs I’ve already heard, I think this song is a good choice.
Unbelievably, Pony Canyon released a full music video for this song. It appears that some stores are even using it to promote the album (I mean, that’s what it’s for, right?).
【奥華子】「鞄の中のやきもち」 from 10th Album「KASUMISOU」【MV】 by ponycanyon [YouTube]
An amazing song, this is. I think her songs with a piano-strings-drums arrangement are some of my favourites.
KASUMISOU cover art and track list released!
The cover art and track list for Oku Hanako’s upcoming March album KASUMISOU have been released! Pony Canyon made a news post yesterday with the details.
As usual, in addition the regular edition, there will be special limited edition for the first buyers.
KASUMISOU regular edition cover art
KASUMISOU limited edition cover art
r/okuhanako Now Up on Reddit!
There’s a new place to get your Oku Hanako news and content! Here’s to announce the r/okuhanako subreddit, a community on Reddit where you can discuss and share any and all things Oku Hanako.
Don’t worry, though, this blog isn’t going anywhere.
Special thanks go to Edward, Daniel and Denny for helping me get this project started!
r/okuhanako as of 2019-02-03 ~04:00 UTC
“Oku Hanako no Hikigatari Dark Night☆” released!
Oku Hanako’s newest video release, “Oku Hanako no Hikigatari Dark Night ☆” / 奥華子の弾き語りダークナイト☆, came out a few days ago on June 20! I don’t have much to add to the previous announcement post, other than the cover art:
Oku Hanako no Hikigatari Dark Night ☆ cover
I’m somewhat surprised they spelled “hikigatari” wrong. Sure, 語り is katari / かたり on its own, but when put after hiki / 弾き, rendaku applies, turning the ka / か into a ga / が.
“Oku Hanako no Hikigatari Dark Night☆” announced for June 20
Oku Hanako is releasing a Blu-ray of the live event she had in Osaka on November 23, 2017. It will be called “Oku Hanako no Hikigatari Dark Night ☆” / 奥華子の弾き語りダークナイト☆, after the concert, and it will be released on June 20, 2018. There will be two editions: a limited edition restricted to PCSC (Pony Canyon Shopping Club) preorders, worth ¥5875, and a regular edition, worth ¥5000. Preorders for the special edition are being accepted until May 17. Details can be found on the Pony Canyon page for the release.
There’s no cover art yet, but Pony Canyon released a digest video on YouTube:
【LIVE】Blu-ray「奥華子の弾き語りダークナイト☆」ダイジェスト映像 by ponycanyon [YouTube]
HAPPY 40th BIRTHDAY — HANAKO OKU
Here’s a post by Denny while I work on mine. Stay tuned!
She is a great musician who stands alone in her field!
Birthday wishes going out today to “The Little Great One” — Hanako Oku born this day March 20th 1978.
This might be a tough one for her … She turns FORTY!
Ha. Age is just a number though, … at least I tell myself that.
Oh, of course there has to be a song. The song I would like to share for this special day is “Panorama no Kaze”. This was from a live performance in 2008. It is one of the Oku ballads that always takes me there. (gulp)
Of course, she is a great artist in any decade.
Starlight: Wanna see my collection?
Thoughts on Oku Hanako 