She has performed with Maaya Sakamoto, Yoko Kanno, ZABADAK, Samply Red, Yayoi Yula, and was once in a group called Marsh-Mellow. Arai debuted in 1986, with the song "Beautiful Planet".
"VOICES" is possibly Ms. Arai's most famous song to date.
Arai's love for music began early in her life: her first exposure to music was through her father, who apparently had an enormous record collection.
Arai's first work as a professional singer was not as "AraiAkino," but rather under the pseudonym, "Mikan Chang." One of her the earliest works, in which she participated as "Mikan Chang" was when she provided back up vocals for the 1985 album, "The Rhythm Boxer" by artists, Shimizu Nobuyuki together with Murakami Shunichi.
Arai had gone to one of Yayoi's performances and was so taken with the power and beauty of her voice, that she personally requested that the two of them form a duet.
Akino grew up with the love of music with the help of her father and support of her mother.
Although Akino wrote most of her songs on her first album, many of them were re-written by "professional" lyricists to fit the image the industry was trying to portray.
Although the time with her father was short, Akino tends to remember and cherish the good times she had with him, rather than dwell on him leaving her, her mother, and her younger brother when she was just 8 years old.
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