Hitomi Shimatani

Hitomi Shimatani, born on September 4, 1980, in Kure, Hiroshima, Japan, is a Japanese pop singer. At the age of 17, while still attending high school, Shimatani participated in The Japan Audition 1997, emerging as the winner from a pool of approximately 200,000 contestants, securing her a recording contract with the Avex label. Despite this achievement, she continued her high school studies in Hiroshima and took vocal lessons in Tokyo on weekends. Her debut Enka single, titled "Ōsaka no Onna,” was released in 1999 and while it received critical acclaim, topping the Oricon's Enka charts, it achieved only modest sales, which soon saw the singer transition to more mainstream pop genres. It wasn't until 2001 that Shimatani achieved mainstream success with her third single, "Papillon," a Japanese version of Janet Jackson's "Doesn't Really Matter." This single became her first to break into the Top 15 on the Oricon charts, remaining within the Top 50 for 20 weeks and selling over 200,000 copies. Her sixth single, "Shanty," used as the theme song for TBS' TV drama Pretty Girls, marked her first Top 10 single in the Japanese charts, reaching number 7. In May 2002, she released a cover of "Amairo no Kami no Otome" by 60s band Village Singers, which became a massive success, peaking at number 4. This song also became a karaoke favourite among Japanese people, topping the Oricon Karaoke charts for 18 weeks. In February 2005, Shimatani released her first concept album, Crossover, marking a shift in her music from mainstream J-pop to classical-influenced tunes, incorporating string instruments and pianos instead of electric guitars, bass, and keyboards, along with world music instruments. The first album in this new style was Heart & Symphony, which landed at number 7. Continuing to release a string of successful singles including "Haru Machibito/Camellia," "Destiny: Taiyō no Hana/Koimizu: Tears of Love," and "Pasio," (2006), Shimatani continued to release full-length records including her first cover album: Otoko Uta: Cover Song Collection (2007) as well as Prima Rosa (2006), and Flare (2007), before holding a special acoustic live concert at Itsukushima Shrine in 2009. Over the next 12 years, Shimatani enjoyed even more success with albums, Honjitsu, Tonai, Bousho (2014), Misty (2018) and Love Song~My Song for you~ (2021), with the singer returning in 2023, with non-album singles, "Re:Start," "Tabi," and "Ouchi ni Kaero."

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