Sowelu, born Aki Harada (原田亜希, Harada Aki), is a J-pop singer. She was born… Read Full Bio ↴Sowelu, born Aki Harada (原田亜希, Harada Aki), is a J-pop singer. She was born on November 6, 1982 in Tokyo to a Japanese father and a half-Irish half-Japanese mother. Her career started in 2002 with the release of her first single Beautiful Dreamer, a soft love ballad which did very well in the charts, and was later featured on the Relaxin’ with Japanese Lovers compilation album. Her first single was modestly successful, and it wasn't until the release of her album Geofu in the summer of 2003 that she gained recognition. Geofu did exceptionally well in the charts, scoring a number 4 position with more than 300,000 copies sold. Her first single after Geofu, "Rainbow" was used as the theme song for the Japanese drama Netsuretsuteki Chukahanten, and the other A-side song on that single, "breath ~Omoi no Youryou~" was used for the national promotion campaign of JFN Radio. She performs under Sony Music Japan's DEFStar records label.

Her next big single "Glisten" was used in a make-up commercial for Menard products, and did fairly well in the Japanese market. With this success, she gained even more popularity, and was asked to sing the end theme for the popular TBS animated series Fullmetal Alchemist, entitled "I Will", giving her an easy in with American fans. Because of "'I Will"', the two other songs included with her "I Will" single, "Candy Rain" and "Pearl Color ni Yurete", became popular among American fans. In 2005, her song "Candy Rain" was featured on the Soul Tree: a Musical Tribute to Toshinobu Kubota album and "Pearlcolor ni Yurete" was on the Momoe Yamaguchi tribute album Thank You For.... Likewise, her third single "Fortune" was selected for the American J-Pop compilation album Neo Soul, and "Across my Heart" from the Geofu album was added to the "Smooth Listening Compilation" album.

In November 2004, Sowelu released her 8th single, "Last Forever", which became the TV insert song for the new drama There goes Nurse-man, and her cover of "The Rose" was featured on a Nescafe commercial. Then finally, after one and a half years of waiting, Sowelu released her second album Sweet Bridge on January 7, 2005.

In 2005, Sowelu contributed to m-flo's album BEAT SPACE NINE on the track "So Exclusive", and again on their album DOPE SPACE NINE in the same song, remixed by Korean fusion band, Clazziquai.

In the music video for the song "to YOU" several photographs of her family and her childhood are intercut with scenes of her singing in a wide room with large glass windows. According to her website, the video location is a church about one hour away from Tokyo by car. At the end of the PV, the family members in the photos make an appearance together with Sowelu, including her grandmother, her mother and even Sowelu's pet chihuahua.

Her latest album "２４－ｔｗｅｎｔｙ　ｆｏｕｒ－" was released on July 12, 2006. It debuted at #3, her highest ranking yet. The album remained at the #3 spot for two weeks on the Weekly Oricon Album Charts. One of the album's songs entitled "守るべきもの", is used as the ending of the 9th Pokemon movie Pokémon Ranger and the Prince of the Sea: Manaphy.

On December 12, 2007 Sowelu released her latest single "光". The single had moderate success and reached #28 on the Oricon Weekly Charts. More recently Sowelu will participate in the 2008 Nike ad campaign, "MY MUSIC,MY FORCE"; along with Perfume, Home Made Kazoku, Tohoshinki, Shota Moriyama and Shoko Nakagawa.

誓いの紙 duet with ISEKI
Sowelu Lyrics

未来を誓うこの瞬間に
思い出すのは過去のこと
出会いから重ねた日々
今胸によみがえる
怒鳴り合った声も泣き顔も
すべてがね
二人のキズナを深めここに
導いてくれたんだって
思うと涙がでる
君の名前の隣に今

並んで自分の名を
書く手が震えちゃうよ嬉しい

未来を描く頭の中に
思い浮かぶのは親の顔
書き慣れたこの名字を
今ここに書き終える
サヨナラなんかじゃない
分かってても寂しいよ
こんなに大切にして今日まで
育ててくれたことを
思うと涙がでる
二人もらった愛情をここに
繋いで家族になろう
誓うよ大切にすることを

嬉しいことがあるたび君と
手を取り合って分かち合おうね
離れちゃいそうになった時ほど
繋いだこの手強く握って
この愛を永遠に灯そう
この誓いの紙を持って今
こっちの手を繋いで
二人で届けにいこう
夢が現実へと変わる
大事な瞬間だから
心が震えちゃうね
愛し合うってこんなにも
幸せなことなんだね
どうしよう涙がでる
パパとママがこんな風に
出会って愛し合って
授けてくれた命にありがとう

Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS

Written by: LiLy

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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