The name Danny Choo will be instantly familiar to fans of Japanese pop culture – and with the release of the Mirai Music CD he’s expanding into new territories.
Originally hailing from the UK, Danny Choo has established a small media outlet called Mirai Inc whose aim is to share and promote Japanese culture across the world. Working with a broad range of Japanese companies, including anime and game producers, figure manufacturers and publishers, Danny has exported his Culture Japan brand worldwide.
One of the creations of Danny and Mirai Inc is Mirai Suenaga who is the mascot character of Culture Japan. She’s made appearances in some anime titles and games and also appears on the company’s Moekana product – a series of flash cards designed to help learn the Japanese language.
In 2010 Danny discovered the work of Vividblaze, a musical duo consisting of Miho Tezuka and Yasunari Okano, and was struck by their lounge/triphop sound and became an instant fan.
Vividblaze have been issuing material since 2004 when their debut mini album marin was released. A collaboration project with the filmmaker mockmoon titled “miniature city 2 featuring vividblaze” managed to rank #1 on YouTube. – and it was this video (which featured the Vividblaze track Tight Rope) that first brought the band to the attention of Danny Choo. As a result, Vividblaze and Danny embarked on a collaboration in which the duo wrote and produced the soundtrack of the Culture Japan show.
The album, titled Mirai Music, was completed in 2012 and features music culled from the various seasons of the Culture Japan series. Due to time restrictions with work however, the CD has only just emerged.
In true Mirai style, the actual CD is a stylish package featuring Mirai Suenaga and includes a series of postcards with various interpretations of Mirai by a variety of popular illustrators.
Mirai Music is available via AmiAmi for 3,150 yen and also via iTunes UK for £7.99.
http://www.dannychoo.com
http://www.vividblaze.com
Text by Paul Browne
2nd February 2013