is a Japanese singer-songwriter and composer, who is known for writing music for games and

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

. She is best known for her contributions to the ''

Ar tonelico is a Media mix, multimedia project series made in collaboration by Gust Corporation and Banpresto (currently subsidiaries of Tecmo Koei and Namco Bandai Games respectively) consisting of video games, manga, and an OVA. The name of the series is al ...

'', '' Shadow Hearts'' and ''

Umineko no Naku Koro ni is a Japanese dōjin soft visual novel series produced by 07th Expansion. Its first episode debuted at Comiket 72 for Windows in August 2007. The story focuses on a group of eighteen people on a secluded island for a period of two d ...

games A game is a Structure, structured type of play (activity), play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an Educational game, educational tool. Many games are also considered to be Work (human activity), work (such as p ...

, as well as anime adaptations of ''Umineko no Naku Koro ni'',

Akatsuki no Yona is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Mizuho Kusanagi. It has been serialized in Hakusensha's manga magazine ''Hana to Yume'' since August 2009, with its chapters collected in 45 volumes as of December 2024. The series is ...

and ''

Tales of Symphonia is an action role-playing video game developed by Namco Tales Studio and published by Namco for the GameCube. The seventh main installment of the ''Tales'' series, it was released in Japan on August 29, 2003, in North America on July 13, 2004 ...

''. Shikata's music is known for its ethnic feel and complex vocal chorus work. In a single Shikata song, there may be as many as 200 separate vocal tracks recorded for it.

Biography

Shikata was born in Tokyo. She first developed an interest in music when she was very little, after constantly singing with her mother. She was first interested in songs from

Minna no Uta , literally ''Everyone's Songs'' ( English title: ''Songs for Everyone''), is a five-minute NHK TV and radio program which is broadcast several times daily in Japan. The program started on April 3, 1961. It is one of NHK's long-running program ...

and later, when she learnt the piano, in classical music. In 2001, she formed the independent label Vagrancy, associated with the

dōjin music , also called in Japan, is a sub-category of ''doujin'' activity. ''Doujin'' are non-official self-published Japanese works which can be based on official products or completely original creations. Such products are sold online on specialized ...

scene that makes independent music game releases. She originally had no intention of singing, but felt dissatisfied with creating songs just from synthesiser sounds. Later in the year, she released her debut EP, '' Midori no Mori de Nemuru Tori'', through her site. In the next few years, she released many works through her site, mostly instrumental albums performed with a

music box A music box (American English) or musical box (British English) is an automatic musical instrument in a box that produces Musical note, musical notes by using a set of pins placed on a revolving cylinder (geometry), cylinder or disc to pluck ...

. Her first full-length album '' Haikyo to Rakuen'' (2003) topped the charts at Japanese independent music download site Muzie for 24 months. In the same year, she worked on the soundtrack for the independent game " Hanakisō," her first major game-related work. In 2004, she held her first ever live tour. In 2005, she debuted as a major label artist under the Hats Unlimited label run by violinist

Taro Hakase is a Japanese musician who specialises as a violinist and composer. Biography Career Hakase was involved in a Japanese band called Kryzler & Kompany which formed while he was in college. He played the violin, while Tsuneyoshi Saito played ke ...

. Her association with the label led to Shikata working on many game soundtracks, such as '' Shadow Hearts: From the New World'' and '' Ar tonelico: Melody of Elemia''. Shikata continues to work with the ''Ar tonelico'' franchise today, releasing music for both the

second The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...

and

third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (di ...

games. Her second major-label album, '' Raka'', was released in 2006. It featured several songs from games (two songs used in '' Hanakisō'', as well as a rearrangement of the opening theme song from ''Ar tonelico'', ). It was her first top 40 album, ranking at #34 on the

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that ...

albums chart. (subscription only) In 2007, Shikata became associated with the

dōjin soft is software created by Japanese Fan-made, hobbyists or hobbyist groups (referred to as "dōjin circle, circles"), more for fun than for profit. The term includes digital , which are essentially the Japanese equivalent of Independent video game de ...

game ''

'', releasing an EP featuring music from the game (including the eponymous theme song). This was her first top 30 release. In 2009, her third album ''

Harmonia In Greek mythology, Harmonia (; /Ancient Greek phonology, harmoˈnia/, "harmony", "agreement") is the goddess of harmony and concord. Her Greek opposite is Eris (mythology), Eris and her Roman mythology, Roman counterpart is Concordia (mythol ...

'' broke the top 20. In 2009, Shikata made her first moves into singing for

, with her first single " Katayoku no Tori" being used as the opening theme song for the anime adaptation of ''Umineko no Naku Koro ni''. In 2010, her second single, " Inori no Kanata", was used as the ending theme song for '' Tales of Symphonia (Tethe'alla Version)''. In 2014, she composed the soundtrack for the anime television series ''

Cross Ange , also known as simply ''Cross Ange'', is a Japanese mecha anime television series produced by Sunrise that aired from October 2014 to March 2015. A manga adaptation began publication in August 2014. Plot Through the development of ground ...

''. She later composed the second ending theme “akatsuki” for the 2014/2015 anime

Yona of the Dawn is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Mizuho Kusanagi. It has been serialized in Hakusensha's Shōjo manga, manga magazine ''Hana to Yume'' since August 2009, with its chapters collected in 45 volumes as of December 2024. T ...

Discography

Studio albums

* 2001: '' Midori no Mori de Nemuru Tori'' ( EP) * 2003: '' Haikyo to Rakuen'' * 2005: '' Navigatoria'' * 2006: '' Raka'' * 2009: ''

'' * 2013: '' Turaida'' * 2015: '' Wokashi'' * 2018: '' Ayashi'' * 2019: '' noAno''

Soundtrack albums

* 2003: '' Hanakisō Sound Tracks'' * 2008: ''

'' ( EP) * 2013: ''

Ciel Nosurge ''Ciel Nosurge'', full name , with the title translating to "World of the Girl -Requiem to a Lost Star-" is a life simulation video game for the PlayStation Vita developed by Gust. The player's objective is to help Ion, a girl with amnesia, regain ...

Original Soundtracks Vol.1'' ( OST)

Compilation albums

* 2007: '' Istoria: Musa'' * 2008: '' Kara*Cola: Hymmnos Orgel Collection'' * 2010: '' Utau Oka: Ar=ciel Ar=dor'' * 2011: '' Byakumu no Mayu ~Ricordando il Passato~'' * 2011: '' Istoria ~Kalliope~'' * 2012: '' Laylania''

Instrumental albums

* 2002: '' Petit Fours'' (music box) * 2003: ''

Horizon Blue Horizon blue is a colour name which is well remembered because it was used for the blue-grey uniforms of French metropolitan troops from 1915 through 1921. This name for a shade of blue which refers to the indefinable colour which separates the ...

'' (music box) * 2003: '' Kurenawi'' (instrumental) * 2004: ''

Viridian Viridian is a blue-green pigment, a hydrated chromium(III) oxide, of medium saturation and relatively dark in value. It is composed of a majority of green, followed by blue. The first recorded use of ''viridian'' as a color name in English wa ...

'' (music box) * 2005: ''

Wisteria ''Wisteria'' is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae (Leguminosae). The genus includes four species of woody twining vines that are native to China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, southern Canada, the Eastern United States, and nor ...

'' (music box) * 2007: '' Kalliope: Piano Concert'' (piano) * 2007: '' Hanakisō Koukyoukyoku'' (orchestra) * 2009: '' Fluff: Orgel Arrange Mini Album'' ( EP) (music box) * 2010: '' Nijiiro Crayon: Orgel Arrange Mini Album'' ( EP) (music box) * 2011: '' lirica: Orgel Arrange Mini Album'' ( EP) (music box) * 2012: '' Istoria ~Kalliope~ Orgel Collection'' (music box) * 2013: '' Hagurumakan no Elde'' (music box) * 2018: '' Yoimatsuri'' (music box)

Singles

* 2009: '' Katayoku no Tori'' * 2010: '' Inori no Kanata'' * 2011: '' Utsusemi''

References

External links

Akiko Shikata official site

Akiko Shikata's Vagrancy site

Hats Official label site

Akiko Shikata's official blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shikata, Akiko Living people Anime composers Japanese women harpists Japanese women singers Japanese women songwriters Italian-language singers of Japan Singers from Tokyo Doujin music Avex Group artists Japanese women composers Japanese composers Japanese video game composers Japanese pianists Japanese harpists Japanese lutenists Singers from Miyagi Prefecture Video game musicians Anime musicians 21st-century Japanese pianists 21st-century Japanese women composers 21st-century Japanese women pianists 1971 births