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

anime is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...

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

Ar tonelico is a 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 also the nam ...

'', ''

Shadow Hearts ''Shadow Hearts'' is a series of role-playing video games, consisting of a trilogy of titles for the PlayStation 2 (PS2) and their predecessor ''Koudelka'' for the PlayStation. The entire series was developed by Sacnoth (later Nautilus); ''Koudel ...

'' 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 on August 17, 2007. The story focuses on a group of eighteen people on a secluded island for a period of two da ...

games A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (su ...

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

Tales of Symphonia is an action role-playing game released for the Nintendo GameCube on August 29, 2003, in Japan. It was published by Namco and is the fifth core product of the ''Tales'' series. The game was localized and released in North America on July 13 ...

''. 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. The program started on April 3, 1961. It is one of NHK's long-running programs. The ...

, and later when she learnt the piano 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 Midori (みどり, ミドリ, , , ) is the Japanese word for "green" and may refer to: Places * Midori, Gunma * Midori-ku, Chiba * Midori-ku, Nagoya * Midori-ku, Sagamihara * Midori-ku, Saitama * Midori-ku, Yokohama People Given name ...

'', 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 notes by using a set of pins placed on a revolving cylinder or disc to pluck the tuned teeth (or ''lamellae ...

. Her first full-length album ''

Haikyo to Rakuen Urban exploration (often shortened as UE, urbex and sometimes known as roof and tunnel hacking) is the exploration of manmade structures, usually abandoned ruins or hidden components of the manmade environment. Photography and historical inter ...

'' (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 A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...

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 k ...

. 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 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'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hi ...

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 and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in N ...

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

dōjin soft is software created by Japanese hobbyists or hobbyist groups (referred to as "circles"), more for fun than for profit. The term includes digital , which are essentially the Japanese equivalent of independent video games or fangames (the term ...

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 (; grc, Ἁρμονία / harmoˈnia/, "harmony", "agreement") is the immortal goddess of harmony and concord. Her Roman counterpart is Concordia. Her Greek opposite is Eris, whose Roman counterpart is Discor ...

'' 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 is a Japanese word meaning "prayer", and is occasionally used as a feminine name in Japanese. It may refer to: People * Inori Minase (水瀬いのり, born 1995), Japanese actress, voice actress and singer who played Rem in '' Re:Zero − Sta ...

", 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''.

Discography

Studio albums

* 2001: ''

'' ( EP) * 2003: ''

'' * 2005: '' Navigatoria'' * 2006: '' Raka'' * 2009: ''

'' * 2013: ''

Turaida Turaida () is a part of Sigulda in the Vidzeme, Vidzeme Region of Latvia. Its most famous site is the Brick Gothic Turaida Castle. In 1212, a peace treaty was signed in Turaida between the Estonians, Estonian tribes and the Livonian Brothers of ...

'' * 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, regai ...

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'' (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. Specifically, it is a shade of spring green, which places the color b ...

'' (music box) * 2005: ''

Wisteria ''Wisteria'' is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae (Leguminosae), that includes ten 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: ''

'' * 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 Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Anime composers Japanese women musicians Japanese women singers Japanese songwriters Italian-language singers Singers from Tokyo Doujin music Avex Group artists Japanese women composers Japanese composers Video game composers Japanese pianists Japanese harpists Japanese lutenists Musicians from Miyagi Prefecture Video game musicians Anime musicians Japanese women pianists 21st-century Japanese pianists 21st-century women composers 21st-century Japanese women musicians 21st-century women pianists