Kudou Yuuki

My Kudou Yuuki collection

I've been meaning to post this for quite some time now...sorry Mikey it took me soo long! Just a little post before I head off into movie land! Kudou Yuuki first came to my attention when I heard about the film "Picture Bride" which reveals part of the long history that Hawaii has with Japan. Specifically how young women in Japan would travel to Hawaii in arranged marriages, often their relationships beforehand only being known through photographs and letters. The film presents a poignant look into the lives that many of these women faced when they arrived with so much unknown and uncertainty set before them. If you haven't viewed this film before I recommend it to anyone as it'll give you a unique and often overlooked view into an important part of Hawaii and Japan's ties in the early 1900's. For a long time this movie was only available on VHS but happily it's been released on DVD! Hmmm...the VHS cover was nicer though but I can't seem to find my copy!

After seeing "Picture Bride" I became quite interested in seeing what else Kudou Yuuki had done and this led me to the very strange film "Mystery Train." Hahah this film is still a mystery to me! :P Kudou Yuuki also enjoyed a music career and I'm not sure how many albums she released as I was only able to find a re-issued album which was originally released way back in 1986 and a film inspired album from 1994. "Memories" (ah it's misspelled 'Memaries' on the jacket) has an extremely dated sound reflective of the 80's...so think big hair!! :P...while "Actress~Screen Music Collection~" pays tribute to great music themes such as "Unchained Melody", "Take My Breath Away", "If We Hold on Together", "Love Story", "The Sound of Silence", "Moon River", "When You Wish Upon a Star", and others which are all sung in English. Some of the recording actually took place right here in Hawaii and local artist Ernie Cruz appears as a guest on the album! Having only seen Kudou Yuuki act previously, I didn't know what to expect when these albums arrived. "Memories" is pure 80's J-Pop which captures a very cute side of her but "Actress..." which was released about 8 years later has a very sophisticated and mature sound to it. I'm so impressed with her English pronunciation and the deepness of her voice! There's still that hint of an accent which occurs during particular words which are difficult for native Japanese to pronounce but I actually find it an endearing trait and for the most part her enunciation is perfect. I also found a shashinshuu of hers which was shot with an artistic approach in both black & white and color. Everything is tastefully done but it's quite an eye opener! :O

Below are a song from "Memories" and 4 songs from "Actress~Screen Music Collection~." "Tokimeki fall in you" which is from "Memories" has a really dated sound but it's still cute to hear what she sounded like back then! The other 4 songs are from "Actress..." I love "Breakfast at Tiffany's" so I had to include "Moon River"! enjoy! :) All uploads courtesy of 808Monkey. :)

"The Wind Beneath My Wings~ai wa tsubasa ni notte~"
"Moon River"
A Whole New World"
"Endless Love"
"Tokimeki fall in you"