Hiroko Shimabukuro best known mononymously as hiro, is a Japanese

Japanese people

The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...

 singer. She debuted as a member of the popular girl group Speed

Speed (band)

Speed is an Okinawan female vocal/dance group comprising Hiroko Shimabukuro, Eriko Imai, Takako Uehara and Hitoe Arakaki. All four members are former students of Okinawa Actors School which also trained popular artists Namie Amuro and MAX.Speed made their major label debut on August 5, 1996 and...

 in 1996. In 1998, hiro released her first solo song "Mitsumete Itai" as a B-side to Speed's single "All My True Love". She made her official solo debut in 1999 with the single, "As Time Goes By", which sold 800,000 copies in Japan. In August 2004 hiro released an all-English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 album with her band Coco d'Or

Coco d'Or

Coco d'Or is a jazz band, fronted by Hiroko Shimabukuro. Hiroko, also known as hiro, was a member of the popular Okinawan group SPEED.Coco d'Or's debut self-titled album was released on 4 August 2004. A companion album entitled Coco d'Or Parfait, which contained the same songs along with three new...

.

Speed

Hiro joined Speed in 1996, aged 12. She left Speed in 2000, when the band disbanded.

Charting and sales

"Treasure" sold around 600,000 copies, and "Your Innocence" sold more than 200,000 copies. Her first album Brilliant charted in Japan at #4 for five weeks, selling 400,000 copies. Her second album Naked and True reached number 1, and she released a best singles album that charted in the top 10.

In August 2004 Hiro released an all-English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 album under the name of Coco d'Or. Her single "Hikari no naka de" was featured on the soundtrack to the movie Devilman

Devilman

is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Go Nagai which originally started as an anime adaptation of the concept of Nagai's previous manga series, Demon Lord Dante. A 39 episode anime series was developed by Toei in 1972 and Nagai began Devilman as a manga in Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen...

. A year later, she released another song, "Clover", tied to anime Black Jack, selling 20,000 copies. Her two CDs released in 2006 sold considerably less, "Hero" selling 7,000 copies and "Itsuka Futari de" 9,000.

Awards

She has won three consecutive awards in the Japan Record Awards for "Treasure" (2000), "Your innocence" (2001), and "Eternal Place" (2002).

Performances

She performed in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 at Seattle's Sakura-Con

Sakura-Con

Sakura-Con is an annual three-day anime convention held during March or April at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center in Seattle, Washington.- Programming :...

 in April 2004.

Albums

• Brilliant, 2001. #2, 7 weeks, 430,000 copies
• Naked and True, 2002. #2, 7 weeks, 236,000 copies
• 寛 シングル・コレクション, 2006. (Best singles album) #7, 6 weeks, 47,000 copies

Singles

• "As Times Goes By", 1999. #2, 13 weeks, 812,020 copies
• "Bright Daylight", 2000. #2, 10 weeks, 427,770 copies
• "Treasure", 2000. #2, 15 weeks, 602,390 copies
• "Your Innocence", 2001. #3, 9 weeks, 227,970 copies
• "Confession", 2001. #3, 9 weeks, 172,180 copies
• "Love You", 2002. #3, 5weeks, 103,750 copies
• "Eternal Place", 2002. #2, 7 weeks, 85,430 copies
• "Notice my mind", 2002. #8, 4 weeks, 37,600 copies
• "Baby Don't Cry", 2003. #9, 6 weeks, 38,056 copies
• 愛が泣いてる (Ai ga naiteru), 2003. #12, 6 weeks, 29,546 copies
• 光の中で (Hikari no Naka de), 2004. #12, 7 weeks, 28,954 copies
• "Clover", 2005. #18, 5 weeks, 20,358 copies
• ヒーロー☆ ("Hero"), 2006. #40, 3 weeks, 7,000 copies
• いつか二人で ("I will take you"/Itsuka futari de), 2006 #18, 7 weeks, 20,000 copies

Other

• 寛 スペシャル・ボックス, (hiro special box), 2006. #26, 2 weeks, 9,000 copies (Limited Release Edition)

External links

• hiro's Official Website
• hiro's Official Blog (in Japanese)