Akimi Morinaga

Akimi Morinaga

A pop music artist based in Tokyo, Akimi Morinaga combines City Pop with diverse influences such as MPB (Brazilian music), kayōkyoku (Japanese popular songs), neo-soul, and disco, creating a contemporary sound. His style, which explores fiction and adjacent realities, resembles the works of self-produced pop artists from Japans New Music era. In 2018, he released his first EP, Room of Homage, a six-track project developed over a year. The following year, performing as Akimi Morinaga & Il Paradiso, he appeared at FUJI ROCK FESTIVAL 19 ROOKIE A GO-GO and Ringo Music Festival 2019, also releasing Minmin TV, produced by Takeshi Namura, known for his work with KIRINJI. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Morinaga has focused on creating music from his home studio, including his first solo concert End Stage Act in 2022 and a nine-month streak of consecutive singles in 2023. In addition to writing, composing, arranging, and performing his own tracks, he has collaborated on pieces such as Koi no Hajimari (arranged by Yukiko Nishii), Kaettekitara Yasashikusurukara (arranged by Yuta Ishikawa), and Akudoi with singer-songwriter Marlion. Exploring new dimensions in pop music, he continues to gain widespread support through digital platforms.