“No matter how many other guys would pursue her, she couldn’t shake the feelings of loneliness that the loss created.”īut when a 12-inch single was released in Japan in March 1985, it only reached 86 on the Japanese music charts however, the album on which it appeared, Variety, was a number one smash hit. I wanted to write something that had 16 beats and lyrics capturing what life in a city was like.” According to Takeuchi, the lyrics are about a woman who lost her true love. “I also wanted to write something danceable, something with a city pop sound. “I wanted to write a rock song, a folk song, a country song,” she added. “I was writing songs at the time because it was fun for me.” (Full disclosure: I am a columnist at The Japan Times.) “I was pregnant with a child at the time, so it wasn’t like I was really able to indulge in the bubble-era excess in the same way as others could,” Takeuchi told The Japan Times.

After a brief hiatus following 2004's Longtime Favorites album, Takeuchi returned to the scene in 2007 with the number one album Denim, and repeated the number one feat with 2008's Expressions.Written and sung by Mariya Takeuchi, “Plastic Love” is pure “city pop,” a loosely-defined, breezy genre that has been described as “music made by city people, for city people.” Few things evoke the heady 1980s bubble era Japan more than city pop tunes. Along with her success as a solo artist, however, Takeuchi has become something of a go-to songwriter for Japan's pop industry, penning songs for a series of top artists. Since 1984, Takeuchi has released seven studio albums, each holding the Oricon number one slot, and a 1994 compilation (Impressions) became one of the higher-selling Japanese albums with three million copies sold. Upon her return in 1984, fame was awaiting in a grander fashion. After marrying fellow musician and sometimes collaborator Tatsuro Yamashita in 1981, Takeuchi took a leave from the industry to raise their young child. The albums fared similarly, each hitting the weekly Top 20, but only 1980's Love Songs hit number one on the charts and became a strong seller. She released a total of five albums between 19, with a series of singles scratching the Top 100 or Top 40 of the Oricon charts, but never gaining a number one hit (though 'Mysterious Peach Pie' did become a strong player, peaking at a number three position). The single garnered moderate success, ultimately launching Takeuchi into wide recognition.

A Keio University student with a penchant for singing, Mariya Takeuchi took it upon herself to jump-start her career, releasing a single in 1978 without a label.

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