My Little Lover

Overview

My Little Lover (nicknamed "Mairaba") is a Japanese pop unit. Producer Takeshi Kobayashi and guitarist Kenji Fujii were once part of the group, but it is now the solo project of vocalist Akko, and it is currently signed to Toy's Factory. In 1995 the single "Hello, Again (Mukashi kara aru basho)" sold over 1.8 million copies, and the debut album Evergreen sold about 2.8 million.

Members

• Akko (Akiko Akamatsu): vocals. Born January 10, 1973 in Tokyo and raised in Isehara, Kanagawa. The only original member remaining. She pursued rhythmic gymnastics through school before giving it up after injury, and, having studied piano since age five, entered Kunitachi College of Music.
• Takeshi Kobayashi: keyboards. Born June 7, 1959 in Yamagata. Joined with the first album Evergreen and wrote and arranged nearly all the music as the group's producer. He left in 2006 but continues to provide songs, arrangements and production, and is president of the management company Oorongsha.
• Kenji Fujii: guitar. Born March 8, 1969 in Hiroshima. Left in 2002 and now plays in the rock band The Birthday.

Career

Debut and breakthrough (1995-1996)

Kobayashi produced Akko and Fujii as a duo, and they debuted on May 1, 1995 with "Man & Woman / My Painting". It peaked at No. 7, and "Shiroi Kaito" (No. 11) followed; both topped 500,000 copies. In August the drama theme "Hello, Again" became a smash hit and established them as top artists. The first album, Evergreen, arrived on December 5, 1995, when Kobayashi formally joined on keyboards. The early lyricist credit "KATE" stood for "Kenji, Akko, and Takeshi Ensemble".

Akko and Kobayashi married in 1996, and the group paused for the birth of a child. "Alice" (April 1996) then sold over a million copies, followed by "Now and Then" and "Yes (Free Flower)".

1997-1998

In 1997 the group returned with "Animal Life" (credited to My Little Lover featuring Akko), then "Shuffle" and "Private Eyes" (their first 12 cm single). In 1998 came "Sora no Shita de", the second album Presents (March), "Destiny" (theme of the drama WITH LOVE, over 500,000 copies), "Crazy Love/Days", the third album New Adventure (September, 800,000 copies) and the concept album The Waters (December). Activity then paused again.

New York and lineup changes (1999-2006)

The Kobayashis moved to New York and built a studio there, and Akko gave birth to a second daughter. After more than two and a half years of silence, "Shooting Star" (February 2001) and "Higasa (Japanese Beauty)" (April) led into the fourth album Topics (May 2001), which sold under 100,000 copies. Fujii left in 2002, leaving a duo, and "Survival" was released in September. The group held its first national tour in 2003 and appeared at the Dream Power John Lennon Super Live 2003. In 2004 they released FANTASY, an album of all-new material with no singles, and the single "Kaze to Sora no Kilim", which included the film theme "Shinkokyu no Hitsuyo".

Akko's solo project (2006-2009)

In July 2006 Kobayashi left and the group moved to avex trax as Akko's solo project, with the name styled "My Little Lover". The single "Ribon" came in November and the album Akko in December. In 2007 she released "Afureru" and began a national tour in May. Kobayashi and Akko divorced in 2008. That year brought the singles "Labyrinth" and "Initial", a one-night anniversary live on May 1, and the seventh album Identity. She made her first appearance at ap bank fes '08 in July, followed by HIGHER GROUND 2008, SETSTOCK '08 and a-nation. The iTunes-exclusive acoustic album acoakko reached No. 1 on the store ranking. In 2009 the single "Oto no Nai Sekai / Toki no Bell", released on Oorongsha's OORONG RECORDS, reached No. 8 on Oricon's weekly chart, the first top-10 since "Destiny" about a decade earlier. The eighth album Sora no Shirushi followed in November.

15th, 20th and 30th anniversaries

In 2010 the group celebrated its 15th anniversary with tours in Aichi, Osaka and Tokyo, a magazine-format CD with kitson, and the best album Best Collection. In 2015 Akko returned to Toy's Factory and released the two-disc album re:evergreen for the 20th anniversary, followed in 2016 by the live "20th ANNIVERSARY LIVE acoakko & evergreen". In May 2026 (Billboard Live Osaka) and June 2026 (Billboard Live Tokyo) she held the 30th anniversary live "My Little Lover ☆ acoakko live, Awaiting Summer".

Musical style

Kobayashi wrote and arranged almost all the early material, and the group explored a variety of styles across albums. The pairing of a female vocalist and a male guitarist was seen as fresh, and Akko's transparent voice is a hallmark, with her vocals often overdubbed on recordings.