EPICANTHUS

There’s a video floating around cyberspace that shows Japanese middle school girls in tears at a live classroom performance of Tegami—Haikei Jugo no Kimi e (Letter: Dear 15-Year-Old You) by composer-singer Angela Aki.  Shot by an NHK camera crew, it’s reportedly unstaged and rather moving.

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Born in Itano, Tokushima Prefecture, Japan 29 years ago, Aki moved to Honolulu, ironically, at the age of 15 where she attended the Iolani School and later graduated from George Washington Univ. in Washington, D.C., with degrees in political science and music.

Angela, born Kiyomi Aki to a Japanese language school exec and an American mother, has enjoyed international notoriety (and geeky sex symbol status) since 2005 when the bespectacled Tiny Fey lookalike composed and performed the theme song (Kiss Me Good-bye) to the Sony Playstation hit role-playing game Final Fantasy XII

Upon Tegami’s release in mid-September, Japan’s hopelessly wired schoolgirls spread the song’s promo video (PV) and lyrics via text messages and streaming media from Hokkaido to Okinawa and the song shot into Japan’s top five in the blink of an eye energized by an emotional connect only a young girl can parse.

The setup: It’s 2008 and Asia is beset with terrorism, pollution, economic malaise, natural disasters, melamine and an alarming rate of teen suicides. The composer sends a letter of hope from the future to her 15-year-old self, saying that more or less everything’s gonna be chill. Here’s an English translation:

Dear you,
Thank you
I have something to tell the 15-year-old you

If you continue asking what and where you should be going
You’ll be able to see the answer

The rough seas of youth may be tough
But row your boat of dreams on
Towards the shores of tomorrow

Now, please don’t be defeated and please don’t shed a tear
During these times when you’re seemingly about to disappear
Just believe in your own voice
For me as an adult, there are sleepless nights when I’m hurt
But I’m living the bittersweet present

There’s meaning to everything in life
So build your dreams without fear
Keep on believing

Seems like I’m about to be defeated and cry
For someone who’s seemingly about to disappear
Whose words should I believe in?

Please don’t be defeated and please don’t shed a tear
During these times when you’re seemingly about to disappear
Just believe in your own voice

No matter era we’re in
There’s no running away from sorrow
So show your smile, and go on living the present
Go on living the present

Dear you,
Who’s reading this letter
I wish you happiness

Wow, you’ve actually read this far? Okay, then, here’s a bonus audio track—Angela Aki singing Kiss Me Good-bye live in front of the now-closed Tower Records store in Chicago circa May 2006.

Kiss Me Good-bye (Theme from Final Fantasy XII)