Mayumi Kojima (小島麻由美, Kojima Mayumi, born September 30, 1972) is a Japanese Shibuya-kei musician. As of 2015, she has released 10 studio albums, 3 extended plays and several singles. Her music has been featured in multiple movies and television commercials. In the west, she is best known for her songs "Hatsukoi" (はつ恋), which was featured in a Nintendo commercial for the Game Boy Advance and the video game Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3,^[1][2] and "Poltergeist" (ポルターガイスト, Porutāgaisuto), which was used as the opening theme song of the anime Ghost Hound.^[3]

Life and career

Mayumi Kojima was born in Tokyo. When she was in high school, she heard some music by Rosemary Clooney and suddenly became captivated by American 50s music. But English lyrics were troublesome, so she decided to make her own music.^[4] In childhood, influenced by her brother, she enjoyed listening to classical music, but with the new influence of 50s and 60s pop, she wanted to cross jazzy rhythms with different musical genres like the old pop artists did.^[5] At the age of 18, she wrote her first song, "Manatsu no Umi" (真夏の海), and the demo tape was noticed by a record company. From then on, her life as a musician started.^[4] She made her debut release on July 21, 1995, with the single "Kekkonsōdanjo" (結婚相談所),^[6] and in 1998, having released 3 albums and 6 singles since her debut, she went on her first national tour.^[7]

Kojima's music was licensed by companies for use in commercials, the first of which were Calbee. This was followed by other commercials and use in other television media. In 1999, Kojima provided the song "Fūsen" (ふうせん) for the NHK TV program Minna no Uta. In addition, she was also in charge of animation for the song using her characteristic illustration style often seen on her album covers.^[2] In 2001, Nintendo aired a commercial in Japan for the Game Boy Advance which was later edited as a commercial for the video game Super Mario Advance 4 in the United States, in which Kojima's song, "Hatsukoi" (はつ恋), was featured. The original commercial was on air from 2001 to 2002 with the Super Mario Advance 4 variant being one of the first times non-Japanese people were exposed to her music.^[1][2] In 2005, Kojima's song "Poltergeist" (ポルターガイスト, Porutāgaisuto) was used as the opening theme song of Production I.G.'s 20th anniversary project, the anime Ghost Hound.^[3]

In 2015, as part of the celebration of the 20th anniversary of her debut, she collaborated with Israeli surf rock band Boom Pam to create the album With Boom Pam, which consists of new interpretations of some of her earlier songs in a new style influenced by Mediterranean surf rock. The album was released on July 22, 2015.^[8] On the same day, the limited edition commemorative album compilation La saison de Cécile 1995–1999 (セシルの季節, Seshiru no Kisetsu) was also released. It includes her three first albums, also called the Cécile trilogy, in new remastered UHQCD format with previously unreleased demos, instrumentals and alternate takes/mixes. Furthermore, the unfinished album Ai no Mirage (愛のミラージュ, Ai no Mirāju) is included.^[9]

Discography

Albums

Extended plays

Singles

Live albums

Compilations

DVDs