Yamapi will tour Asia in early 2011 and release a solo album
Tomohisa Yamashita (25) said he wants people in Asia to see a Japanese popstar who can sing and dance in his first overseas solo tour covering five cities, it was revealed yesterday, reports Sports Hochi, Daily Sports, Sankei Sports, and Sponichi Annex.
The star will go on a 4-month tour starting in Hong Kong on January 29, before moving onto Taipei, Busan, Seoul, Bangkok by April 24, then move into Tokyo by May 10. The tour will include five more venues in Japan, totalling 10 cities and 27 concerts. It will be the biggest number of overseas venues a Johnny’s artist has performed at to date, and is expected to attract more than 230,000 fans.
“I’m going to do things like fly, I want to make it a huge performance that will show people the power of Johnny’s,” Yamashita said.
It has been reported that Yamashita had become interested in performing overseas after his group NEWS had performed in Taiwan three years ago.
“I wanted to meet people outside of Japan, but it’s been hard because Japan’s an island country so we’re quite isolated.
“The internet has made it easier to keep in touch with things overseas,” he said.
While the star is widely known overseas through his dramas and fans call him by his nickname ‘Yamapi’, Yamashita has said he is nervous about how people will take him in as a solo artist.
Johnny’s & Associates president Johnny Kitagawa has been reported to have agreed with Yamashita that his shows need to be nothing short of amazing.
It has been reported that there will be slight variations in Yamashita’s concerts depending on the venue, and the star has said he is not afraid of going up against Korean popstars who have been overtaking Asia recently.
“I want to throw in a few traditional things like Japanese sword fighting, and basically show everyone something that only Japan’s Johnny’s can do,” he said.
While Yamashita has been doing occasional solo work away from NEWS, next year’s tour will be the longest he has ever been away from the group.
“I want people to see me sing and dance. I’ve started to re-learn the basics of dancing, I’ve got three dance coaches to help me, and I want choreograph some sequences as well,” he said.
It has been reported that Yamashita said watching fellow Johnny’s star Jin Akanishi (26) embark on a solo US tour had given him motivation.
“I hope we can motivate each other. We never talk about work but I did call him up to say, ‘have fun’,” he said.
Yamashita also said he would like to perform in the US, but has assured fans he will not be leaving NEWS.
“I’ll keep working with NEWS. Please don’t worry. I think they’ll come see me (in concert),” he said.
Before his tour, however, the star will also release his first solo album in January 2011. A title has not been formally released, but it has been reported that many of the songs will be sung in his upcoming concerts, including English songs and songs written by Yamashita himself.
“I want to perform songs that are different from the typical Japanese music culture and are more club scene, R’n'B songs,” he said.
The singer is the third Johnny’s talent to go on a solo overseas tour, following on from Masahiko Kondo (46) and Akanishi.
source: momoedgewood@wordpress