Yaida Hitomi

Hitomi Yaida was born and raised 1978 in Osaka, going by the nickname Yaiko. Before focusing on her music career, she graduated with degrees in French and Literature from Kansai University.

When she was 19 years old, Yaiko bought a cheap Yamaha guitar and learned how to play and compose music. Her hard work paid off, and by the young age of 22, she made her indie debut at Aozora Records. Her first single was Howling, and only two months later, she got a major deal with Toshiba-EMI, as well as smaller contract with a UK indies label.

Her first album, Daiya-monde, made a quick ascent to the top of the Japanese charts and a nationwide tour followed. The concerts were very popular: all of them sold out on pre-orders. In addition to her shows in Japan, six concerts in England were included in the tour, which took place in smaller clubs. Two special events followed in August where she performed at the Osaka-Jo Hall and the Yokohama Arena.

After more events and releases, she released her first "best of" album in 2002, under the pseudonym YAIKO in the UK. Ever since, she has released a new album every year, with the exception of 2004 when she released two "best-of" albums instead of an album with new material. One of those "best-of" albums was a collection of her singles, and other one was a personal selection of her own favorite tracks.

Between 2003 and 2004, it was pretty quiet for Yaiko. Despite this, by the end of the year she gave two concerts at the Osaka and Tokyo domes, which attracted nearly 80,000 attendees. On April 24, 2005, Yaiko participated in an MTV Unplugged show. Once a famous show in the West, it is still popular and airs regularly in Japan. The response to her acoustic performance was so well received that a whole acoustic tour followed. By August, she finally released her first new album in two years: Here today - gone tomorrow. Armed with these new songs, she performed at several festivals during the summer. She ended 2005 with two performances at the Nippon Budokan and Osaka-Jo Hall.

2006 was busy for Yaiko, releasing three singles in anticipation for her sixth album which would be released in November. In October, it was announced that she would hold a 23-stop promotional tour. The concerts were so well received by her fans that the tour was extended, continuing into the new year and wrapping up in March 2007. Other than an event appearance in July, she spent the rest of the year off the road, focusing on recording. On October 10, she released the single, I love you no katachi.

The next year proved to be a quiet one, and in March, Yaiko released her seventh album, colorhythm, however it wasn't until summer when she began touring and played several events through the fall before seeing the release of a new single in December.

In February 2009, Yaiko released another best of album, THE BEST OF HITOMI YAIDA which spanned two disks as well as a best-of DVD with 23 music videos. While she has performed at a few events this year, fans are eagerly awaiting her next full tour.