mihimaru GT

Prior to the formation of mihimaru GT, both members had relatively quiet solo careers under the same management. When neither member's career flourished, mihimaru GT was born - their name coined from the first two letters of both members' names with "maru" or "perfection" appended. The "GT" stands for "Gran Turismo", vocalist Miyake's favourite game.

Under the management of Tearbridge Productions, a subsidiary of Stardust Promotion and Avex Trax, mihimaru GT were signed to the major record label Universal Music Japan.

Before his debut, Miyake aimed to be a composer. After graduating Kanto Vocational School, he worked as a song composer, arranger and MC, composing songs for well-known artists such as SMAP and BoA. Since the duo's formation, as well as being involved in the creative process of writing songs, Miyake also lends distinctive rap vocals to their more upbeat songs.

Main vocalist Hiroko sent a demo tape full of Ayumi Hamasaki covers to her record label before her debut, but since then has made a name for herself with mihimaru GT's urban-pop blend.

Since their debut single Yakusoku in 2003, the duo struggled to climb the charts. Their first few releases charted no higher than #16 with their first album, Mihimarhythm, despite relative exposure with commercial tie-ins. By 2006, Mihimaru GT had only released two albums and seven singles with barely any promotion in the three years since their debut.

In 2006 the group finally attracted the attention that so far had eluded them with the release of their single Kibun Joujou↑↑. The song had tie-ins with commercials for music.jp and Palty, as well as becoming the ending theme for televised variety show Sukibara. In May of that year, mihimaru GT performed for the first time on the popular music show Music Station, their latest single peaking at #7 on the Oricon charts. Their first top-ten single propelled the group into the spotlight after three years of relative mediocrity. Kibun Joujou↑↑ took first place on the Japanese iTunes store for two weeks straight, and ended up becoming the representative song for Japan in 2006's FIFA World Cup.

Their third album, Mihimagic, was released a mere three months following the success of Kibun Joujou↑↑. It became their best selling album to date, peaking at #2 in the charts. 2006 also saw mihimaru GT perform for the first time in concert, with another MihimaLIVE scheduled for 2007.

In 2007 the duo released a hip-hop rearrangement of Kylie Minogue's I Should Be So Lucky at the end of November. The single will be the theme for Ueto Aya's new drama series.