sifow

Fujita Shiho was born in Chiba on May 11, 1985 and attended Risshisha High School, a private education facility based in Tokyo. It was around the time she reached the age of 19 that Fujita realised her public image was effecting her chances in life. As a gyaru (gal), she found that many people failed to take her seriously, as young women following the style are noted for their lack of personal ambition and disregard for the educational system.

Despite having graduated from high school, Fujita soon faced a great deal of prejudice due to her image and began to consider her personal fashion and character very carefully. In time, Fujita began to feel that her current image portrayed an "unclean" and "misleading" representation of her true character.

While considering the prejudices against her, Fujita began modelling for various fashion magazines during 2004 and even went on to feature in the popular gyaru magazine "Gal's World -Charisma-." However, despite this media coverage, Fujita realised that her true dream was to become recognised as a singer.

It was during this time that she turned to the Internet for support and began an online blog considering her future. Posting her dreams and ambitions on the Internet soon achieved Fujita a great deal of publicity, and finally she began to feel that people were taking her seriously.

In 2005, she opted to take the stage name sifow and made her debut in April with the self-produced single, I uta. Due to the growing popularity of her blog, online promotion and sales were established on the site and the limited 2,000 copies sold out in a matter of days. In the following months, sifow released three more singles, all of which sold out thanks to promotion via her blog. Due to her unique style and use of eurobeat blended with "fantasy pop," sifow gained the attention of one of Japan's most recognised labels, avex trax.

Signing a contract with the label in late 2005, sifow released her first mini-album, & YOU REVOLUTION in February 2006. Despite being a fresh and new artist, the mini-album failed to make any startling impact on the Oricon. However, sifow also went on to model for Konami's "Dance Dance Revolution Strike" that same month.

Aside from her musical career, two years after starting her blog, sifow proved that she went against the stereotype bestowed upon gyarus and established her own company in 2006. Conceived as a mere chain of thought on her online blog in January 2005, the idea received a great deal of positive feedback, with several of her readers and friends encouraging her to take action against the prejudices she had faced.

"G-Revo," simply meaning Girl Revolution, was essentially a journal of interviews and columns directed at the younger generation and, in particular, young men. The main purpose behind the idea was to establish a "fresh" ideal about the gyaru way of life, mannerisms and feelings regarding society.

As if to illustrate her point further, in April, sifow published her first book, a gal revolution, which was limited to 20,000 copies. Even before its release, the book was already expected to require a reprint series as public demand soared. The book intimately spoke of sifow's life as a gyaru and how she would spend a great deal of time in Shibuya, which is known as one of the fashion centres of Japan, particularly for young people. Perhaps in tribute to her time spent in Shibuya as a young girl, sifow established her own shop, REVROSSA CLARITY, in May.

Two days before opening her shop, sifow had released her first major single under avex trax, CLOVER. Using the style of eurobeat that she would become infamous for, sifow opted to have the promotional video for the title track shot in Okinawa. In July, sifow released her second single, LOVE & PEACE. Whilst her previous singles maintained a calmer atmosphere, this release displayed a more energetic side of sifow and was used as the ending song for the television programme "SUPOnchu."

The following month, sifow held an exclusive live performance for her fans on August 5th and made an appearance at a-nation on August 20th and 27th. In September, she released her debut album. CLAЯITY featured several new songs following the same vein as her previous releases and featured very briefly in the Oricon chart.

2007 saw the release of Carat, and despite being sifow's first single not to rank in Oricon, the song is highly regarded by her fan base due its high energy feel. Unfortunately for the singer, her subsequent releases failed to make the Oricon Top 100.

In early 2008, sifow announced that she would be taking a musical hiatus due to her plans to open a school for gyarus in 2010. For this reason, it is uncertain whether she will ever return from this indefinite hiatus.

Although fans may be disappointed to hear that sifow may never return to her music career, it is enough to remember that she has paved the way for a future generation of gyarus. With her blend of eurobeat and pop, sifow has proved that you must never judge a person by appearance alone.