Pack Your Ears: Meiko Haigou Serves Up the 10-Song Bento That Built Her Voice
Photo: gamene, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Okay, everyone — Meiko here. Grab a seat at the table.
A few weeks back, I did a fan Q&A during my Los Angeles stop, and someone asked me a question that stuck with me: "If your career were a meal, what would be on the plate?" I laughed, because honestly? I think about my musical influences like a bento box. Every compartment matters. The rice. The pickles. That one spicy thing your mom sneaks in that makes you cry a little. Take one away and the meal just isn't complete.
So today, I'm packing the full bento for you — ten songs that built my voice, one compartment at a time. If you're new here (and I know a lot of you in the States are — welcome, seriously!), think of this as your tasting menu.
The Rice: The Foundation
1. "Tsukiakari no Michi" — traditional enka recording, artist's choice of cover
Every bento starts with rice, and mine starts with enka. I was maybe six years old, sprawled on the tatami while my grandmother's radio hummed this melody. Enka taught me that a voice can crack on purpose — that a little brokenness is the whole point. When I sing live now and let a note waver at the end, that's my grandmother's radio talking.
2. "Ame no Bojou" — the smoky 1970s enka standard
If the first song was white rice, this one is rice with a pat of butter. My voice teacher in Osaka made me sing this until I stopped being afraid of the low register. I hated it. I love it now. Growth, folks.
The Main: Where Things Got Loud
3. "Cruel Angel's Thesis" — Yoko Takahashi
Yes, THAT one. I was a teenager in the nineties like everyone else, and this song hit Japan like a meteor. It taught me that an anime opening could be a full-blown rock performance — that "cartoon music" deserved lungs, attitude, and a killer key change. Half of my convention setlist energy comes from here.
4. "Moonlight Densetsu" — the Sailor Moon opening
I will not apologize for this pick. I used to sing it into a hairbrush in my school uniform. It's also the song I get the most requests for at US conventions, which tells me the hairbrush generation is global.
5. "Mikazuki no Uta" — a deep-cut late-90s anime theme
Nobody knows this one, and that's exactly why it's here. It was the first time I heard a singer hold back — barely whispering over an orchestra — and I realized restraint could be louder than belting. My whisper-singing? Learned right here.
The Pickles: Sharp and Necessary
6. "First Love" — Utada Hikaru
When this album dropped, I was doing small theater work and convinced I didn't fit in the industry. Utada sang like she was talking to one person in an empty room, and it rewired my brain. Intimacy is a technique. It's also a choice.
7. "Sobakasu" — the Rurouni Kenshin opening by Judy and Mary
Junko Fukuda's voice was pure citrus — bright, tart, impossible to ignore. I borrowed her carefree bounce every time a director told me I was "too serious." Sometimes the pickle compartment saves the whole meal.
The Sweet Thing: Dessert First, Always
8. "Ue o Muite Arukou (Sukiyaki)" — Kyu Sakamoto
My father's favorite. He told me it was the only Japanese song to top the charts in America — number one on Billboard in 1963 — and I remember thinking, "So a song in Japanese CAN cross the ocean." Guess what I think about every single time I perform in the US now.
9. "Toki wo Kizamu Uta" — Lia
Key anime ballad energy. I played this on repeat during a rough winter in my twenties, walking home from rehearsals, learning that a chorus can arrive like sunrise if you're patient enough to earn it.
10. "Hana wa Saku" — the 2011 charity ensemble
The newest compartment, and the heaviest. Dozens of Japanese artists singing together after the earthquake. It reminded me that a voice isn't really yours — it's something you hold for other people. That's why I keep flying across the Pacific to sing for you.
Ohashi Up: How to Listen
Here's my suggestion for the full experience: don't shuffle it. Eat it in order, like a proper bento — foundation first, dessert last. And if you're a Stateside fan who found me through a convention panel or a clip on your feed, this list is genuinely the fastest way to understand what happens when I open my mouth on stage. It's all in the box.
Drop your own picks in the comments, tell me which compartment I got wrong, and if you see me at a con this year, ask me to sing number four. The hairbrush is optional.
Until next time — itadakimasu, and turn it up.
— Meiko
