, nicknamed by his fans, is a Japanese pop singer-songwriter. He has sold a total of 21 million copies in Japan alone.

Biography

Makihara was born on 18 May 1969 in

Takatsuki, Osaka is a city in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. It is located in northern Osaka's Hokusetsu region. As of 2020, the city had an estimated population of 347,944 and a population density of 3,300 persons per km². The total area is 105.31 km². The c ...

, Japan. He attended

Aoyama Gakuin University is a private Christian university in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. Originally established in 1874 by missionaries from the Methodist Episcopal Church, it was reconfigured in its current form in 1949 as part of Aoyama Gakuin. Aoyama Gakuin Universit ...

to study

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

. In addition to creating songs for his own music career, he has written, produced and performed songs for many other artists, the most notable being

SMAP SMAP was a Japanese boy band, composed of Masahiro Nakai, Takuya Kimura, Goro Inagaki, Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, and Shingo Katori. The group was created in 1988 by music producer Johnny Kitagawa, founder of Johnny & Associates, originally as a six-pi ...

's ''

Sekai ni Hitotsu Dake no Hana is a song recorded by Japanese boy band SMAP. The Noriyuki Makihara composed song was released as a single in 2003 and sold more than 2.57 million copies, becoming the third best-selling single in Japan in Oricon history. Along with Hikaru Uta ...

''. He is ranked at No.84, in a list of Japan's top 100 musicians, provided by

HMV Sunrise Records and Entertainment, trading as HMV (for His Master's Voice), is a British music and entertainment retailer, currently operating exclusively in the United Kingdom. The first HMV-branded store was opened by the Gramophone Company ...

.He was also invited to write the song "The Gift" for English band

blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when obs ...

in their album "

Guilty Guilty or The Guilty may refer to: * Guilt (emotion), an experience that occurs when a person believes they have violated a moral standard Law *Culpability, the degree to which an agent can be held responsible for action or inaction *Guilt (law) ...

". Makihara made his debut to the J-Pop scene in the early '90s after performing on a televised song competition program. He made a name for himself with the release of songs such as "Mou Koi Nante Shinai" () and "Donna Toki mo." (), both of which, among several others, are covered to this day by current popular artists (including English-language covers by various American artists). Some of his music has been translated into other languages, and "Donna Toki mo", specifically has been remixed by Bemani artists "Dream Line Out" for use on Konami's Beatmania game series. Much of his music's lyrical content has revolved around the subject of romantic love, though themes of profound joy, reminiscence, gratitude and deeper spiritual aspects of the human condition have become predominant in recent years. In 1999, he was given a suspended 18-months prison sentence for possession of

amphetamines Substituted amphetamines are a class of compounds based upon the amphetamine structure; it includes all derivative compounds which are formed by replacing, or substituting, one or more hydrogen atoms in the amphetamine core structure with sub ...

. In 2003 he became famous for composing "

"" (世界に一つだけの花, "The One and Only Flower in the World") which was recorded by Japanese boy band

and sold double millions On 13 February 2020, Makihara was arrested for alleged illegal stimulant possession, as police found 0.083 gram of stimulant at his condominium in Tokyo's Minato Ward in April 2018. On 2 August 2020, Makihara was sentenced to 2 years in prison, suspended for 3 years by the

Tokyo District Court is a district court located at 1-1-4 Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan.Supreme Court of Japan websit東京地方裁判所の紹介Retrieved on August 7, 2011 See also *Judicial system of Japan The judiciary (also known as the judicial sys ...

.Singer Noriyuki Makihara given suspended term for drug possession
- Japan Times(08/17/2020)

Discography

Singles

Albums

*'Kimi ga Warau Toki, Kimi no Mune ga Itamanai Youni' (25 October 1990, WEA Japan. Re-released 26 November 1998) *'Shuushoku Sensen Ijou Nashi' (25 June 1991) *'Kimi wa Dare to Shiawase na Akubi wo Shimasu ka.' (25 September 1991, WEA Japan. Re-released 26 November 1998) *'Kimi wa Boku no Takaramono' (25 June 1992, WEA Japan.Re-released 26 November 1998) *'SELF PORTRAIT' (31 October 1993, WEA Japan) *'PHARMACY' (25 October 1994, WEA Japan) *'Ver.1.0E LOVE LETTER FROM THE DIGITAL COWBOY' (25 July 1996, WEA Japan/River Way) *'LOVE CALLS FROM THE DIGITAL COWGIRL' (10 August 1996, WEA Japan/River Way) *'UNDERWEAR' (25 October 1996, WEA Japan/River Way) *'SMILING~THE BEST OF NORIYUKI MAKIHARA~' (10 May 1997, WEA Japan) *'SMILING II~THE BEST OF NORIYUKI MAKIHARA~' (25 September 1997, WEA Japan) *'Such a Lovely Place' (27 November 1997,

SME Records , often abbreviated as SMEJ or simply SME, and also known as Sony Music Japan for short (stylized as ''SonyMusic''), is a Japanese music arm for Sony. Founded in 1968 as CBS/Sony, SMEJ is directly owned by Sony Group Corporation and is opera ...

) *'SMILING III~THE BEST OF NORIYUKI MAKIHARA~' (10 May 1998, WEA Japan) *'Listen to the Music' (28 October 1998,

) *'SMILING GOLD~THE BEST & BACKING TRACKS~' (24 February 1999, WEA Japan) *'Cicada' (10 July 1999,

) *'10 Y. O. ~THE ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION~' (24 May 2000) *'Taiyou' (29 November 2000, WEA Japan) *'NORIYUKI MAKIHARA SINGLE COLLECTION~Such a Lovely Place 1997–1999~' (6 December 2000) *'Home Sweet Home' (21 November 2001, WEA Japan) *'Song Book~Since 1997–2001~' (23 January 2002) *'THE CONCERT – CONCERT TOUR 2002 "Home Sweet Home" – ' (9 May 2002) *'Honjitsu wa Seiten Nari' (7 November 2002, WEA Japan) *'EXPLORER' (11 August 2004,

Toshiba-EMI , formerly , was one of Japan's leading music companies. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of British music company EMI Group Ltd. on June 30, 2007, after Toshiba sold off its previous 45% stake. Its CEO and president was Kazuhiko Koike. When ...

) *'Completely Recorded' (25 August 2004, WEA Japan) *'NORIYUKI MAKIHARA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA "CELEBRATION"' (25 November 2004) *'Listen To The Music 2' (28 September 2005,

) *'LIFE IN DOWNTOWN' (22 February 2006,

) *'Kanashimi Nante Nan no Yaku ni mo Tatanai to Omotteita.' (7 November 2007, J-More) *'Personal Soundtracks' (19 November 2008, J-More) *'Best LOVE' (1 January 2010, J-More) *'Best LIFE' (1 January 2010, J-More) *'Fuan no Naka ni Te o Tsukkonde' (30 June 2010, J-More) *'Heart to Heart' (27 July 2011, Buppu/

) *'Dawn Over the Clover Field' (19 December 2012, Buppu/

) *'Listen To The Music 3' (22 January 2014, Buppu/

) *'Lovable People' (11 February 2015, Buppu/

) *'Believer' (14 December 2016, Buppu/

) *'Design & Reason' (13 February 2019, Buppu/

) *'Yosoro' (25 October 2021, Buppu/

) *'Bespoke' (2 March 2022, Buppu/

)

References

External links

*
Buppu Records Website
* by

Avex Group is a Japanese entertainment conglomerate led by founder Max Matsuura and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1988, the company manages J-pop talents like Ayumi Hamasaki and internet sensation PikoTaro. It has also shifted into other busi ...

*
Noriyuki Makihara
on

Noriyuki Makihara
on

EMI Music Japan , formerly , was one of Japan's leading music companies. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of British music company EMI Group Ltd. on June 30, 2007, after Toshiba sold off its previous 45% stake. Its CEO and president was Kazuhiko Koike. When ...

Noriyuki Makihara
on

Warner Music Japan Warner Music Group's labels include the following. Flagship labels *Atlantic Records *Elektra Records *Parlophone Records *Warner Records Atlantic Records Group * 1st & 15th Entertainment * Nipsey Hussle, All Money In * Mike Caren, Artist Par ...

Noriyuki Makihara
on

Sony Music Japan , often abbreviated as SMEJ or simply SME, and also known as Sony Music Japan for short (stylized as ''SonyMusic''), is a Japanese music arm for Sony. Founded in 1968 as CBS/Sony, SMEJ is directly owned by Sony, Sony Group Corporation and is ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Makihara, Noriyuki 1969 births Living people Japanese male pop singers Japanese male singer-songwriters Japanese singer-songwriters LGBT musicians from Japan Musicians from Osaka Prefecture People from Takatsuki, Osaka Aoyama Gakuin University alumni Sony Music Entertainment Japan artists Avex Group artists Japanese people convicted of drug offenses