Mayuka Thaïs (born September 25, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter, artist, voice over artist, art educator, and edutainer. She is known for her role as a bilingual singer and actress on the popular children's program Shimajiro.

Early life and career beginnings

Thaïs was born in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

to an American mother, Teri Suzanne, from

Monrovia Monrovia () is the administrative capital city, capital and largest city of Liberia. Founded in 1822, it is located on Cape Mesurado on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast and as of the 2022 census had 1,761,032 residents, home to 33.5% of Liber ...

and a Japanese father. Her parents met while her mother was studying abroad in Japan. She worked in the

edutainment Educational entertainment, also referred to by the portmanteau edutainment, is media designed to education, educate through entertainment. The term has been used as early as 1933. Most often it includes content intended to teach but has inciden ...

industry in Japan, as a studio singer, actress, and voice over artist, for

bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolin ...

multi-media

products from the age of 5 for

Nippon Columbia , often pronounced ''Korombia'', operating internationally as , is a Japanese record label founded in 1910 as Nipponophone Co., Ltd. It affiliated itself with the Columbia Graphophone Company of the United Kingdom and adopted the standard UK C ...

. For 13 years she honed her acting skills while studying at Aoyama Theatre in the round, bilingual Performing Arts Group, at the National Children's Castle's Aoyama Theatre. At the age of 10, Thaïs won the

Tokyo Metropolitan Government The is the government of the Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis. One of the 47 Prefectures of Japan, prefectures of Japan, the government consists of a popularly elected governor and assembly. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, headquarters build ...

art award. Her notable role came when she became the main singer, actress on a popular children's program Shimajiro In 2007, Thaïs graduated and received her BFA from

Otis College of Art and Design Otis College of Art and Design is a private art and design school in Los Angeles, California, United States. Established in 1918, it was the city's first independent professional school of art. The main campus is located in the former IBM Aero ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

with ''HONORS'' majoring in Fine Arts Painting and A.C.T. (Artists, Community, & Teaching). Thaïs is currently a senior lecturer at

Music

At the age of 5, Thaïs recorded a Christmas album ''Minna De Merry Christmas'' with multiracial children for

. To date, Thais has worked on 14 albums and countless singles. In 2004 Thaïs recorded ''Genki Genki Utaou Nontan's'' bilingual Christmas album for

along with her sister Kunimi Andrea, and her mother Teri Suzanne. With the help of contributors on her Pledge Music campaign, her album ''Tusks & Horns'' was produced by

Geoff Levin Geoff Levin (born September 14, 1945) is an American rock musician, film/television composer and songwriter. Performing as part of the Black Mountain Boys with Jerry Garcia in the early years of his career, in 1968 his own group, People!, scored ...

of People! in May 2014. Thaïs has shared the stage with artists such as

Mayu Wakisaka is a singer-songwriter, composer, and lyricist based in Tokyo, Japan. Mayu grew up in Osaka, Japan, and studied law at Kyoto University. In 2007, she quit law school to pursue her career as a singer-songwriter and moved to Los Angeles. While stu ...

, The Watanabes, Nesian Mystik, and

. Thaïs's song "Song Without You" is featured in the film "Half Way to Hell" directed by Richard Friedman.

Art

At the age of 10, Thaïs won the

art award. In 2007, Thaïs's painting of a life-size Asian Elephant was exhibited at the Palos Verdes Art Center as part of a group show ''The Circus Comes to Town'' curated by Scott Canty.

Activism

On December 13, 2006, when Thaïs was an art student at

, she took her painting of an elephant in captivity to a town hall meeting to lend her voice to discuss conditions of elephants in captivity. In 2007, Thaïs released her first independent single ''When Elephants Cry'' on YouTube to help raise awareness of the plight of Elephants in captivity. She was asked to perform this song at the

Comedy Store The Comedy Store is an American comedy club opened in April 1972. It is located in West Hollywood, California, at 8433 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip. An associated club is located in La Jolla, San Diego, California. History The Com ...

for a recognition dinner of high-profile celebrities including

Jorja Fox Jorja Fox (born July 7, 1968) is an American actress. She first came to prominence with a recurring role in the NBC medical drama '' ER'' as Dr. Maggie Doyle from 1996 to 1999. This was followed by another critical success in the recurring rol ...

, comedian

Lily Tomlin Mary Jean "Lily" Tomlin (born September 1, 1939) is an American actress, comedian, writer, singer, and producer. Tomlin started her career in stand-up comedy and sketch comedy before transitioning her career to acting across stage and screen. ...

and former Los Angeles City Councilman Tony Cardenas and current

Congressman A member of congress (MOC), also known as a congressman or congresswoman, is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The t ...

. In 2014, she was asked to march for the Global March for Elephants & Rhinos in

and to sing her song ''Tusks & Horns'' at the United Nations Plaza with her producer

on guitar. In 2015, she went on her ''Tusks & Horns'' tour and toured Hiroshima, Fukuoka, Kagawa, and Tokyo, Japan. She gave hanga artworkshops for children, art students, and families in hopes of raising and spreading awareness of the plight of endangered Elephants & Rhinos. She also joined in the march for the Global March for Elephants & Rhinos in Tokyo.

Peace song for Hiroshima

In August 2015, Thaïs performed her song ''Yamayuri no Kimochi'' for the 70th war memorial in Hiroshima at the Akioota International Music festival. The song was a collaboration between Thaïs for melody, lyrics by the children of Hiroshima, lyrics made into poetry by poet Arthur Binard, piano by Scott Nagatani. The song has become the official song to commemorate the annual war memorial for the Akioota International Music Festival.

Art and music non-profit collaborations

Music

To help disadvantaged youth find their own voices, Thaïs worked with the non-profit program ''Youth Speak Collective'' students in the San Fernando Valley to cultivate their songwriting skills for Rockband 101. Drummer and percussionist Billy Hawn joined in to help teach, inspire, and arrange music for the students.

Art

To help raise awareness of the plight of Asian elephants, Thaïs collaborated with a non-profit organization ''Elemotion'', to paint a life-size baby Asian elephant with the students from International School of the Sacred Heart.

Television

In 2016, Thaïs was one of the two finalists on Skin Wars: Fresh Paint episode 2, hosted by

RuPaul RuPaul Andre Charles (born November 17, 1960) is an American drag queen, television host, singer, producer, writer, and actor. He produces, hosts, and judges the reality competition series ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' and has received List of awards ...

. A spin-off of the popular TV series Skin Wars specifically for artists who have never body painted before.

Television

Children's television and programs personality

Children's television and programs

Discography

Songs for films

Albums

;Independently released: ;Studio released:

Singles

;Singles released independently: * ''Thanks Santa'' (1995) * ''The Divine'' (2004) * ''When Elephants Cry'' (2010) * ''Hope Is My Friend'' (2011) * ''All We Gotta Give'' (2011) * ''The Great Serengeti'' (2011) * ''Tohorā He Waiata'' (The Whale Song) (2012) * ''Hearts Don't Lie'' (2013) * ''Let the Wind Blow'' (2014) * ''Yamayuri no Kimochi'' (2015) * ''I Will Sing For You'' (2020) * ''The Yamayuri Song'' (2020) * ''Just One More Time'' (2020) ;Released

: * ''Let's Play with Alphabets'' (2009) * Sounds of Animals (2009) * ''Kaze no Youni'' (1993)

Music videos

* ''Just One More Time (2020)'' * ''I Will Sing For You'' (2020) * ''Yamayuri No Kimochi'' (2016) * ''Let the Wind Blow'' (2015) * ''I Needed You'' ((ft.Connor Sullivan)) (2014) * ''Tusks & Horns'' (2014) * ''Hearts Don't Lie'' ((ft. Ambient Chameleon)) (2013) * ''Hope is My Friend'' (2012) * ''The Great Serengeti'' (2011) * ''All We Gotta Give'' (2011) * ''All Alone at Christmas'' (2011) * ''When Elephants Cry'' (2007)

Awards

Art

Music

Video interviews and appearances

* "We all Japan No. 10 – Mayuka Thaïs " 2011 * "Mayuka Thaïs Summer Songwriting Workshop for Youth Speak Collective 2011 with Billy Hawn " 2011 * "GLOBAL MARCH FOR ELEPHANTS & RHINOS SF – Musical Medicine with Soleil Dakota " 2014

References

External links

Official Mayuka Thais Site

Mayuka Thaïs IMDB
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thais, Mayuka 1979 births Living people American folk guitarists American women singer-songwriters Songwriters from San Francisco Singers from San Francisco Singers from Los Angeles Otis College of Art and Design alumni Guitarists from San Francisco 21st-century American women guitarists 21st-century American guitarists 20th-century American women guitarists 20th-century American guitarists American musicians of Japanese descent American women musicians of Japanese descent American television hosts American children's musicians 20th-century American women singers 21st-century American women singers American women television hosts 20th-century American singer-songwriters 21st-century American singer-songwriters Singer-songwriters from California American art educators Otis College of Art and Design faculty