{"id":24170,"date":"2012-03-15T12:12:31","date_gmt":"2012-03-15T16:12:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/?p=24170"},"modified":"2012-03-15T15:33:54","modified_gmt":"2012-03-15T19:33:54","slug":"justins-japan-interview-with-jin-akanishi-on-japonicana-and-his-american-tour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/2012\/03\/15\/justins-japan-interview-with-jin-akanishi-on-japonicana-and-his-american-tour\/","title":{"rendered":"Justin’s Japan: Interview with Jin Akanishi on \u2018Japonicana\u2019 and His American Tour"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

"The word \u2018Japonicana\u2019 comes from Japan, America and Spain. The \u2018a\u2019 sound is for the females, so my album is a girl. There\u2019s more than one genre\u2014dance, pop, hip-hop, and R&B. It\u2019s like my baby, because I created it from scratch." (Courtesy of PLAN C Agency)<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

By<\/strong><\/em> <\/strong>JQ magazine<\/em><\/strong><\/a> editor <\/strong><\/em>Justin Tedaldi<\/em><\/a> <\/strong>(CIR Kobe-shi<\/a>, 2001-02). Visit his Examiner.com page here<\/a> for related stories.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

In his native Japan, Jin Akanishi<\/a> is a superstar. Since his early teens, he\u2019s achieved fame as a pop idol, singer-songwriter (with the groups KAT-TUN and LANDS), actor, and radio host. After launching a successful American tour<\/a> in 2010 to sold out (and screaming) crowds, Jin is back in the U.S. supporting his hotly anticipated English-language debut album, Japonicana<\/a><\/em>. Released earlier this month, the disc features production by Grammy Award-nominated trio the Stereotypes (Far East Movement, Ne-Yo) and platinum hit maker Static Revenger (Madonna, Shakira).<\/p>\n

Jin takes Manhattan at New York\u2019s Best Buy Theater<\/a> tonight (March 15) and hits San Francisco\u2019s Regency Ballroom<\/a> on March 17. In this exclusive interview, I spoke with the 27-year-old about the tour, the making of the album, his love for hip-hop, and hanging out with Justin Bieber.<\/p>\n

\n

How would you describe the new album?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The word\u00a0\u201cJaponicana\u201d comes from Japan, America and Spain. The\u00a0\u201ca\u201d sound is for the females, so my album is a girl. There\u2019s more than one genre\u2014dance, pop, hip-hop, and R&B. It\u2019s like my baby, because I created it from scratch.<\/p>\n

How has the tour been going?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s really great. The crowds are great, good energy, dancers, and a lot of drinks (laughs<\/em>).<\/p>\n

What can fans expect at the shows this time? What\u2019s different?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a totally different concert. Everything\u2019s different.<\/p>\n

Is there a highlight you can tell us about?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Crazy lights and dancing. All the songs are from Japonicana<\/em>.<\/p>\n

You mentioned that the title represents all the places that influence you\u2014Japan, America and Spain. How have they influenced you?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m Japanese, obviously. And America, my mom loves American music and used to listen to it when I was little. I kind of grew up with it. My best friend\u2019s mom is Spanish, and she taught me a lot about the culture. So that\u2019s how I got influenced.<\/p>\n

For the complete story, click here<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  By JQ magazine editor Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02). Visit his Examiner.com page here for related stories. In his native Japan, Jin Akanishi is a superstar. Since his early teens, he\u2019s achieved fame as a pop idol, singer-songwriter (with the groups KAT-TUN and LANDS), actor, and radio host. After launching a successful American tour […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,26,25,340,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articlejournalism","category-celebrity","category-interviewprofile","category-justins-japan","category-music"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t