To students of ancient Irish runes, the word "Sowelu" means "sun", but to music fans in Japan it generally connotes R&B tinged pop with an upbeat, positive vibe and message. The reason? Sowelu is the adopted name of Tokyo-born R&B artist Aki Harada, given to her by her Irish grandfather, and in just a few short years she has become one of the most popular and talented artists in Japan's vibrant pop and R&B scene. Sowelu's professional career began when, still...

To students of ancient Irish runes, the word "Sowelu" means "sun", but to music fans in Japan it generally connotes R&B tinged pop with an upbeat, positive vibe and message. The reason? Sowelu is the adopted name of Tokyo-born R&B artist Aki Harada, given to her by her Irish grandfather, and in just a few short years she has become one of the most popular and talented artists in Japan's vibrant pop and R&B scene. Sowelu's professional career began when, still an unknown nineteen year old artist, her song "across my heart" was tapped for inclusion by uber producer Kiyoshi "KC" Matsuo on the compilation album Smooth, which was released in January 2002. Without an official release to her name, Sowelu was lined up with some of the biggest stars of the day, including Ken Hirai, CHEMISTRY, and Crystal Kay, m-flo, and Skoop on Somebody. The record went on to set a sales record for compilation albums in Japan, and a buzz began to generate around her. Beginning in February, Sowelu began hosting her own regular radio program, broadcast on Inter FM (Tokyo), Noth Wave (Sapporo), and Cross FM (Fukuoka), and in May was selected, along with Sony labelmates CHEMISTRY, as part of the 2002 FIFA World Cup official artist unit known as the Voices of Korea/Japan, matched up with Lena Park and Brown Eyes of Korea. In her first major live performance, Sowelu performed with Voices of Korea/Japan at the opening ceremonies of the 2002 World Cup in front of 65,000 people. She released her first single, "beautiful dreamer", in April 2003 to extremely high expectations. Produced again by Matsuo and accenting Sowelu's clear voice and infectious positivity, the record debuted at #20 on the Oricon chart with no commercial tie-up. Her third single, "Rainbow", was used as the theme song for the Fuji TV drama Netsuretsuteki Chukahanten, with the b-side "Breath - Omoi no Youryou" used for a national campaign for the 2002 Ecolomusic campaign on JFN nationwide radio. "Rainbow" in particular saw heavy rotation across the country. Her fourth single, "Fortune", was released in May 2003, and was used as the opening theme for the TBS program CDTV5. In June 2005, three years after her "pre-debut" success on Smooth, Sowelu released her first album. Entitled Geofu, the record debuted on the Oricon charts at #5, going on to sell over 500,000 copies. Sowelu continued to release and appear prolifically for the rest of the year and into 2004, working as spokesperson for several businesses and releasing more singles, several of which were featured in programs including Full Metal Alchemist in September 2004. Her second album, Sweet Bridge, was released in January 2005.