Manifest Girl - Interview with Julia Takada

Julia Takada is a Japanese-American singer-songwriter and freelance model associated with the creative label w.a.u, characterized by her positive yet delicate singing voice and musings on modern life. We talk to Julia about her background, her first EP “Manifest Girl”, and her zine project VIRIDIAN.

<Artist journey>

Tokyo ON: Tell us about your background.

Julia Takada: I was born to a Japanese mother and American father in Connecticut in the United States, and I came to Japan when I was one year old with my whole family and pretty much grew up here. We moved a lot, when we first came to Japan we lived in my mother’s hometown in Hyogo prefecture, then we moved to Yokohama, and we went back and forth between Hyogo and Yokohama. So I have friends in Kanto area and friends in Kansai, and when people ask me where I’m from, I say “uhhh well my parents house is in Hyogo”. There are three parts in me, that I’m familiar with, even though I have no memories of Connecticut from when I was a baby, last time I visited there it felt like home.

TO: How did you decide to become a singer?

JT: I was a really shy kid, so I would sing when I was alone. I had a lot of time on my own because although I have two brothers, they were busy with school club activities, and both my parents were working, so I would come back to an empty house and it's only me. I would have imaginary friends, even until now I say to people I love to fantasize. I would just make up songs about the things I was doing, like chores and homework. And then my dad loves music, most of the time when he comes home before dinner, in the living room he would play either classical music or the Beatles. So there was always music on in the living room, and I was always familiar with music. That’s like the backbone of how I got interested in music and singing.

Also I loved Taylor Swift and Christina Aguilera, they’re two different artists that express themselves differently, but I loved their expression, writing, and performances. I always looked up to them and pictured myself someday like that. That’s how I got really interested in singing.

TO: Listening to your father’s classical music and the Beatles, that’s a very traditional songwriting base, has that had any influence on your music?

JT: I’d like to say yes, but also I’m still discovering myself through my writing, which is pretty interesting and fun. I started my music activities in 2021, and that was my very first time to write and record a song properly, so everything was new to me. Looking back, it should have had some sort of influence somewhere.

For the Beatles, their lyrics are very simple and straightforward, but also inspirational, and its really raw what they say in their songs. I’d say that style resonates with my songwriting style, which is also pretty straightforward.

TO: Are you still big on Taylor Swift and Christina Aguilera, or are you listening to other things now?

JT: They will always be my muses. I do listen to other music though. I’m the type of person that will repeatedly listen to a song that I'm really into at that time until I get sick of it, so whenever someone asks me “What kind of music are you into?” it would be the genre that I’m into at that time. So let’s say I was listening to a certain R&B singer, then I’d say I like R&B, but that moment passes, and then next I’d be listening to more pop music.

TO: What are some examples of songs you really got stuck on?

JT: “Show Me How” by Men I Trust, “REDMERCEDES” by Amine, “Do I Make You Nervous” by Dreamer Isioma, and “Asleep Among Endives” by Ichiko Aoba 

TO: You did an internship in New York, what was that experience like? 

JT: It was amazing, I loved it, it was exciting. My second older brother, he lives in New York right now, and when I did the internship I stayed at his apartment. The internship was during New York Fashion Week and I was an assistant for a Japanese designer there, it was really fun. It was during my summer vacation, about a month.

TO: And then you started working in Tokyo full time, how has that experience been? How have you adjusted to the 9-5 lifestyle?

JT: For me, I was blessed with an environment in which I can work from home. Some days I have to go to the office, but it’s not forced. I realized I need my alone time, even during work. The second I finish work, I’m in my room, so I can work on my songs. In that way, it’s not that hard compared to if I had to go to the office every single day, that would be crazy.

TO: It’s not killing your creativity, you have a good deal then.

JT: Yeah. I would also say though if I had a whole year without needing to work at all, and I could go to nature, that would help!

TO: Is that where you draw your inspiration from, nature?

JT: Nature, for sure, I really connect with nature. Especially water, since I was a little kid, I would be the happiest when I was at the pool, or at the ocean, just touching water. But I also draw inspiration from being on the train, I would write lyrics, or when my emotions are heightened in some sort of situation, that also helps.

TO: Do you find it difficult to live in Tokyo in general then?

JT: I don’t do well with crowded trains, it’s very draining for me. But I live in Yokohama right now, it’s more quiet. I only go to Tokyo when I have some kind of occasion. I can put on that switch in me, to handle city life for a day, and then I go back to my room. Even if my apartment was in Tokyo, I don’t think I would be able to rest mentally.

TO: Do you need to get back to nature to recharge?

JT: Yeah. And I think just being quiet, being alone. Or with someone who’s really soft spoken, or someone that makes me comfortable. I would say I’m an empath, so I will pick up on things that are too much for me to cope with. If I were in a crowded train, I would feel stressed and tired, but it might not be my own emotions.

TO: How do you balance your job with your music activities?

JT: For now it’s okay, I’m able to manage. Both work and music are not overwhelming, yet. If one of them blew up then I’d have to adjust the schedule and that might be hard, but for now it’s working. I would love to be a full time musician, but at the same time, I’m not forcing myself to do this work or be in that environment. I did an internship for a year within my current company, and I felt really comfortable with the job and what I was doing. At that time I was a writer for media, writing articles. Right now I’m in marketing, doing planning, so I’m also interested in that skillset. I can learn about marketing and utilize it for myself.

<Music and EP>

TO: How did you get involved with w.a.u?

JT: I met Kota Matsukawa (one of the founders) at my friend’s birthday party. I didn’t know him until that day, but it happened that he went to the same college as I, and the same campus, but we never knew each other. That was the first time I met him, and I talked to him and said “you know, I always wanted to be a singer” and he just asked me to send him a video or a voice memo of me singing. So I did, and he sent it to Ryuju Tanoue (another of the founders of w.a.u.). And after that they said they wanted to produce for me!

That was less than a year after they founded w.a.u., so it was just one or two artists there. I was really lucky to meet them at that time.

TO: How did you develop the sound given that they generally do more R&B/electronic music?

JT: When they said they wanted to produce for me, we met at a cafe in Shibuya. That was my first time meeting Ryuju, and they had already made demos at that point! They had this image, just by looking at my pictures or hearing about my stories, of me being in the cold woods singing in nature, and other animals coming to listen or something!

TO: Just like Snow White!

JT: Haha yeah. Folk music kind of has that image. We have this group LINE chat and they asked me to share what kind of songs I would like to write, so I shared with them all these artists and songs that I like, and we kind of tried to match up all these ideas. But they’re really good at producing, they knew from my voice what kind of tone or genre would fit, even though I wasn’t really familiar with it, they said “we think this kind of style will fit you”. It’s all a mix of our opinions.

TO: Do you think you could be that Manifest Girl - effortlessly cute and fearless? Or do you feel like it's kind of unattainable? 

JT: I think anyone can be that manifest girl, including me. There were some lyrics that didn’t end up in the song, when I was writing that song, I had another idea I was going to put in. That manifest girl, she’s the ideal, effortlessly cute, she makes everything work, but I was thinking of giving her a dark side that nobody knows. And she’s going through something. But because she appears to be effortless or fearless, she’s this manifest girl, it’s not always the truth. I didn’t end up putting into the lyrics, but that’s the hidden idea in it. So in that sense, that manifest girl, that is attainable.

TO: When I listen to the song, I thought it was written from the outside looking in, that you wanted to be that girl.

JT: That is the perspective I was writing from, but it's also reflective of myself going through my life. Growing up in Japan with a mixed background, when I was much younger, people weren’t used to biracial people, so I got some negative comments. But nowadays it’s all flipped, all of a sudden girls in Japan wish they had a mixed heritage. Some people used to say to me “oh your life must be really nice”. In some sense I feel really grateful, but that’s not always the truth. So I was writing from both perspectives as the manifest girl, and being the person on the outside.

TO: “Too Late” has this real melancholy vibe about it. Do you find songwriting to be therapeutic?

JT: For sure. Multiple songs that I write are based on fiction and non-fiction, but the non-fiction part is often a combination of two different stories. On “Too Late”, some phrases were me looking back at my childhood, but some phrases come from more recent events that are more to do with relationships and romantic situations. It sounds like one song, but it’s all combined.

In this case, I was imagining someone who separated with someone who was really familiar or they were really comfortable, that was the fictional part. For myself, I mentioned a rollercoaster of emotions in the lyrics, sometimes that kind of rollercoaster, if you don’t ride it, like surfing, you get drowned in your emotions, and it becomes a hurricane or disaster. It was meant to be a good ride.

TO: I feel like “BLANK” really fits Tokyo life, on the metro with loud sounds, people are always rushing and it never stops. Do you feel tired here, or that you are under pressure?

JT: I wrote that song during the COVID pandemic. In Japan they always open the windows for fresh air, and when you go into the subway, the sound is so loud, so I would always get frightened, or my body would seize up. The whole song though, was inspired by a phone call with my best friend, I think I was going through something at the time or I was just tired, and I said to her “do you ever wish we could be a blank canvas, without any burden or history, and you could start fresh?” Like being in a blank room where you can’t tell where the walls are, it’s all white. At that time, I didn’t want anyone to see me. Being blank means being invisible, in a way. I say things like “I don’t wanna be human anymore.” Being human is hard, living everyday, we’re doing such a good job every single day, and sometimes you just don’t want to be human anymore.

TO: I really love “Don’t Know Who I Am”, I think we live in a really complex and difficult society nowadays. What are some of the issues you see? What makes you want to quit being human?

JT: I wrote “Don’t Know Who I Am” and “BLANK” at around the same time, it wasn’t that far apart. I think I was going through similar emotions when I wrote those two songs.

Both “Don’t Know Who I Am” and “BLANK” indicate that everyone is wearing a mask in a way, we don’t show our authentic selves. Being authentic is even harder, everything is edited, even if its what we see and hear, our daily content, it’s very nice and curated. It’s good, but everything seems too perfect sometimes. If you walk in Tokyo, everyone seems famous, and its cool, but if you’re going through something, you don’t want to see too much bright stuff. It kind of emphasizes your shadow. Being nothing is actually easier, and I think it’s a choice. People ask “what do you want to be?” and I answer “I’m just going to live, and be myself”.

TO: You mentioned that you’re a shy person. Do you find it easier to sing about things than express your feelings directly to people? 

JT: For sure, 100%. If it's my brothers or someone who is really close to me, I’m totally open and can express my feelings. But even if it’s my friends, I have a difficult time expressing something that is my own opinion. I would say “yeah yeah” I would agree more. Even though it’s not a lie, I would tend to agree more with other people's opinions, because that’s easier, you don’t have to use your energy to think “what if my opinion might hurt the other person?” But if it’s a song, you can say “oh it’s just an artwork, it’s just my song”.

TO: Do you have trouble fitting in Japan? What are the expectations of you and your peers?

JT: I used to, especially when I was little I felt that way. But after that, growing up in high school, I moved back to Hyogo to a combined middle-high school. And the girls I met there were really nice, I felt safe being myself. So now I’m okay.

When I wrote “Don’t Know Who I Am”, I was in college, I was thinking every day about my career decisions, like “What should I do after college”. And I went to a college that’s fairly well-known in Japan, so most people who graduate from there end up at big companies, that’s the norm. I always feel torn apart, like I could be a career woman, but another part of me yells out “I don’t want to be in an office, I want to write songs, I want to travel the world!”. Who am I? I’m trying to answer everyone’s expectations, but what are my expectations of myself? What am I thinking, what do I want?

I was that kid who always thinks of other people first, before myself, so I would pick up on other people's expectations really quick, it’s like a super power (laughs). You can utilize that power, but if you do it too much, you’ll get lost. You don’t know who you are and what you want. That was a very raw writing experience.

TO: The final line “but baby you know we’re perfect” is inclusive and supportive, I love it. Can you elaborate on your message?

JT: I meant it as is, everyone is perfect, and I wanted to sing it to myself too. I wanted to hear myself say it. I’m nicer to other people than to myself. I think I give good advice whenever my friends come to me, I tell them “you’re perfect just the way you are!” But I don’t tell myself that. I want to remind anyone who listens to this song and also every time I sing it, I want to remind myself.

The whole writing process, I didn’t get to the last part until I was finishing the lyrics. Just a second ago, I was torn apart and chaotic, and then when it came to that last part I was like “but after all, we’re perfect”.

<About VIRIDIAN>

TO: You’re involved in making a zine called VIRIDIAN. Tell us about it.

JT: VIRIDIAN is a zine that I’m making with two other friends. I had this made up word when I just got into college, its called 混在美. Each person has mixed qualities, whether good or bad, and we tend to judge our characteristics that are part of us, but I had this idea that at the end of the day, that’s what makes you who you are! And I thought, what if we we had a medium that showcases everyone’s stories, like have guests as storytellers, and tell their message through their life or what they do daily, and just put it as beautiful interviews and photo shoots, and put the spotlight there, because that’s what makes people unique and beautiful.

It’s a youth culture zine, so we’re aiming for a younger audience, people from their teens to their mid 20s. But that’s just our first aim, we never know. For me personally, self-care is important no matter what age, so even if I turn 90, I still have to take care of myself, and discover who I am until I pass on. So if it reaches other audiences, we’d be really open to it, we’re curious as to who it will reach. It’s kind of an experiment.

TO: Why are self-love and self-care important to you? Why do you think it’s important to people today?

JT: I feel like it’s very important nowadays. For me, personally, I tend to prioritize other people over myself, and that’s a habit I’m trying to get out of. Self-care was always very important to me, especially from high school until now, I was going through stuff, and I needed to learn about myself. Learning about yourself is part of self-care, and it’s very hard, they call it “shadow work”, knowing your shadow self. All the aspects that make you who you are, it's not all rainbows and sunshine. You have to go back to it, why do I think this way. But that really helped me. And also writing songs is reflective and self care, but maybe hard to do depending on what I’m writing about. So self-care is always my very important theme in life. My collaborators also share that thinking, they have their own interpretations, but they both believe self-care is really important too.

TO: Will there be a physical version of the zine?

JT: Yes there will be, we will be publishing it, and we will have a launch event on December 16 in the Ebisu/Hiroo area. We will have the physical zine available as well as stickers and lighters, and we’ll be collaborating with other creators. It’s pretty easy to print out with the internet, but the actual process of making a medium is very difficult. Especially when there’s a theme you want to put out, we took a generous amount of time on how we wanted to present it. It was our first time, so we didn’t know how much time each phase took, like interviews and photo shoots.

We’re focusing on making the physical product so although there’s no digital version of the zine itself, we will put out a lot of content on social media like Instagram and TikTok.

TO: Is this going to be a regular publication?

JT: We’re trying to do that, we might make it on a quarterly schedule. We’ll see!

<The future>

TO: Are you going to have a release party for Manifest Girl?

JT: It’s not planned yet, but maybe next year, there might be something.

TO: How about an album? Do you believe in albums?

JT: For me personally, I believe in the album format. I really enjoy listening to albums, and I love writing in general and fantasizing, making up stories. I think of an album as a chapter. An artist’s whole book has all the songs, but an album is a chapter of that.

TO: So we can look forward to an album at some point!

JT: Yes, there will be, definitely.

TO: We can’t wait! Good luck with the zine and thanks for talking to us today!

Follow Julia Takada on Instagram, X (Twitter), and Spotify. For more information on VIRIDIAN, check out their official Instagram account.