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A great announcement has been made for Maki Goto fans! The former Morning Musume member is back in the idol realm as of June 19th, 2008.

Known to fans as Gocchin, she has been signed with Avex Entertainment within the sub-label Rhythm Zone; other Japanese artists included in this part of Avex are Koda Kumi, m-flo, Crystal Kay and EXILE. Rhythm Zone major focus is rhythm and R&B style music.

Avex also leads the careers of other amazing Japanese artists such as BoA, Ayumi Hamasaki, AAA and Namie Amuro.

After her announcement in 2007 of her graduation from Hello! Project, she took a sabbatical in LA, USA. Durring this stay she attended dance lessons and updated her blog periodically. She then left LA and headed to Hawaii, in which her blog suddenly stopped updating. Rumor had it that she would be joining another label but it wasn’t assumed that it would be this fast, as during this time her brother Yuki Goto (former EE-Jump member) was arrested and sentenced to 8 years in prison for theft.

Gocchin coments (thank you to Hello! Online for the translation)

“For a singer, it's most important to love to sing, and because of that, I've decided on a new direction for my future. Nearly 10 years after my debut, I've met with Avex. I feel like I have new motivation and great potential now. I love singing even more now, and most of all, I want to share the songs I love with everybody. I'm going to work my hardest, so please give me your support.

Goto Maki"

Her official website:

http://rhythmzone.net/maki/index.html

Congratulations Maki and good luck! We’ll be watching and listening!

After a two year study break in New Zealand, 5th Generation Morning Musume member Ogawa Makoto will be returning to Hello! Project. Makoto originally graduated from Morning Musume in 2006.

She will appear as a guest on Haromoni@ on June 15th, 2008. There have been no announcements as to whether she will be a solo artist or added to a group.

"I'll try hard. I was a clown-like character during my Momusu years". Makoto said.

During her stay in New Zealand, she was able to study English and scored at 730 on TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication) exam. Her teacher scolded her; explaining that she needed to work on her Japanese before working on her English. 

During a small interview on the set of HM@, she mixed both English and Japanese when speaking. She commented that she now relates to Lou Oshiba who is known for doing the same thing. 

We're glad to have you back Makoto!

The other day, I bought tickets for a Taiko performance. I had no idea what Taiko was, except that it was Japanese, involved drumming and that my friend thought it was really cool. So when I walked into the venue of the event I did so with some trepidation. I was the kid in school who wondered why anyone would choose drums as their musical instrument to play in band. However, I figured it would be a good opportunity to see the more traditional side of Japanese art instead of only emerging myself in bright Japanese cartoons.

So I sat down. The lights were dimmed and the audience chatter died. Five people appeared on stage with massive drums and sticks the length of batons.The largest drum was occupied by a woman, and she swung around her sticks intricately and then began to pound strongly, but always disciplined and restrained. The other members of the Taiko group joined in and I soon realized that I was not only listening to Japanese drumming, but a theatrical performance. The woman who had been pounding on the largest drum in some songs exchanged it for delicate string instruments in others. There was traditional Japanese singing. In some numbers an old man in his fifties would explode in jumping around the stage, much to the delight of the audience and to my jealousy. I certainly did not have his agility. In some numbers the drumming was punctuated by loud shouts in Japanese that I did not understand, but the members encouraged the audience to join and the courageous majority complied and shouted with what I can only imagine were really bad accents.

From listening to the host of the evening, I learned that Taiko used to be preformed solitarily, and Taiko groups did not occur until the 1950’s, at about the same time Elvis was carving his fame in the United States. The father of Taiko, Daihachi Oguchi, was the one who created Taiko ensembles as a direct result from his studies in jazz. Influences from other forms of music were apparent in the Taiko performance I watched, including Jazz and Funk, and because the group I was watching came from Winnipeg, Canada, they also included prairie influences. Taiko lends itself well to integrating new musical approaches and techniques, no matter the nationality.

At the end of the show, the Taiko group was selling albums of their work. But I knew that listening to this music would not do it justice. Taiko is more than music. It is theatre. A very different experience occurs when you watch a play rather than listen to it. I felt the same way towards this art form. An album will not show you how high an old man can jump when he beats a drum, and it will not show you the elegant twirls of large baton-like drum sticks. Listening to Taiko will do it no justice. It is a performance meant to be watched. I urge everyone, if you have the opportunity, go watch a Taiko performance. You will not regret it.