Part 3: "The singing helps you, Haruma."
Haruma Miura's Vocal Coach Recommended "Emotion Notebook"
Written by Journalist NKANO Kaori
It’s been a year since actor Haruma Miura suddenly passed away. Ms. Kaoru Saitoh, Haruma’s vocal coach, who trained and supported him for 7 years, took our interview.
'I decided to take this interview to deliver a kind message to all fans. So it would make heal not only myself but also his fans who still suffer from their scars and are looking for an answer.'’
This interview is structured with 4 parts based on Ms. Saitoh’s stories with Haruma. In the first and second articles, I introduced the encounter between Ms. Saitoh and Haruma, the special training for the role of Lola in the musical, and their daily life she spent with Haruma as a teacher and a friend. In this third article, I will talk about the last single he voice-trained for, the singing career Ms. Saitoh recommended to Haruma, and the notebooks Haruma kept. Ms. Saitoh said they talked a lot about" the future."
The chair that Haruma always sat on at Kaoru Saitoh's lessons. Photo by Kaoru Saitoh
Kaoru Saitoh
Vocal coach and pedagogue. Graduated from the Vocal Music Corse, Faculty of Music, Tokyo University of the Arts. Started her career in her childhood as a nursery rhyme singer. After working in the NHK education show as “Uta no One-san (The main woman singer),” she started her career as a trainer focusing on vocalization. She conducts lessons related not only to singing but also anything about vocals. 90% of her students are professional actors and singers.
Haruma was preparing for the TV show "Music Station."
It was on July 7th, 2020. That was the last time Ms. Saitoh talked with Haruma. It was about his second single, "Night Diver." Haruma was expecting to release the music video and appear on TV. "Night Diver" was eventually certified as a platinum disc with over 50 million views and 250,000 copies sold.
Ms. Saitoh saw this music video and realized how hard Haruma had practiced by himself, which wrenched her heart.
'After the last lesson in June, I gave him an assignment. He was expecting the promotion of “Night Diver” and its first live in front of the audience. We practiced to make sure we could fully express Night Diver's delicate rhythms and its groove nuances.
I think it was difficult for him to sing the first single along with the hard dancing part. The song was very high-pitched and required more skill than singing in a musical. In fact, Haruma told me he failed when he performed that song on a TV show, as it was difficult to dance while singing live.
Night Diver also leaves a strong impression with its dance moves. Since he was expecting to appear on the TV show 'Music Station,' I gave him some tips before that. I asked him to tell me what kind of choreography it would be since there are some points to note depending on the movement.
When you appear on a music TV show, it's common to go to the venue in the morning for a rehearsal, go to the drama site in between, and then come back for the music performance. In that case, I told him that he could do vocal practices in my lesson room in between. He didn't need that much support if he was a full-time singer but I thought he needed that support since he was an actor.'
Tons of efforts leading to Broadway
At this contacting Haruma, Ms. Saitoh made sure to give him messages to follow up on his physical and mental health.
'Although I knew he was busy filming a drama at that time, I advised him to keep preparing with a firm view on singing jobs for the live fall event. I told him those tons of efforts would eventually lead him to his dream of starring on Broadway and that we needed to create a way to manage his physical condition together.
To build a body for dancing and singing, Haruma continued to practice balancing his pelvic floor muscles. I also sent a warming-up video, which turned out to be our last communication.
On the night of July 7th, 2020, I received a reply from Haruma saying, "I'm going to shoot a formation video to submit to Music Station, so I'll give it a try."'
Why did I suggest he would be a singer?
In addition to appearing in dramas, movies, and stage performances, Haruma was also the MC of NHK's popular TV program "Sekahoshi," which kept him very busy.
Even in that situation, Ms. Saitoh not only taught him how to use his voice as an actor but also encouraged him to become a singer.
'I always encouraged Haruma to become a singer. He never thought that he could be a singer at all. I believe that actors and singers need the same basic knowledge and there are not so different. I wanted Haruma to become a singer who had such an attractive singing voice. I hoped that if he continued to be a musical actor and wanted to go to Broadway, his career as a singer would be a good foundation for his life.
Living in the center of New York City, the rent is three times that in Tokyo, about 300,000 yen for a single room. The artists in the area share rooms and make various other creative ways to survive. Besides, even when he gets old, he can hold a fan meeting if he can sing. We made jokes about that.'
Haruma responds to fans at the World Premium of "Attack on Titan" in 2015.
Miscellaneous notes that became the base of the lyrics
For as long as 7 years, Ms. Saitoh supported Haruma, sharing her hobbies such as motorcycles and cameras and chatting over tea. She watched over Haruma's inner emotions and gave advice that would lead to the lyrics.
'Haruma carried around a miscellaneous notebook, which I recommended. Haruma suddenly started studying various things, and whenever he had time on location, he bought new notebooks for English, acting, and vocalizing. Sometimes the notebooks would go missing.
I advised him to keep one notebook and write down everything in it, such as songs, plays, impressive words, things to do, and whatever he wanted to write down. For instance, if he finds a note saying 'Unpaid electricity bills,' I told him it would recall how busy he was at the time, and he could even write a song based on that. You can't write a heartbreaking song when you're happy, but you can do it by seeing a note to remind your suffering.'
Haruma's notebook, like a study memo or a diary, in which he wrote about his role, the movie, and his feelings as a character.
'Originally, it was an ordinal notebook sold at convenience stores. Gradually, he started to stick to items and use quality ones.
There is one song that Haruma wrote by himself. It is a" Night Diver" 's coupling song, "You & I." When I read the lyrics out loud to him for practice, he said, "I feel embarrassed when people read the lyrics I wrote." Seeing the expression on his face, I realized that the lyrics were based on his own experience of love. I wonder what was written in the whole notebook.....'
Whether people watch the video for "Kinky Boots" or the music video for "Night Diver," no one would ever doubt his ability to sing or express himself. He also wrote down his feelings to compose a song.
◇Ms. Saitoh will talk about the future she and Haruma discussed in the final part.
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