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The original vision for the 2020 Olympic opening ceremony in Tokyo was to be a celebration of the country’s pop culture prowess. According to a leaked document, the event — now set to be held at the new National Stadium in July of this year — would have featured segments focusing on the movie Akira and the video game series Super Mario, among other highlights.
These plans also revealed that a prominent J-pop star was to take part in the performance. Early on, during a set piece inspired by the country’s transit system, Daichi Miura was supposed to appear in the limelight, singing and dancing in front of millions. Perhaps that can still happen — but even if it doesn’t, it says a lot that Miura was considered.
The singer-songwriter-dancer hailing from Okinawa has become one of Japan’s most popular pop stars, and represents the sort of all-around talent worth highlighting on the world stage. Even if he doesn’t get the chance to shine as part of the Olympics, Miura represents the best parts of Japan’s music industry.
Miura started pursuing performance from a very young age. Inspired by Michael Jackson, he began attending a school geared toward actors and artists at age 6. Around this time, he managed to appear on an NHK program as a dancer, and a few years later debuted as part of a group called Folder. (Patrick St. Michel)
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This article was provided by The Japan Times Alpha.