Daichi Miura

Daichi Miura (三浦 大知) is a Japanese singer, songwriter, dancer, and choreographer.

He also directs his own concerts.

He belongs to Rising Production and has a record contract with Avex.

He is from Okinawa Prefecture, Japan.

He has an official fan club called "Daichishiki" (大知識).

When Miura was eight years old, he bought a CD for the first time (HIStory by Michael Jackson).

Daichi Miura, like Michael Jackson, debuted as a child and later became a solo artist.

When Miura saw Jackson dance in various countries on the video of "Black or White", he noticed Jackson kept his uniqueness in everything.

Although still a child, Miura admired Jackson's originality.

He later said he aspired to climb a different mountain but reach the same height as Jackson.

During the hiatus after leaving the group Folder, Miura was given an Usher album by a staff member.

The style of Usher's dancing and singing became the foundation for his solo career.

Miura has also mentioned Justin Timberlake as one of his influences.

In addition, the lyrics of "Chicken Rice" written by Hitoshi Matsumoto taught him the artistic possibilities of Japanese language.

During his solo concerts, while singing, he has played piano, acoustic guitar, drums, and cajón.

He also performed using Ableton Push.

When Miura was six, his mother saw him dance to the theme songs of TV shows such as various anime, The Super Sentai Series, and Kamen Rider.

This gave her the idea of bringing him to the Okinawa Actors' School.

At the school, they taught him to sing and dance.

In 1996, a television program (NHK Education's Yumediago Kodomojuku) featured Miura commuting to the dance school 90 minutes by bus from home.

Due to Miura's father’s job as a member of Self-Defense Force, the family moved often.

First they moved to another part of Okinawa, then to Etajima in Hiroshima.

Before Miura left the group Folder, they moved to Ayase city in Kanagawa.

In 1997, Miura started his career as a member of Folder.

At age nine, he debuted as the main vocalist "DAICHI" and the group released the single "Parachuter".

He also became a regular in the TV show Ponkikkies.

Afterwards, as "Daichi Miura", he released solo singles such as "Big Heart ~Theme of Microman~".

In 2000, he took a hiatus from Folder due to his voice change.

The group's name was changed to Folder5.

(Miura did not participate in Folder5.) During the hiatus, Miura refrained from voice training and concentrated on dance practice.

During the same period, he went to a junior high school where he became a member of the volleyball team (it involved harsh physical training).

On 1 August 2004, at Harajuku Astro Hall (VISION FESTA vol.2), he changed his stage name back to Daichi Miura and held a comeback concert.

In the summer of 2004, J.Que (Patrick J.Que Smith, the composer of Usher's "Yeah!") came to Japan to write songs for Miura.

During the week in the studio, they produced a few songs together.

Miura was amazed by Smith's world class songwriting.

J.Que nicknamed Miura "D-ROCK".

On 9 December 2004, Miura traveled to Los Angeles to shoot the music video of the debut song "Keep It Goin' On".

On 16 December 2004, Miura danced with top dancers including the backup dancers for Beyonce, Usher etc. as well as the hip hop dancer Crazy Legs of Rock Steady Crew in his music video.

On 19 January, at Shibuya O-WEST, the first solo concert Chapter-O was held.

On 30 March, the first solo debut single "Keep It Goin' On" was released.