Akino Arai in Sapporo

Akino Arai is a Japanese singer-songwriter and composer, born in Tokyo in 1959, whose music encompasses art pop, ambient textures and orchestral arrangements. She debuted in 1986 with “Yakusoku,” recorded for the animated film Windaria. Her best-known anime songs include “Voices” from Macross Plus, “Hiru no Tsuki” and “Tsuki no Ie” from Outlaw Star, and “Kirei na Kanjou” from Noir. The 20th-anniversary concert The Sweetest Winter was staged at Tokyo International Forum and surveyed her work for animation alongside her solo catalogue. She later established Little Piano as a recurring concert series centred on her singing and keyboard playing, revisiting material from across her recordings under the Little Piano name.