When I started this blog, my very first post was about the piano.
And in the second post, I introduced a song called “Heaven Kiss,” which is what I want to talk about again today.
That’s how important this song is to me. It’s deeply personal, and I feel like it sits right at the core of my music.
The song itself is very simple. It doesn’t have a big chorus like modern J-pop. Actually, most of my songs don’t follow that typical Japanese style of changing keys and building into a chorus. Sometimes I even wonder how I’ve managed to keep making music like this for so long. (laugh)
It only uses about four chords—and it’s in the key of E.
What that means is: it’s built on one of the very first, most basic guitar chords that beginners learn.
Strumming that E chord and starting to sing,
“God, please help me… Buddha, please help me…”
—that’s the moment that feels best to me.
And singing that melody out to the little birds in the forest… that’s when I feel happiest.
When I was younger, I wanted to play this song with a band. But no matter how hard we tried, it never quite worked. I couldn’t get the drummer to really feel the rhythm the way I did.
Eventually, I realized something:
it feels far better to just play it alone—strumming an acoustic guitar and singing freely.
So that’s what I’ve been doing all along.
But during the COVID lockdown, I suddenly had a lot of free time. So I ended up creating a complete “band version” of the song—all by myself.
I burned it onto CDs, and a few friends have bought and listened to it, but I haven’t released it online.
So why am I talking about “Heaven Kiss” again now?
Because I recently started featuring it regularly on Instagram.
On YouTube and TikTok, I’ve been uploading clips of myself performing in Inokashira Park, cutting the song into short segments. I tried doing the same thing on Instagram—but for some reason, it didn’t gain much traction.
Then I tried something different: instead of posting the full song, I cut it down to about 30 seconds.
And surprisingly, more people started watching.
That’s when I realized—shorter videos work better on Instagram.
So I asked ChatGPT for advice, and it told me:
“Still too long. Try 15 seconds.”
It also suggested something else:
Don’t spread attention across dozens of songs. Focus on just one.
And instead of linking to multiple platforms, choose a single destination.
That’s when I made up my mind:
I would focus entirely on one song—“Heaven Kiss”—and send people only to Spotify.
Now my Instagram videos look like this:
- The first 0.5 seconds: a bold catchphrase as a hook
- About 13 seconds: a live clip of me singing in Inokashira Park
- The last 3 seconds: an image of my original song banner
I’ve also started using X (Twitter), posting even shorter 6-second horizontal clips there.
So far, I haven’t seen any clear signs that traffic is flowing to Spotify yet.
But I plan to keep going for about three months.
Because without focus—without a clear, specific strategy—nothing really works.
Instagram and X are now just pathways leading to one thing:
“Heaven Kiss” on Spotify.
Of course, I don’t expect this alone to suddenly succeed.
So I thought—why not promote it here on the blog as well?
I honestly don’t even know if anyone is reading this…
but if you are, please listen to “Heaven Kiss” on Spotify.
This is a sincere request from me.
ChatGPT might say that overt self-promotion online can turn people off—but let’s be honest, that’s just the official line. In reality, people are doing all kinds of messy, unapologetic things behind the scenes.
That kind of talk almost sounds like the lyrics to my song “Fireball.” (laugh)
By the way, “Fireball” is also one of my original songs.
I’ve included the Spotify link below—please give it a listen.
It’s not J-pop.
The lyrics even mention “Inao-sama,” so yeah, it might feel old-fashioned.
It’s simple, acoustic, and repetitive.
I even throw in a bit of kobushi (that traditional vocal flourish)—
(why shouldn’t I? It comes out naturally. Someone once told me not to do that…)
And sure, I’ve got gray hair and a face full of spots now.
But it’s a good song.
