Ayakaji no Ne

Ayakaji no Ne is Rimi Natsukawa's fourth original album, released on.

Background

"Ayakaji no Ne" was Natsukawa's first album after her first greatest hits album, "Rimi Natsukawa Single Collection Vol. 1". It was preceded by two singles: "Kokoro Tsutae" in December 2004 and "Sayōnara Arigatō" in November 2005. "Sayōnara Arigatō" was re-arranged and re-released after the album as "Sayōnara Arigatō /Mirai, and features in this version on her following studio album, "Umui Kaji".

Collaborations

Much like "Kaze no Michi" before it, the album centres on original songs composed by high-profile artists. "Sagaribana" was written by Hitoshi Uechi of Begin, "Sayōnara Arigatō" was written by Kentarō Kobuchi of Kobukuro, "Shinobu Hana" by Kazufumi Miyazawa of The Boom, "Kokoro Tsutae" by singer-songwriter Shinji Tanimura and "Chiharu-zaka" by Okinawan singer-songwriter Yasukatsu Ōjima.
Many of the songs were in collaboration with artists previously worked with. "Shimadachi" was written by Tetsuya Murakami of The Gospellers. "Tamachiyu no Ashibi" was written in collaboration with Parsha Club guitarist Masaaki Uechi.
"Koi Uta" had its lyrics written by Ryoko Moriyama, and "Unai-jima" had lyrics by Misako Koja.
"Ai no Chikara" was a collaboration between two famous Okinawan singers, lyrics by Mamoru Miyagi and music by Johnny Ginowan.
"Tokotowa no Uta" was written by Chikuzen Sato and Departures' screenwriter Kundō Koyama.