Tokyo's Coolest Sound

They came carried by winds from Northern Europe, where they returned to last October 7 (2018). So goes the setting of Vanilla Beans, a unique idol group that had debuted 11 years ago, on October 3, 2007. It's worth to take a good look back to their career that I believe brought a lot of innovation and fresh air to the scene.

Vanilla Beans were mushroom-cut (kinoko-atama) Rena and outward-curled (sotohane-atama) Lisa, who spent all of their 20's giving everything to the group. Always sticking to their signature 60's-style sleeveless dresses and those specific hairstyles, their music was also greatly notable from the start. They also did countless surprising promotions and even many experiments in their music, while always keeping a perfect balance.

This article aims to recall and share my good memories of this unforgettable duo.

In recording

Starting with what Tokyo's Coolest Sound's readers may be most familiar with, here's a list of most of Vanilla Beans' recordings from first single "U ♥ Me" (which featured member Rika, who quickly disappeared to be replaced forever by Lisa) to the last, "going my way". Some anecdotes are added throughout.

- 2007.10.03. CD single "U ♥ Me": The only release where Vanilla Beans was Rena & Rika. Around that time they went to Denmark for promotion where the unit gave its first performance ever at the Japanese embassy (photos). From the very start, things were a little bit strange like that.
- 2008.05.21. CD single "Nicola": Probably their most popular song ever! It must have been the most sung in their shows (along their cover of Pizzicato Five's "Tokyo wa yoru no 7ji (the night is still young)").
- 2008.08.27. Digital single "Afternoon a Go-Go" and its remix "Afternoon a Go-Go -We Love You Mix-" (2008.09.24)
- 2008.10.29. Digital single "Shopping☆Kirari": The song was written by Dr.Usui (Motocompo, now of (M)otocompo), one of his first idol works.
- 2008.11.26. Digital single "Shopping☆Kirari ~Okite Porsche + Dr. USUI Waterfront Mix~": Okite Porsche (of duo Roman Porsche) also took part in the remix, he turned out to be VB's #1 supporter all through their career.
- 2008.12.24. Digital single "ashita wa ashita no natsu ga kuru": Another song released ahead of the first album.

- 2009.01.28. CD single "sakasaka Circus": Another song that became a Vanilla Beans classic! B-side "Tic Tac" is also a favorite with its cute choreography that mimics a clock.
- 2009.02.25. First album "Vanilla Beans"! All A-sides from previous singles were included, as well as the digital releases in different "album" or "remastered" versions. Song "Vanillad" was written by bice. Until here, all releases were on label Tokuma Japan.
- 2009.04.29. Digital single "koi no Theory": A non-album song that also ended up being a favorite in their live shows. It was the theme song for movie "fujoshi kanojo" (English title "My Geeky Girlfriend").
- 2009.09.29. CD single "LOVE&HATE": Lyrics written by Kaji Hideki.

Around this time, Vanilla Beans also started covering Pizzicato Five's "Tokyo wa yoru no 7ji" ("the night is still young"), and released it along Kaji Hideki and Original Love covers ("La Boum ~My Boum Is Me~" and "seppun ~Kiss~" respectively) but only on a mobile site. While their sound and fashion had always hinted a Shibuya-kei connections, ties with that scene were becoming clearer by the day.

- 2009.10.28. DVD "Vanilla Beans Produce kaigi DVD": An event held at Asagaya Loft, plus a collection of music videos so far. There's also some studio footage with Kaji Hideki. There was another event of the same series (though not on DVD) featuring Konishi Yasuharu who was probably converted into a fan by then.
- 2010.02.10. Compilation album "Kirakira Majocco Cluv": VB sang two songs on this compilation, one that was a collaboration with Sexy-Synthesizer and the other with Ishii Masayuki (Tica). VB also participated in a special show at Shibuya AX that featured many of the artists on this compilation. This was maybe their first encounter with Shinohara Tomoe, with who years later they would start Internet TV weekly program "ShinoVani".
- 2010.04.21. Guest appearance on Roman Porsche's "nusunda Bike de amagigoe" album: They sang Imo-kin Trio's techno-kayō classic "High School Lullabye".
- 2010.05.19. Mini-album "Def & Def": Includes lead track "D & D", a song for a TV commercial of a deodorant of the same name. Vanilla Beans could finally be seen on TV!
- 2010.05.28. Around then they also sang a cover of Danish football anthem "Ra-sepp-ten" to cheer for the Denmark team during the World Cup.
- 2010.09.22. Greatest hits album "VaniBest": New song "100mankai no SMK" written by Okite Porsche is included, and also their cover of Pizzicato Five's "Tokyo wa yoru no 7ji" and another cover of MGMT's "Kids". Both songs from first single "U ♥ Me" had vocals re-recorded.
- 2011.02.09. Participation in live DVD "Tokyo Idol Festival 2010": 7 songs with Vanilla Beans were included.

Vanilla Beans then moved to Tower Records' new T-Palette Records idol label, where they would stay for most of their career. The label's first releases were singles by Vanilla Beans and Negicco, and there was a press conference-like event at Tower Records Shibuya to do the announcement. Things got a bit stranger and interesting too!

- 2011.06.29. CD single "Stairway to Heaven": So their first single on the new label was a cover of Led Zeppelin, in its full length! The B-side was a cover of Pizzicato Five's "Baby Portable Rock" which also became a live favorite.
- 2011.07.20. 2nd album "Vanilla Beans II": Shortly following the Led Zeppelin cover (included in this album), this album title also reminded of Led Zeppelin, and they were going to keep this album naming rule until the end. Also no more normal idol album jackets, instead they would stick to very strange paintings. Drummer Araki Yuko (mi-gu, The Cornelius Group) played on a few songs. "oyasumi" had music written by bice, a year after the passing away of this great singer-songwriter, with lyrics written by Rena and Lisa themselves. A sequel song to "Nicola" was included, "älskar dig". Also a cover of rock band Spitz' "oppai". Another particularity is that the entire album had each vocalist on a different channel (left and right)!

- 2012.01.12. CD single "toki no kakera": From here on, most releases come in two editions. This single came in two versions with each a different cover song of Yamashita Kumiko.
- 2012.03.14. Guest appearance on Tokyo Girls' Style's "Limited addiction" album: Song "memai".
- 2012.04.11. CD single "Choco Mint Flavor Time": Baskin Robbins tie-up. Includes cover of Ohtaki Eiichi's "1969nen no Drag Race".
- 2012.06.26. Photo book Vanilla Beans "gekkan NEO Vanilla Beans": Their only photo book. A limited edition included a DVD and 10 separate photos.
- 2012.07.04. CD single "Non-Section": Another new live favorite was born! The limited editions' B-side was a cover of rock band RC Succession's "kimi ga boku o shitteru".
- 2012.10.03. Live DVD "Vanilla Beans One-Man Live DVD - Debut 5th Anniversary Live @ Shibuya WWW" (DVD): Their first live DVD of an entire show held at one of my favorite live venues. 22 songs + 3 music videos.
- 2012.11.07. 3rd album "Vanilla Beans III": Album versions of the 3 previous singles' title tracks are included. All the rest are new tracks, with a cover of Thee Michelle Gun Elephant's "sekai no owari". The entire album was performed by a full band, with no programming involved. Tokyo Girls' Style return a guest appearance by singing some excellent chorus on "mō sugu Triangle". So many good songs!

- 2013.05.08. CD single "Muscat Slope Love": Written and produced by Kaji Hideki aka Mr. Sweden. The jacket is different in all three editions, and it was shot by photographer Leslie Kee.
- 2013.07.17. Label compilation "T-Palette Records 2nd Anniversary Mix ~Diggin' on you~": 5 VB songs out of 22.
- 2013.07.27. Appearance in horror movie "ADA" (Wikipedia)
- 2013.10.06. CD single "Please Me Darling"
- 2013.10.23. 7" single "Jewel Memories / Skåne no hana ga saiteiru": The B-side of "Muscat Slope Love" and the lead track from album "Vanilla Beans III" were released on 7" exclusive to Tower Records. Back then idol 7"'s still weren't as usual as they now are.

- 2014.04.23. CD single "watashi... fukō guse": A limited edition contained 6 extra rarities for a total of 10 tracks (including 2 instrumentals).
- 2014.06.10. Label mix CD "T-Palette 3rd Anniversary ~Far Beyond The Dream~ Selected & Mixed by DJ Wildparty": 3 songs by VB were included.
- 2014.06.18. CD single "Cup no Fuchico kōshiki Song 'kitto ii fuchi' / zettai Panty Line (seishiki hikōnin Song)": Official and unofficial theme songs for popular toy series "Cup no Fuchico". Memorable music video of VB acting as if they were the toy.
- 2014.11.11. CD single "uchōten Girl": New song that used music originally written for idol group Wink (but remained unused until then). VB climbed Mount Fuji, a journey that can be watched on the limited edition's DVD.
- 2015.02.03. 4th album "Vanilla Beans IV": Included the title tracks of the previous 5 singles, and also a cover of Belle & Sebastian's "Funny Little Frog".
- 2015.03.25. Compilation "yoru no Minoru Phone Hour": Compilation of songs from the Tokuma Japan label, selected by Konishi Yasuharu, including a new remix of "Nicola" by Konishi! He did a funny trick at the end of the song, changing the last word from "Nicola" to "Konishi". Haha! :) This song was later released on 7" too.
- 2015.04.22. Compilation "Idol bakari Pizzicato -Konishi Yasuharu x T-Palette Records-": T-Palette idols cover Pizzicato Five songs in this compilation supervised by Konishi Yasuharu! VB sang 3 of the 10 songs ("I", "It's a Beautiful Day" and "Sweet Soul Revue"). The covers were produced by Yoshida Tetsuto with Hase Yasuhiro (Yume to Cosme) and Arai Toshiya. "Sweet Soul Revue" is at the end of the album, but just before it is an instrumental of the same song. While this may look strange as a tracklist, it creates a unique and moving listening experience! The compilation was later released as a set of five 7"'s.

Around then, Vanilla Beans moved from T-Palette Records to major label Avex.

- 2015.11.18. CD single "onna wa sore o gaman shinai / Beanius / lonesome X": Triple A-sider. A new album was announced at the same time, but that also came with a worrying news. An objective was set saying that a total of 15,000 physical CDs (of the single or album) would have to be sold by the end of February 2016, unless which Vanilla Beans would disband.
- 2016.02.03. Album "Vanilla Beans V": All three songs from the latest single plus a lot of new ones. Notice opening song "Say Goodbye" and closing song "Now & Forever". A cover of Gorillaz' "Dare" featuring Ram Rider was included. In the promotion in-store events for the album, VB always sang "Say Goodbye". Fortunately the previous single and this album sold just over 15,000 copies, enough to keep VB going some more. Only once they reached this number, they performed "Now & Forever" live for the first time. The album's limited edition came with a live DVD, and the regular edition included a bonus track.
- 2016.09.28. ShinoVani single "onna no ko ☆ otoko no ko / kokoro no usagi": Only single of ShinoVani (Shinohara Tomoe + Vanilla Beans), a unit named after their weekly Internet TV show of the same name. Title track was written and produced by Tomoe, and the B-side is a self-cover of her song "kokoro no usagi".
- 2017.02.01. Digital single "sweet life": Another song with music written by late singer-songwriter bice. So thankful to VB for using music from bice's repertory. This song was also released on 7" as a split-single with The Pen Friend Club for Record Store Day 2017.
- 2017.08.02. Digital singles "Nihao! Zaijian! Yodaredori!!" & "Tokyo Crawl (Rena ver.)": These two songs are separate collaborations of Lisa and Rena with other artists. "Nihao! Zaijian! Yodaredori!!" is a rap song released as "Omisohan to Richakohan" and featuring Lisa and her good friend DJ Misoshiru to MC Gohan (aka Omisohan). "Tokyo Crawl" is a collaboration of Rena with band Five New Old.
- 2017.12.06. Greatest hits album "Vani Best II": Mostly single title tracks from their entire career. Included is a new version of Pizzicato Five cover "Tokyo wa yoru no 7ji" remixed/produced by Konishi Yasuharu. VB had kept covering this song in most of their shows for many years, and finally got a new version tailored especially for them by the song's creator. The album came in three editions, each of which had a different bonus track ("Nihao! Zaijian! Yodaredori!!", "Tokyo Crawl" and "sweet life" respectively). One limited edition contained a DVD of 4 live songs and interviews, and another came with a Blu-ray disc of all their music videos plus the same 4 live songs (no interviews though). On the jacket VB appear in the same pose as their first album.
- 2017.12.20. Digital single "Necco ~watashi no mono~": A surprising track released suddenly. Sung in Korean, it has a Swedish-style soft rock sound that reminds of Shibuya-kei.

After "Vani Best II" (and digital single "Necco") there was somewhat of a blank, after which came the news that Vanilla Beans would break up in October. After the announcement (on August 1st), there was still plenty of time so that they could release a single, finish an ongoing tour of all of Japan's Tower Records (an unprecedented feat as there are over 80 stores), and then do again plenty of promotion for the last single, to finish their duty with a final one-man live.

- 2018.09.18. CD single "going my way": Coming after the news that they would quit on October 7, 2018, this single was VB's musical farewell to all their fans. Two brand new songs. The jacket is a nod to their 2nd single "Nicola". Tomizawa Noboru (Nomiya Maki's long-time hair & make-up artist) participated in the making. This last single was released on T-Palette Records, label they were on for most of their career.

On stage

Vanilla Beans also gave wonderful on-stage performances. Unlike most idol groups, no dancing was ever involved except for some simple but beautiful choreography mainly just using their arms as they stood at their mic stands. For some songs they would move the mic stands away and walk around the stage to get a bit closer to the audience, such as for song "Summer Vacation".

In terms of visuals, Vanilla Beans always sported cool 60's-ish sleeveless dresses, always of a matching design but different colors. With every single release at least, they got brand new matching outfits totaling at least 20 sets. Most (if not all) of those dresses were made by brand Starblinc which offers similar dresses in their collections. For in-store events they often revisited previous outfits, so fans even got to see nostalgic ones.

From around the release of album "Vanilla Beans III", which was released near their 5th anniversary, they often performed live backed by a band of four (guitar, bass, keyboards and drums) which was referred to as VaniBand. Several shows featured the band from start until end. That was also something quite rare at the time for idol groups to do, and I feel like it influenced others. With VaniBand, Vanilla Beans also did a series of band-themed shows held at Shinjuku Loft, all of which featured another artist or band (Band janai mon, 7!!, Kaji Hideki, Nomiya Maki & BIBA, The Collectors, Fujioka Minami & The Morones, Scoobie Do, The Bohemians and D.W. Nicols). For each show they would also sell a new "VaniRock T-shirt" that funnily gave homage to visuals of various famous bands from around the world.

Below is a list of all (or most) Vanilla Beans events that I've been to. Thirty-eight of them!? Still that's a small number compared to the huge amount of shows and in-store events they did. The "Report" and "Mini-report" links next to each contain more details, set lists and sometimes photos.

- 2009.07.17. "The Sound of 60/90" w/ Les 5-4-3-2-1, Kinoco Hotel @ Shibuya Aoi Heya (Report)
- 2009.08.21. "Love & Hate" release in-store promotion @ Tower Records Shibuya (Report)

- 2009.11.02. "Vanilla Beans Produce kaigi DVD" release in-store event @ Tower Records Shinjuku (Report)

- 2009.12.23. One-man live vol.1 w/ Kinoco Hotel @ Daikanyama Unit (Report)
- 2010.03.14. Compilation "Kirakira Majocco Cluv" release party w/ Shinohara Tomoe, Ōta Takako & more @ Shibuya AX (Report)
- 2010.05.19. "Def & Def" release in-store event @ HMV Shibuya (Report)
- 2010.08.28. "Def & Def" promotion testing of the D&D deodorant @ Shibuya Tokyo FM Spain-zaka Studio (Photo)

- 2011.06.03. T-Palette press conference w/ Negicco @ Tower Records Shibuya (Report)

- 2011.07.20. "Vanilla Beans II" release in-store event w/ Negicco @ Tower Records Shibuya (Report)
- 2012.03.17. "Choco Mint Flavor Time" in-store event @ Tsutaya Nakano (Mini-report)
- 2012.04.10. "Choco Mint Flavor Time" in-store event @ Tower Records Shibuya (Mini-report)
- 2012.06.17. One-man live vol.4 @ Shibuya WWW (Report)

- 2012.07.20. "Tamaful & Mōshiwake Night" all-night event w/ LinQ, Tomato'n'Pine, Beach on the DIE!, DJs Utamaru, Gyūzō, Se­ｘ Yamaguchi, Cypress Ueno, etc. @ Daikanyama Unit (Mini-report)
- 2013.05.01. Band live vol.3 w/ Kaji Hideki @ Shinjuku Loft (Report)

- 2013.07.05. Band live vol.4 w/ Nomiya Maki & BIBA @ Shinjuku Loft (Report)
- 2014.04.22. "watashi... fukō guse" free release event feat. Supbeans @ Shibuya 2.5d (Mini-report)

- 2014.06.17. "kitto ii fuchi" release in-store event @ Shibuya Marui Jam rooftop (Mini-report)

- 2014.11.??. "uchōten Girl" release in-store event @ ?? (Mini-report)
- 2014.12.18. One-man live feat. Tokyo Girls' Style, Supbeans @ Ebisu Liquidroom (Mini-report)
- 2015.02.03. "Vanilla Beans IV" release in-store event feat. Okite Porsche @ Shibuya Marui Jam 5F (Mini-report)
- 2015.02.05. "Vanilla Beans IV" release in-store event @ Nakano Tsutaya (Mini-report)
- 2015.11.09. "onna wa sore o gaman shinai" promotion at Tower Records Shibuya Internet TV show w/ DJ Fukutake (Mini-report)
- 2015.11.21. Nomiya Maki "What The World Needs Now Is Love" release in-store event @ HMV & Books Shibuya (Mini-report)

- 2015.11.29. "onna wa sore o gaman shinai" in-store event @ Tower Records Shibuya B1F Stage One (Mini-report)
- 2016.02.03. "Vanilla Beans V" release in-store event @ Shibuya Marui rooftop (Mini-report)
- 2016.02.05. "Vanilla Beans V" release in-store event @ Tower Records Shibuya (Mini-report)
- 2016.03.18. One-man live vo.9 @ Tokyo Kinema Club (Mini-report)

- 2016.08.17. ShinoVani outdoor event @ Roppongi Hills (Mini-report)
- 2017.04.22. Record Store Day 2017 in-store event w/ The Pen Friend Club @ Tower Records Shinjuku (Mini-report)

- 2017.10.03. 10th anniversary in-store event @ Shibuya Marui rooftop (Mini-report)

- 2017.10.07. 10th anniversary show @ Shibuya Duo Music Exchange (Mini-report)

- 2017.10.28. "Shibuya no Radio no Shibuya-kei Festival" w/ Nomiya Maki, Kaji Hideki, Kaseci Cider, Takano Hiroshi, DJ Konishi Yasuharu @ Sakura Hall, Shibuya Cultural Center Ōwada (Report)
- 2017.11.27. "Vani Best II" release in-store event @ Shibuya Marui (Mini-report)

- 2018.09.10. Talk & mini-live event @ Shibuya Marui 8F (Mini-report)

From then, there was a Vanilla Beans shop in Shibuya Marui where many outfits and props were on display. I dropped by several times.

- 2018.09.19. In-store talk event @ Tower Records Shibuya (Mini-report)
- 2018.10.03. Last in-store event @ Shibuya Marui 8F (Mini-report)

- 2018.10.06. Last one-man live "adieu" @ Shibuya Duo Music Exchange (Mini-report)
- 2018.10.07. Last event "Vanilla Beans ni kanshasai" @ Shinjuku ReNY (Report)

The two last ones are reviewed in greater detail further below.

Continue reading below for more about Vanilla Beans' creative promotions, their musicians and collaborators, and also reports of the last shows!