Riho Furui
Japanese singer-songwriter known for gospel-infused pop.
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Born in Hokkaido, Riho Furui is a Japanese singer-songwriter with Pony Canyon. Gospel music sparked her early interest, and she began her career as an independent artist in 2016. Her 2025 single "Hello" became the opening theme for the anime City: The Animation.
Biography
Furui was born in Hokkaido on April 10, 1991. Her family listened to Japanese artists such as Ken Hirai and Western artists like The Carpenters, sparking her early interest in music. She took piano lessons from kindergarten through elementary school. In her fifth year of elementary school, her mother took her to a gospel music performance at a church in Sapporo; the concert inspired her to become a singer, and she joined a church choir that practiced every Sunday.
While in university, she took a leave of absence to study English in Toronto, Canada, from 2014 to 2015. She struggled there, unable to find work and depleting her savings, but survived with friends' support. The experience was life-changing, helping her realize personal weaknesses. After returning, she debuted as an indie singer under the name Riho in 2016 with the song "Believe," inspired by her time abroad.
In 2019 she released "Rebirth," which she calls her breakout song. She released her first album Green Light in 2022, followed by the song "LOA" in 2023 and her second album Love One Another in 2024. In 2025 she released her first Pony Canyon anime tie-up, "Hello," for City: The Animation.
Musical style and influences
Furui cites her upbringing listening to R&B and soul, along with her gospel music experience, as inspirations. Her songs show gospel influences. Early in her career she mainly covered artists such as Mariah Carey and Minnie Riperton before writing her own material. Her debut song "Believe" and the track from Green Light were inspired by her time studying English in Toronto; "Kirai," written after returning from Canada but not released until 2021, was also influenced by negative experiences and her difficulty acknowledging weaknesses.
"Rebirth" was written during a low point after a breakup when she felt little worth and her career was failing; she wrote it to feel better about herself, almost in desperation. At the time she had few listeners, but the song's popularity expanded her fanbase and marked a turning point. "Hello," her first anime song, was intended to cheer listeners and convey living positively despite anxieties. It was born from the keywords "fun" and "cute," ultimately evoking "a sense of nostalgia that reminds you of childhood."
The anime production team wanted a song "people of all ages could sing" with "easy-to-understand lyrics" that was "evergreen."
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Riho Furui (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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