A festival-loving man of the sun

Singer and songwriter Naoto Inti Raymi graduated from the Faculty of Letters in 2002.

His name exudes such a foreign flavor that one might almost ask him what country he is from. Actually, his name was created from local words while traveling through South America.

In the Incan language of South America, inti means "sun" and raymi means "festival."

Naoto's lifestyle and music overflow with brightness, life energy, power and passion that perfectly fit the image created by these two words.

His dream is a world tour

Naoto made his major debut while he was a student at Chuo University. However, at that time, he became frustrated because he was unable to make music as he imagined. He withdrew from society and spent about 7 or 8 months living in seclusion.

Fortunately, Naoto recovered from his days of seclusion and left on a trip around the world from August 2003 to the end of 2004. Naoto engrossed himself in budget travel which lasted for 515 days, combining his trip with a preview for the world tour which he hoped to conduct someday.

A record of his travels is written in Hey World! Dancing, Singing and Kicking! Diary of Travels in 28 Countries-Asia, Middle East, Europe & South America published by Gentosha Publishing. His travel diary is both daring and hilarious, sometimes bringing the reader to tears and sometimes provoking contemplation. Armed with his music and his soccer ability, Naoto endeared himself to people. In fact, his soccer skills are such that he was once a member of the junior team for Kashiwa Reysol, a Japanese professional soccer team.

Perhaps, the word "armed" is not suitable for him. From the very start, Naoto never felt any animosity toward strangers. While retaining the wariness of a solitary traveler, Naoto traveled with a wholehearted spirit of companionship. At his travel destinations, he held street performances, joined in informal soccer games, sang and danced.

His passion, sense of adventure and energy were such that he sang live for Yasser Arafat, Chairman of the Palestine PLO (at that time). He even held a man-to-man discussion with Arafat regarding peace.

After returning to Japan, he released the mini-album Ultra C in 2009 and actively held live performances. He also increased the range of his activities by participating in Mr. Children's Japan tour as a backup singer and acoustic guitarist.

In April 2010, he released the major debut single Carnival? under the name of Naoto Inti Raymi. Only 8 months later, he held a successful performance at the Nippon Budokan Arena in Tokyo. On the wave of such success, Naoto has begun to think about fulfilling his dream of a world tour.

Romantic songs for falling in love

Although Naoto sings a variety of songs according to his mood, his love songs receive particular acclaim. The lyrics of his love songs dive straight into the heart of the listener, and are pure and straight almost to the point of making the listener blush. One example of his love song lyrics is Ima no Kimi wo Wasurenai, which gained popularity after being featured on a Sony Ericksson television commercial.

There are many love songs which sympathize with listeners who are currently in love or have been in love in the past. However, not many love songs can capture the heart of listeners who will fall in love in the future. "The song made me want to fall in love."-This memorable comment was made by someone after listening to Naoto's song.

Naoto's fifth single, Brave, was released on April 20th. Although this song encourages the efforts of hardworking people, it is also notable for the presence of a woman who watches over her man.

"Don't make fun of people, don't be embarrassed, don't show off, and don't be stubborn."

During his travels, Naoto developed the desire to honestly convey the essence of his thoughts and feelings. His lyrics convey that message with simplicity and strength.

Even when as a child, Naoto sang until his throat was hoarse

In addition to taking many lives and destroying many homes, the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami which occurred on March 11th have greatly changed people's values and philosophy of life. No one can return to the life that they led before the disaster. There are many people who are uncertain of how they can help and of what they should do, causing them to lose sight of their daily lives.

On March 17th, Naoto made a comment on the disaster in his blog. "Everyone just fulfill your own role! It's fine to keep on doing what you have been doing with great effort. Plus, think about how you can help victims and take some kind of action."

For Naoto, music is his method of helping. Music is so important to Naoto that he sang until his throat was hoarse as a child.

In the war-torn Middle East, Naoto sang songs of peace from the bottom of his heart. Now, he is singing from his heart with hope for reconstruction. His feelings are not limited to disaster charity concerts or other tangible events; indeed, he sings with such compassion all the time, everywhere.

"I hope that the day will soon come when we can all laugh together from our hearts. I will continue to work my hardest for that day," says Naoto."I want to believe in the power of music."