Shiina Ringo

Yumiko Shiina was born on November 25, 1978. Although her initial profile stated the reality of her birth in Saitama Prefecture, at some point, it was changed to its current form, which lists Fukuoka as her hometown (there is even a profile that goes so far as to say that she was born there). Her father Koutarou Shiina was an employee at a foreign-owned oil company (translator’s note Ethis is considered a very good job), while her mother Akiko Shiina was a full-time housewife. At the time of Yumiko’s birth, both of her parents were thirty years old, while their first son Junpei was four.

Yumiko was not born healthy; she had ‘Hereditary Esophageal Blockage Syndrome’ (translator’s note - ζ“V«H“Ή•ΒΗΗ in Japanese), an illness in which the esophagus gets narrower and narrower as it gets closer to the stomach. With this condition, food is unable to reach all the way to the patient’s stomach. Yumiko began the first of many surgeries shortly after birth- surgeries that were to have a major impact on her future. There are still large scars on her back, almost like the scars of an angel whose wings have been ripped off.

Her understanding of the arts began at home. Her father primarily enjoyed listening to jazz and classical music, although his tastes also included popular and various other genres. Her mother majored in dance at college and had been practicing ballet for a very long time. Their home featured a very large collection of CDs, while in the living room there was a piano and a guitar always within arm’s reach. Her father had a complete set of ‘Record Arts’ magazine (translators note -- ‘ƒŒƒR[ƒhŒ|p’ in Japanese), and on Sundays even if Yumiko asked to play, he would just say "I’m busy," lost in his ‘Record Geijutsu,’ underlining noteworthy sections in articles and record reviews with a highlighter. This is how much he loved music.

Due partly to the fact that her older brother Junpei was learning the piano, Yumiko also began to practice from the age of 5. Around the same time, she also started classical ballet. From the very beginning she had a family environment that made it easy to develop an interest in music.

Some time later Yumiko’s father got transferred, and the Shiina family moved to Shimizu, Shizuoka Prefucture. According to an early profile, she ‘transferred schools during elementary school,’ but it is unknown what grade she was at the time. They remained in Shimizu until Yumiko was in the sixth grade. As this period has been removed from her current profile, she rarely talks about it, but one of her interviews, she tells us this: "In Shizuoka it’s just like people are spacing, talking trash about others whenever it suits them, right? The whole atmosphere is like everyone’s just there, going along with the times¨I might get yelled at for saying stuff like this."

Although Yumiko experienced her first kiss in kindergarten ("I was precocious") and according to her own self-analysis, she has the distinctive trait of "being able to come right out and talk about anything," she had transformed into a very shy little girl by her elementary school years- she found it difficult to speak in front of others. When her name was called for attendance she couldn’t even muster out a loud "here!" No one could have imagined that this girl would go on to become Ringo Shiina.

One day, Yumiko had to stand up on the platform at the front of the class and give a presentation. She went up, the eyes of all of the other classmates following her. She wasn’t able to spit out a single word. And on top of that, her face turned bright red. Cries of "Apple----! (translator’s note: that’s "Ringo---!" in Japanese) Shiina looks just like an apple, man!" gave her the nickname that would go on to become what her fans scream from the crowd. An interesting story, to say the least.

Her parents remember Yumiko as a child who didn’t cause much trouble at all, but one who couldn’t stand being alone. She threw tantrums if she couldn’t play with her friends on Sundays. If her friends went away on family trips, she would weep and act up. Seriously troubled, her parents would call down the list of her friends, trying to find someone she could play with. Even then, if they couldn’t find anyone, Yumiko would say (troubling her mother even more): "But today will never come again!" It’s evident from such stories that her parents spoiled her a bit, likely as a result of her childhood illness; on the other hand, her father seems to have been quite strict in other areas.