Monday満ちる is a Japanese American singer, songwriter and actress, born in 1963 in Tokyo. She is known for music that combines acid jazz and jazz with dance, pop and soul influences, and for her role in the development of acid jazz in Japan in the early 1990s.

Early life and training

She is the daughter of jazz pianist Toshiko Akiyoshi and jazz saxophonist Charlie Mariano. As a child, she studies modern dance and ballet from the age of eight, and she also studies classical flute for eight years. She later attends the Interlochen Arts Academy, where she discovers singing as her main interest.

Acting and public profile

In 1987, she appears in the film Hikaru Onna (also known as Luminous Woman), credited as Michiru Akiyoshi. Her performance brings Best New Actress awards from Kinema Junpo, the Japan Academy and the Yokohama Film Festival. She also becomes a television personality and appears in commercial advertising.

Music career

Her first solo album, Mangetsu, appears in 1991. She continues to record as a solo artist and also works as a featured singer and songwriter with other acts, including Basement Jaxx on “Always Be There”, Mondo Grosso and DJ Krush. Her catalogue includes more than twelve albums, along with compilations, remix projects and singles.

Selected projects and releases

She works with the internet label ArtistShare on the project Flow and releases several albums through that label. She is also associated with the track “You Make Me”, which appears in Konami’s beatmania and Dance Dance Revolution games and receives moderate airplay.

Style and collaborations

Her work spans jazz, acid jazz, dance, pop and soul, and is often described as crossing the usual boundaries of those genres. She continues to perform and record under the names Monday Michiru and MONDAY 満ちる.

Personal life

She lives in New York City with her husband, jazz trumpeter Alex Sipiagin, and their son Nikita.