Aoi Teshima

is a Japanese singer and voice actress from Kasuga, Fukuoka. She is known for singing and acting in several Goro Miyazaki movies including Tales from Earthsea and From up on Poppy Hill. Early life Aoi Teshima was born on June 21, 1987, in Kasuga, Fukuoka, Japan. From an early age, she was influenced by her parents' liking for classic musical films, such as The Wizard of Oz, The Secret Garden, The Little Prince, and Breakfast at Tiffany's. Of that, Teshima has attributed the song, Moon River, along with the music of Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, and Billie Holiday as the basis for her love for Jazz music, and as major influences on her musical style. In junior high school, Teshima found herself moved by Bette Midler's 1979 song, The Rose, her amateur cover of which became the trigger of her debut as a singer. Career After graduating junior high, Teshima enrolled at the C&S Music School in Fukuoka, to acquire the qualifications of high school and junior college while simultaneously developing her singing abilities. There, she began a music career as an amateur in 2003. In 2003 and 2004, she participated in the musical event DIVA, held in Fukuoka, as part of the Yamaha Music-sponsored Teen's Music Festival. In March 2005, she performed at the Japan-Korea Slow Music World event in South Korea, where her performance was favourably received amongst the audience, attracting the attention of anime director Gorō Miyazaki. The Studio Ghibli music producer, Toshio Suzuki, was reportedly very impressed when he listened to her demo version of The Rose at the recommendation of Miyazaki.