Bless 4: Living out of the ordinary

Can you imagine waking up as early as 7am everyday even if it’s freezing cold outside? No, it’s not to prepare for school or work, but to go jogging.

Isn’t the bed more inviting than the icy pathway? Yes, but somehow sacrifices must be made even by very young people, such as the youthful members of Tokyo-based singing group Bless 4.

Bless 4 members, who are all siblings aged 14 to 23, said they jump out of their beds at 7am to workout, mostly jogging.

“We’re used to this schedule,” said Akashi, the 23-year-old member of the group.

The chorus team also includes his 21-year-old sister Kanasa, 15-year-old sister Akino, and 14-year-old brother Aiki.

The four are currently on Saipan upon the invitation of a tour group to perform in some local events.

They will be on island for the Christmas and New Year’s celebrations.

The group performs R&B, hip-hop, and all kinds of beats as a base to feature their chorus work.

They have produced five singles in both Japanese and English, which are contained in their album “All for One,” which was released by BMG House in February this year.

Their singles include “Good Morning Sunshine” which was used as Fuji TV’s Major League Baseball’s theme song in 2003, Hashire! Kiseki!, Okinawan pre-release single “Gajumaru no Shita de” , Gayumaru no Shitade, and One Two Three.

In an interview shortly after their arrival Friday, Akashi said they started as Taekwondo enthusiasts.

They later mixed their martial arts performance with sharp dance steps.

“I like Jackie Chan a lot. That’s why I learned Taekwondo. My other siblings learned it too,” he said.

Akashi said he was born in Okinawa but his family moved to Utah and Arizona when he was a year old.

His three other siblings were born in the U.S. The family went back to Japan in 1997. Right now, they live in Tokyo.

Kanasa said they learned music by themselves by listening to CDs.

“We taught ourselves to sing,” she said.

“We did a lot of mistakes but that’s how we learned,” said Akashi.

The group can sing a capella and/or with background music.

What they like most is singing with a live band.

“It’s very fun to sing with a live band,” said Akino.

The siblings said they were inspired to form a group upon seeing that they all can perform.

They get their inspiration from their dad, who they said used to be a performing artist himself, being a singer and model.

“We loved watching him perform,” they said.

Kanasa said their music is also largely influenced by the Backstreet Boys and ‘N Sync.

“We like their sound, the harmony. They’re great,” Kanasa said.

The youngest of the four, Aiki, said he enjoys performing with his elder siblings.

“It’s fun,” he said.

The siblings live a little differently than most people their age.

They don’t go to traditional school because they get education from home and when they go out, they always go together.

“We are homeschooled. We spend fours a day doing school work,” said Akashi.

They said they are taking long distance correspondence courses from the states.

After their early morning physical workout, which lasts about an hour, they go home and gather again at 10am for homeschool.

They break at noon for lunch and resume their schoolwork afterwards.

At mid afternoon, they do their music practice until dinnertime.

After dinner is usually their free time, if they don’t have social engagements.

No, they are not bored at all being together all the time, the siblings said.

In fact, they said that they appreciate their time together, knowing that they have genuine concern for one another.

“We do activities together. We’re very close. We’re like just friends. We can talk about anything even our crushes,” giggles Akino.

They have other friends outside themselves, as they get to socialize as well regularly.

“We enjoy our time with people. We love meeting and knowing people,” the siblings said, who each exudes an aura of confidence, vivacity, and jolliness.