"Lungs of an opera singer, Japan's original Rock Queen, delicate as a dream , she will make you cry if you let her. "

By Iain Naughton

​

"At once confident and vulnerable, MANA HARDCORE is a deep, sultry baritone, a voice that tells a rich story, her sound stands defiant in the face of conformity.

We get the sense her musical journey is only just beginning.

A stage presence that must be experienced."

By Tyler Bradley

​

"Mana(MANA HARDCORE) without music is like sushi without rice."

By PeeWee from Gamuso Asagaya

​1980：MANA HARDCORE was born in Tokyo as the eldest daughter between a father who worked at Bunmeido Café Ginza and a mother who was a Japanese kimono maker.

1993：Her home economics work was exhibited at the Adachi Municipal Junior High School Union Exhibition and received an award.

1994：The award winning home economics work in 1993 was selected to be exhibited at the Tokyo Metropolitan Public School Art Exhibition and received an award.

Another home economics work was exhibited at the Adachi Municipal Junior High School Union Exhibition and received an award in a row.
​​
2005：Started activities as MANA HARDCORE. The name comes from the combination of the nickname "MANA" from elementary school and the middle name "HARDCORE" given by a friend.

Before working as MANA HARDCORE, she was in charge of vocal/songwriting in the bands "Space Station" and "The R.H.Y.S.".

2006：Extra appearance in the award-winning movie "Last Stop for Paul" directed by Neil Mandt (with lines as detective Mana). After that, G4TV "Attack of the Show!" Hosted by Kevin Pereira and Olivia Munn, Guest appearance under the name of MANAMI.

In the same year, the album "45-Lucky Girl" was released under the name of MANAMI.

2007：Appeared under the name of MANAMI in the October issue of the magazine "Rolling Stone Japan". The cover of the October issue was The Beatles.

2008：Attracted by the work of photographer Ami Barwell, who was in charge of shooting The Cooper Temple Clause, Mana contacted her directly and went to London, England for a photoshoot with Ami Barwell.

2010：Released the single "Remember 13" under the name of MANA.

The single "Remember 13" was recorded in Brighton, England in 2009 under Andrew Mark Hayman, who worked on Appleton "Fantasy” (the 2nd place on the UK chart), Danz Studios Tokyo was in charge of the cover art.

2011：Appeared under the name of MANA at the Japan Music Week Festival. Besides music activities, she also worked as a body paint model.

After that, the name of the activity was changed from MANA to MANA HARDCORE, and the range of activities was expanded.

2013：Started photography series of the "Showa no Onna" with photographer Benjamin Beechey.

2014：Selected as "HOT 100 LIVE Unsigned Artists and Bands" under the name of MANA HARDCORE in the December issue of the music magazine "Music Connection Magazine".
​
2015：On 7th January, MANA HARDCORE was presented with certificate of appreciation from Youth for Human Rights Japan for her contribution to the success of the Asia/Africa Humanitarian Charity Event.

On 30th August, at the Michael Jackson Birthday charity event, she was again presented with a certificate of appreciation for her contribution to the success of the support event for children in Liberia.

2015：Released the single "Destroy" as a leading single from MANA HARDCORE's 1st album "MANA HARDCORE EP". In the same year, she appeared in the podcast "God Faded Japan".
​
2016：Released MANA HARDCORE's 1st album "MANA HARDCORE EP"(You can still download on bandcamp). The album release party was held at What the Dickens! in Ebisu. At that time, she appeared with Nikolas (Gt), Brett (Ba) and Matt (Dr) as a band.

Photographer Alex Mustățea is in charge of the cover art for the album "MANA HARDCORE EP". The single "Wave" was also released from the same album.

In the same year, MANA HARDCORE was featured on the FM radio "InterFM-London Hit Radio" by Guy Perryman. Also appeared in the podcast "The Matty B Files". She also started working as a web writer under her real name.

2019：Re-appeared in the podcast "God Faded Japan" under the name of MANA HARDCORE. From then, she announced that she would not be active until December 2022.

2022：MANA HARDCORE's official website is back on 1st December. She also started "Poetry Reading" Series on YouTube channel "MANA HARDCORE". 

2023：Appeared as a secret guest on Martin Leroux's stage at "The Singer-Songwriter Collective: Vol. 5" held at Crawfish Akasaka on 12th February. She was perorming Martin Leroux's song "Crash" duet version.

For MANA HARDCORE, it was the first time in 3 years and a few months to return to the live stage.

On 6th May, MANA HARDCORE performed at the "Asakusa Tiny Stage Concert" presented by Hideo Ito and held at the second-hand bookstore Infinity Books & Event Space in Asakusa, Tokyo.

For the first time for MANA HARDCORE, the stage was presented with a cappella and poetry reading. The line-up were KOJI and Brian Smith, who have been on the same bill together many times in the past.

On 17th June, MANA HARDCORE performed at the event "Acoustic night at pub republic- the swansong" presented by Ade Crawley. She has performed at "Acoustic night at pub republic” a couple of times before. It was also the last music event at pub republic. Since it was an a cappella and poetry reading set, the audience cheered with calling "softcore", and the excitement was great.
​
On 29th July, MANA HARDCORE performed at the event "The Usual Suspects and Mana Hardcore and Jake Braddock" presented by Ade Crawley at LIGHTHOUSE TOKYO Kokubunji. The lineup were The Usual Suspects led by the organizer Ade Crawley & the pro mandolin YouTuber Mike de Jong, and Jake Braddock who just made his Japan professional wrestling debut in 2023.

​On 4th December, "SAVVY JAPAN TODAY" hosted by Michael featured MANA HARDCORE on their YouTube channel and she became their weekly guest officially after.

On 23rd December, on MANA HARDCORE YouTube channel, the poetry reading series, which was posted once every 12 days from 4th December 2022 , has been completed as originally announced. The playlist “MANA HARDCORE -Poetry Reading- 【Reading】” on the YouTube channel is still available.

On 24th December, The music video for MANA HARDCORE “WAVE” was released on MANA HARDCORE YouTube channel. Directed by Micky Acorn, starring Jackie Scott and vxnus. The song "WAVE" was recorded by Chris Whatley and mastered by Chris Longwood, and is the first track on her self-titled EP, which was released on 14th February 2016.

2024：On the 1st of January , MANA HARDCORE has started her official INSTAGRAM. She posts stories everyday. In addition, she was ranked number 1 on the ReverbNation Tokyo Singer-Songwriter Chart for 3 weeks in a row on 18th January.