"Love is the greatest gift you can give to someone." When Yuuka sings about love,

Looking back at the songs I've written, the one I think sings of most is "Tomoka," which I wrote as the theme song for the drama "My Wife is a Primary School Student" (2022). The producer requested that I write a song that conveys gratitude to family. I myself lost my beloved grandmother a while ago, and I was feeling very lonely, so this song is also personally directed towards my grandmother.

Three years have passed since the release, and I still sing "Tomoka" at every live performance. But more than feeling lonely, I've come to think of the days I spent with my grandmother as fond times. The love she left behind, such as her words and the warmth of her hugs, has entered my body and can never be taken away or left behind by anyone. I've come to realize that love is the greatest gift one person can give to another.

Of the many memories I have of my grandmother, the one that remains most vivid in my memory is the recipe for the sauce for "Grandma's Hamburg Steak." It's a stew-like, slightly sweet and spicy flavor, and it's something I've never tried anywhere else, but it's really delicious. My grandmother passed it down orally to my mother, and now I make it myself. When she was alive, my grandmother would tell me to remember the measurements for the sauce in the order of 'sashisuseso'.

However, while sugar and soy sauce are fine, the sauce suddenly comes on, followed by mirin, water, powdered cheese, and ketchup. The whole family was like, "What's the 'sashisuseso' about that?" (laughs). Even though we're family, memories and recollections have different impressions depending on who receives them. But the recipes that Grandma left behind after repeated trial and error are in a perfect form. We can all share our memories together, so I'm really grateful.

Even if people don't know my grandmother, I hope that listening to "Tomoka" will bring back memories of a loved one.

A new way of writing lyrics discovered through typing

I myself have rarely sung about my specific views on love up until now. I often write songs about everyday life and the broad love I feel in those situations, and in order to convey those feelings, from the very beginning when I started making music, I would write the lyrics by hand before I composed the music.

However, when I was making my latest album, "Love Deluxe," there were many danceable songs with fun melodies, and compared to my previous works, which had a folk-like texture, the lyrics were significantly longer in length. So I tried writing lyrics by typing. Of course, I put my own feelings into them, but I found that I could write in the words I normally use, as if I were typing a message to someone.

When I write by hand, the letters become a part of me, but when I type, the letters become impersonal and I can write with a slightly more objective feeling. It was a fun experience, discovering a new way to use the Japanese language. Maybe this will lead to another new love song.