"Tokyo Takeover“ is the Japanese bonus track for Rina Sawayama’s debut album, SAWAYAMA. Its roots trace back to a 2015 interview with SUITCASE Magazine in which it was first teased to be a part of her RINA EP. The song is about Rina’s struggle to embrace her Japanese identity while growing up in the UK.


Rina: Tokyo Takeover was written at a time a few years ago when I was feeling less confident about my Japanese identity and being in the UK, I was generally not as sure of myself then as I hadn’t met all of my amazing friends at this point who taught me to embrace both cultures, all aspects of them. The lyrics about feeling really confident and like a badass are a bit ironic I suppose? Also the way the English and the Japanese play off each other shows that struggle in my head.


#sawayama 💛