If you were to ask where Mika Hashizume’s story began, he might share tales of carefree days growing up and playing soccer in Hawaii. Today, the intrepid singer-songwriter—who goes by his stylised moniker Mikah—has built a life for himself in Shanghai, where he is now based.“I think right now, I consider Shanghai to be my home, which is super interesting, but what it is, is that I’ve found a way to balance work with my personal life there. I’ve found a sense of home through different aspects of my life,” he says, relaxing into the sofa.We are chatting on the set of Mikah’s digital cover shoot shortly after he has wrapped up his last look. There’s a sense of excitable glee that I glean, despite the gruelling day it has been, starting off under the morning sun at Changi Beach Park. While he shares how artistically fulfilling it feels to see the shoot come together, I think back to how his introspective eyes assessed every shot alongside the rest of the team—a testament to his unwavering commitment.
It’s clearly a sense of tenacity that has stuck since Mikah kicked off his career. Born to a Japanese mother and German father in Hawaii, a young Mikah had always dreamt of an escape; of a different life. So when the rare opportunity to move to Japan and sign with an agency there actually arrived, 16-year-old Mikah ran with it. Since then, he has lived many lives, both in the worlds of music and fashion. Starting out in Japan, Mikah was part of the boy group Intersection for a few years, which was when he also took up small modelling jobs, working with stylists and other magazines and learning about the fashion industry along the way.
Eventually, when the group disbanded, he found himself at a crossroads.“I had been living in Tokyo and I wanted to pursue fashion more deeply. I was going to quit music at that point, and either go to FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology) or Parsons in New York to study fashion business. Then I got the offer to go to China to do the survival show (Produce Camp 2021, also known as Chuang 2021) which I honestly wanted to reject at first. But I thought about the last eight years I had spent doing music and how far I had come. So I told myself I’ll just take this last chance to see if it works out for me in the music industry,” he recalls. In the years since, Mikah has had somewhat of a seismic career breakthrough in China. Now in his third year as a solo artist, he’s finally coming into his own, confident that he can push himself to even greater heights.
shirt, pants and tie. Zantz Han
“If I wasn’t on the show, I think it would have been harder to break into the market, because truthfully, there aren’t many foreigners here. I think my image, plus the fact that I’ve been learning the language, have given me an edge though,” he explains. Yet China is just the beginning. “I want to challenge myself to do more things globally. As much as I love exploring the Chinese market, ultimately, the music that I make is primarily in English. So I’ve also been thinking about where I stand in the world with my music, and I do want to travel, do a world tour possibly, and perform for my fans around the world,” he expresses.
Throughout our conversation, there’s an indescribable enthusiasm that I notice, like he’s on the cusp of something huge; his attention always fixed on what comes next. With his moving from place to place, and building his career entirely away from his birth country, I wonder out loud how he grounds himself and what his idea of home is now.“I think the thing that makes me feel like I’m at home is how happy I am. That can either be through my friends, through the safety that I feel with my staff, through my fans. I don’t think I knew how to find that sense of home or happiness previously because I was really closed in,” he offers candidly.“But I feel like now, I’ve begun to understand that my own happiness is really important, so I’ve learnt to find that balance in my life.
Swarovski ear cuffs. Zantz Han
“It’s why I started playing soccer again. It made me feel like how I did as a kid. Almost like a muscle memory sort of happiness,” he beams, clearly reminiscing about his younger days. It’s evident that the idea of home has been circling in Mikah’s mind recently. At press time, ‘Escape’ has just been released—the first in a trilogy of songs centred around his sentiments of homesickness—something he feels many others can also relate to.“It’s a topic I’ve never really written about in the past, but it means a lot to me. I thought of how, in the past, I had dreamt of leaving home, but now I dream of finding one. When I first left Hawaii as a kid, I remember feeling accomplished that I had done what I wanted to do, but I also felt displaced, like I didn’t have a home anymore. I was always searching for it,” he confesses openly.
We discuss the music video for ‘Escape’ which feels more like a montage of a relaxed day he spent with his childhood friends. “I wanted to show who I am when I’m actually with them. I’m the most comfortable and happy, and it looks so different from me at work. The video after that shows me alone, which represents my leaving Hawaii, and then making it to Tokyo alone,” he says with a quiet smile.“It might sound sad, but I’m not a super sad person. If anything, music is my way of expressing it all and I thought it was really satisfying to write about something other than love. It feels like I’m maturing, understanding life more and understanding my audience more.
and pants; shirt, tie and
boxers, stylist’s own. Zantz Han
The topic at hand feels poignantly reflective, almost like he has finally found a sense of closure with a past chapter of his life. “I’ve grown since my first year of being a solo artist and I understand my music more now. I feel like I’m on the right track to developing my artistry in both music and fashion, and I want to meld these methods of expression somehow. I feel like I’m slowly piecing it together and in a few years, I’ll be able to realise this fuller vision of myself,”he declares. It’s a beguiling trait of Mikah’s. On one hand, his current season teems with introspection, yet on the other, the artist already has a razor-sharp focus on the year ahead. All that’s left is to plan out his next move on the field.
Editor-in-chief Desmond Lim
Photography Zantz Han
Creative direction and styling Nicholas See
Make-up Kimberly Chee
Hair Christvian Wu
Producer David Bay
Photographer’s assistants Tan Peng Sheng and Daryl Tan
Styling assistants Lance Aeron and Shavita D/O Rajendran
Art assistant David Shih
Pre-order your copy of the December ‘Beguiling’ issue of Vogue Singapore online.
