I'm a pretty new SR fan, so here's a few things that were particularly interesting to me:
Shiina played in a band with Hisako Tabuchi when she was young, and was apparently inspired to play guitar by Tabuchi (I've also read this story in reverse, Tabuchi inspired by SR...?). (Tabuchi was the guitarist for Number Girl BTW). After SR's first albums, she and Tabuchi formed a band called Hatsuiku Status which made some pretty awesome music IMO. (See YouTube)
SR's favourite Blankey Jet City album was Skunk. SUKUNKU!
SR was instrumental (
) in making Duesenberg guitars popular in Japan and has signature models. (See Duesenberg Starplayer TV)
Used to smoke and has quit. Smart lady. Favourite music is jazz. Smart lady. Likes to use obscure/antiquated kanji instead of ones in common use. Smart lady. Has recently begun making more commercial music and as already noted, commercials. Fans may not appreciate this since she's selling out, but she is lining her pockets and saving for a future where people cannot or will not pay for their music. SMART LADY!!
I'm trying to emphasize that from what I've learned about her, she seems to be a very intelligent person. You should really read through some of the big threads here, full of informative posts by longtime fans, and most importantly, posts by fans who read/speak Japanese. There are translations of interviews and such that are full of details that can't be put into one thread...Enjoy reading! Hope this post was somewhat helpful.
