With her new album, “Nomad Soul” already at No.1 in the Oricon charts, southern island singer Chitose Hajime (24) started her first national tour in Tokyo yesterday. With her characteristic warbling “shima uta” voice and weaving her way barefoot around the stage at Nakano SunPlaza, she charmed the 2,000-strong audience with her native Amami Oshima dialect and 22 songs from her two albums. While her unique singing style can get a bit repetitive after a while, it’s refreshing to see someone succeed in J-pop on the basis of real talent for a change.