My main site is here.

Initial splash page is here. Splash page archive (soon).

Initial "Countdown" to opening page is here.

Version 1.0 main page and splash page "retired" 4-11-2003, version 2.0 activated 4-12-2003, version 3.0 activated 10-24-2005.

Built with Adobe GoLive 6, BBEdit, pico/vi/grep, perl, PHP, MySQL, Adobe Photoshop and served via Apache running on Mac OS X Server and Debian Linux. All technical management including systems administration and networking is done by me (the main server is running on my own hardware and internal network while the media server is via an external service provider).

Firefox or Mozilla are the recommended browsers for Windows while Camino, Firefox, OmniWeb, and Safari are recommended for Macintosh (Internet Explorer is not recommended nor supported on either platform). It is also suggested that the latest version of QuickTime be installed for Mac users and QuickTime Alternative for Windows users. This site will also be moderate to heavily bandwidth intensive. It is not iMode friendly for mobile users in Japan.

Standard Disclaimer: this is an unofficial fan website (meaning not represented and/or sponsored by Shiina Hekiru or her management/talent agency). Certain information and multimedia graphics contained within are copyrighted by their respective owners (Shiina Hekiru, Arts Vision, Sony Music Corp, NHK Japan, 4179*Love, etc.) and portions are utilized under fair use as a means to promote the artist (Shiina Hekiru) and not for the purpose of copyright infringement. See the FAQ in the general announcement section of the BBS for more information on copyright.

Brief Background:

I learned about Hekiru Shiina (note that I'll be using the first/family name format from this point forward) quite by accident back in 1998. At the time, my primary JPOP/JROCK interests were ZARD, Miho Morikawa, Fumina Hisamatsu, JUDY AND MARY, Hikaru Nishida, KIX-S, SIAM SHADE, GLAY, LUNA SEA, L'Arc~en~Ciel and Yumi Tanimura (just to name a few since I had way more than that). I had tuned into NHK's Pop Jam and as usual, had my VCR recording it in case the show had something good. Well I wasn't really paying attention to the television as I was doing something on the computer. Eventually, a nifty guitar intro and tune caught my ear. I eventually turned to watch and caught sight of a relatively plain looking girl with long hair dressed in black leather belting out a catchy tune. What really caught my eye was when she did a headbang. Now realize, this was unusual since corporate JPOP is usually composed normally of: 1) cute idols that well, are good to look at but once they open their mouth, can't hold a note to save their life, 2) artists that do sound good but normally sing more pop/R&B, 3) normally look like the genre that they are in; meaning that if they are rockers/metalheads, usually had that big hair/glammed-makeup look. This girl didn't look/dress like a typical idol nor did she have that outlandish look. She looked normal, sounded good, and was headbanging . This struck me as all too refreshing so the first thing I wondered was "Who is she?" Well I'm glad I had the recorder going as I could at least get her name which I had missed earlier. That was March 14, 1998 (though POPJAM is recorded weeks in advance of air time). I've been a fan ever since and have spent time learning about what makes Hekiru Shiina tick.