Today, the Japanese miracle is history, and affluence, matter-of-fact. But there is a new miracle in the making now, and the pop trio "Dreams Come True" probably represents Japan's post-economic aspirations more than any other phenomenon. And what are Japan's "post-economic aspirations?" Simply stated, it would have to be "cultural influence." Sometime during the mid-1980s when Japanese pop-rock began to achieve world-class levels of creative excellence, the whole nation stood poised to receive critical acclaim from their counterparts overseas. Disappointingly, J-pop only managed, at best, to etch a small niche market for itself in other countries. Most artists gave up on the dream of global fame. But some kept on dreaming. And with time, and in an almost anti-climactic manner, this dream has finally come true. Or, to be more accurate, this dream is in the process of coming true.

Dreams Come True deserve a lion's share of the credit for this. In the fall of 1995, Yoshida Miwa, vocalist and leading figure of the trio, was featured on the cover of TIME magazine. That particular issue of the world's most widely-read magazine was celebrating the rise of the world's women to the mainstage of the international music scene. The cover story also called Dreams Come True "Japan's foremost pop band." In music circles, the featuring of Yoshida on TIME's cover was a true testimony to Japanese music finally having coming of age. At the very least, the publicity Dreams Come True derived was enormous and other Japanese bands most likely benefited as well.

But now that stars like Yazawa Eikichi can share arena-sized stages with top stars from the U.S. and Britain, and novelty bands like Pizzicato Five can acquire a cult following in New York and Paris, can the Japanese sit back and say they've finally got what they wished for? If it can be accurately stated that "cultural influence" is an on-going process of cultural exchange, then the answer to this question is clear: For Japanese bands, the show has just begun and a lot of hard, yet rewarding work lies ahead.

For Dreams Come True, which, along with Yoshida Miwa also includes male partners Nakamura Masato and Nishikawa Takahiro, there is an especially honorable creative task scheduled for 1998. In a worldwide tribute to the late rock legend John Lennon, Dreams Come True will participate in the creation of a special tribute album with the contribution their version of one of Lennon's classics "Beautiful Boy." Although this single will be released in Japan on January 28 with another track entitled "Ah Ha Ha," their rendition of "Beautiful Boy" will appear on the tribute album alongside other Lennon compositions covered by Brian Ferry, Sinead O'Conner, Sounds of Blackness, Foo Fighters and other top artists from around the world. Scheduled for release in the summer of '98, the John Lennon Tribute Album will be distributed in a variety of regional markets on various labels. The overwhelming marketing appeal of the Lennon name will undoubtedly give Dreams Come True yet another huge boost into the global limelight. But the real satisfaction for this trio has to be that they have become global players. And once they score their first worldwide hit (which they've yet to do), it is highly likely that instead of a trickle here and a trickle there, the floodgates will open and Japanese music will take its rightful place beside the musical giants of Britain and America. Yoshida has clearly stated in numerous interviews that this is her primary objective. And the way things have proceeded for her and her two partners during the past two years, there is a good chance her dream will come true.

Some critics suggest that the recent successes of Japanese music in the global market place have directly resulted from Japanese companies having acquired major stakes in the entertainment industry. Sony, which absorbed Columbia Records, is in a position to sign Japanese acts and promote them overseas through extensive marketing channels. But this argument has to be only partly true. Dreams Come True, though once a member of the Sony family, was signed with Virgin Records of America on August 7. Virgin, it is known, has an appetite for big name acts like the Rolling Stones, REM and other global bands. Dreams Come True clinched that deal with no help from Sony, so let them take the credit for being able to attract the interest of a great label like Virgin.

A generally accepted axiom in the music industry is that it takes a band ten years to make it to the top. Dreams Come True match the industry standard precisely. They were formed in January 1988 and spent fourteen months compiling their repertoire and polishing it to perfection. On March 21, 1989 the trio released both a debut album and debut single respectively entitled "Dreams Come True" and "Anata ni Aitakute" (I Want to See You So Much). In April they set out on their first tour covering venues in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya. On November 22 of the same year, they released their second album, this one entitled "Love Goes On."

1990 was an important year of key accomplishments for Dreams Come True. Their single "Warai Gao no Yukue" (The Whereabouts of a Smiling Face) was selected as the theme song for TBS Television's drama "Sotsugyo" (Graduation). This was Dreams Come True's first hit and it climbed as high as slot No.3 on the singles chart. This hit was responsible for allowing them to embark on their first major national tour which took them to a total of twenty-two sold out venues. During the same year, Nakamura proved his songwriting skill in a novel way by writing the theme music for the Sega computer game "Sonic The Hedgehog." Eventually released in 1995, this computer game sold 3.5 million copies in Japan alone, music royalties going to the composer, of course. Again November arrived and the trio put their third album, "Wonder 3" on sale. Between December of 1990 and March of the following year, Dreams Come True was on the road again. They played in thirty-eight concerts in front of a total of 8 million fans, a new record at that time. And only one month later after the release of their 9th single, "Eyes to Me," they played before 6 million more fans in six arena-sized concerts. "Wonder 3" became the trio's first million seller and stayed on the Oricon chart for over two years.

If concert crowds of 6 to 8 million seemed huge, Dreams Come True were able to double that figure by mid-year 1992. During their "Million Kisses" (4th album) tour, they performed in a staggering fifty-two concerts in front of 20 million fans. There was easily potential for a million kisses on that tour, enough to go around for all three members.

In 1992, Nakamura was back at his computer composing follow-up tunes for another Sega computer hit game. "Sonic the Hedgehog 2" sold 6.5 million copies worldwide. Later in the year, the trio's 5th album, "The Swinging Star," racked up sales of 2 million copies in only one week. At year-end, Dreams Come True appeared on NHK's Kohaku songfest, boosting the show's ratings to a record 62% viewership on New Year's Eve.

In January 1993, Dreams Come True took a short breather (which they greatly deserved). Nakamura, however, the compulsive composer that he is, released a solo album "Hikari Original Album Tracks" which were used earlier in the year in NHK's TV drama version of the novel "Hikari." Then it was back on the concert trail again where 28 million Dreams Come True fans enjoyed music from the "Swinging Star" album. In March, Yoshida sang on her first commercial jingle, a song entitled "Go For It," used by Shiseido Cosmetics. At the end of 1993, Dreams Come True set another industry record. They had sold a total of 10 million albums (their 1st through 5th) in only four years time. By today's standards, 10 million sales in four years seems conservative. However, only a year and half later, Dreams Come True boosted their sales to an astonishing total of 15 million in all.

Between 1995 and present day, Dreams Come True has consistently upheld their chart busting CD sales and concert attendance records. And, more importantly, this is the time period when this successful trio began to get very good strokes from the foreign press including the highly-coveted picture on the cover of TIME featuring Yoshida. Many have said that celebrities on the avex label, for example, with larger CD sales than Dreams Come True deserve the international attention. But we have to remember that in show business, while quantity does count, quality of music also happens to be important. And with plenty of that, as well as enviable financial success, and the growing potential to become a major musical influence outside of Japan, Dreams Come True deserve everything that they've wished for and hoped for during the past ten years. For Japan, the success of Dreams Come True is really a dream come true. And at the same time, it is a dream that must be continuously pursued for years to come if the world is to come to fully appreciate the depth of talent in Japan.