GIRL, 11, STARTS WRITING SONGS FOR FUN—THEN SOMETHING AMAZING HAPPENS

Newsweek Exclusive Feature

Roga, an 11-year-old from Japan went viral worldwide with her iPad song. Newsweek spoke with her father to learn more.

An 11-year-old schoolgirl from Japan has become an international sensation after one of her original songs, composed entirely on an iPad in secret after school, went viral online.

Roga, whose father would prefer to keep her full identity private, has since drawn praise from new fans around the world after she posted a 1-minute 41-second electronic track to YouTube and TikTok. Creators online quickly began lauding the 5th grader as a genius and a prodigy in short TikTok clips that highlight her natural affinity with music.

While the internet tries to unmask her identity, her family, who agreed to speak with Newsweek about the unexpected online attention, are choosing to keep Roga's background private—citing both safety concerns and a cultural tradition of anonymity for young performers in Japan.

"At first, she only shared her music with family and classmates, enjoying the happiness it brought to those around her," Roga's father, Riki, told Newsweek. "But eventually, it seems that was not enough for her anymore, and so on February 10, without telling us, she created TikTok and YouTube accounts even though she is too young to have a social media account, and she uploaded her songs to them.

"The next morning, Roga woke up crying and confessed to us that one of her songs had received an overwhelming response online and that brings us to where we are today."

Since uploading the track to TikTok and YouTube under @roga.atuage, Roga, who started composing for fun when she was just 9, has watched her life change in real time.

"Roga is absolutely thrilled with the online response to her music," Riki said. "Since she composes purely by instinct, without any understanding of advanced musical theory or chord theory, she does not fully comprehend the final result of her own work.

"However, people from all over the world have shared their positive thoughts and interpretations of her songs."

While children under 13 are not allowed to open accounts on platforms like TikTok and YouTube—Roga's parents, now aware and supportive of her talent, have since helped her manage the social media whirlwind. They have even created a Spotify artist profile for her work.

'We Had No Idea She Was Composing'

Roga's breakout track, "KARAKURI NINGYŌ," is just one of four original songs she has written since quietly starting to compose music two years ago. At the time, her parents did not know she was even experimenting with music production, despite having put her through piano lessons in elementary school.

"At the time, we had no idea that Roga had started composing, then, one day when she was in the third grade, she played one of her original songs for me," Riki said. "When I first heard the song, I must admit—and I feel bad about this now—I could not believe that my daughter, a third grader, had created it.

"It was so good that I suspected she might have borrowed someone else's composition and simply pieced together sounds on the app."

The family was unaware that Roga had been experimenting with music on composition apps like GarageBand and Medly on her iPad, but decided to offer her their wholehearted support after hearing what she can create from scratch with no help at all.

"I could not believe she had made such a complex song using a single app," Riki said of Roga's song, "KARAKURI NINGYŌ."

One of her songs, titled "A Song Without A Name Yet," has so far gained the most recognition online, racking up more than 847,000 views on YouTube and countless viral reshares on TikTok by listeners much older than her.

Now in fifth grade and preparing to move up to sixth when Japan's school year resets in April, Roga is still driven by the same instinct and joy that first led her to explore music without her parents knowing.

In Japanese elementary schools, children are often encouraged to explore creative expression, including music, Riki explained.

"In Roga's class, even when she was in the first grade, it was common for classmates to share and discuss popular songs," he said. "By the time she reached the second or third grade, VOCALOID songs, such as those by Hatsune Miku, became a trend in her class."

One day, however, Roga overheard a comment from a classmate that would end up shaping her musical future.

"I'm getting tired of recent VOCALOID songs, they all sound boring," the student had said.

"Why would they say such a thing?" Roga thought at the time. "If they are bored of the music they hear on the internet, why not try making their own?"

That one moment sparked her foray into composition. Since then, her confidence has only grown, now, with the help and support of her new fans online. But at first, she had shared her music only with her family, then with her classmates, some of whom started encouragingly humming her tunes at school.

When summer break arrived, Roga submitted her songs digitally as her required school artwork assignment—an unprecedented submission that her homeroom teacher graciously accepted.

"She continued composing simply because it was fun for her to listen to her own creations and see others enjoy them," Riki said.

Since the overwhelming response to her viral hit, Roga has been contacted by several music companies—not just in Japan but also by two American music companies her father described as being "well-known worldwide."

"Currently, we are receiving inquiries from music companies around the world almost every week, and we are in the process of carefully listening to each offer," Riki said. "We are still considering whether it would be best for Roga to join a music label or continue her activities as an independent composer."

For the time being Roga's family are keen to take things slowly until they decide on the best next step for her, but that has not dimmed the Gen Alpha composer's enthusiasm. Fans online have begged her family to give her professional tools like a PC or VOCALOID software in the meantime. As it turns out, they already have.

"In fact, we had already bought her VOCALOID software and a PC long before she uploaded her music online in February," Riki said.

"However, using a PC-based composing software requires complex operations, which are still a bit challenging for a 5th grader."

So for now, Roga sticks with what feels most natural.

"Right now, composing with the iPad app feels most natural and enjoyable for her," Riki said. "As a family, we believe there is no need to push her to learn difficult PC software at this stage.

"When the time is right and she feels ready, we are confident that she will naturally start using PC software to create music."

In a media landscape where identity often becomes currency, Roga's anonymity has become a powerful asset. Her father points to other major Japanese artists who have also remained anonymous early in their careers.

"Japan has a somewhat unique culture where it is still uncommon for children in compulsory education to publicly reveal their full identity in the media," Riki, who did share that the family are based in eastern Japan, said. "Even Ado, who is now considered one of Japan's top female singers, and Tuki., a high school singer-songwriter gaining nationwide popularity, have not revealed any personal information,

including their real names."

The same privacy, he believes, has helped Roga grow into her musical voice.

"Keeping her personal details private has had a positive effect—it has helped boost Roga's confidence and joy in creating music," Riki said. "This is because she has realized people around the world appreciate and listen to her music purely for what it is, without knowing her personal details."

While Roga's songs continue to gain traction online, so does her ability to see her own work in a new light by taking on board all of the positive comments and praise her tracks have received. That interaction, Riki said, has become a powerful learning tool and source of motivation for the schoolgirl.

"This feedback has helped her rediscover her own music from new perspectives, and the online response has become a significant source of motivation for her," he said. "Roga continues to compose music every day.

"Since posting her song online her productivity and creativity seem to have improved even further."

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