Yoko Nagayama
Encyclopedia
Yōko Nagayama is a Japan
ese enka
singer, former J-pop
singer, and actress.
. At the age of four, she began attending min'yo
group singing lessons with her father. Although she originally went because she enjoyed the attention from her father's classmates, she soon began studying and performing min'yo together with her father. When she was ten, she started playing shamisen
. Her father gave her a shamisen that she still uses today.
singer after finishing junior high school. However, when she was sixteen, her handlers told her and her parents that she was too young to sing enka. Despite her father's wishes, she then decided to become a J-pop
idol singer
.
Her debut song was Haru wa SA-RA SA-RA (春はSA-RA SA-RA), released in 1984. It was not well received, nor were her releases over the next two years. However, in 1986, Nagayama had her first big hit with a cover version of British girl group Bananarama
's dance-pop take on Shocking Blue
's Venus. Her next song, You're My Love, was also popular. Five of her songs (Venus, You're My Love, Kanashiki Koibitotachi, Heart ni Hi wo Tsukete, and Hangyaku no Hero) were all Oricon
top 10 hits.
During this time, Nagayama also performed in various dramas, such as the jidaigeki
Sanbiki gi Kiru, Minipato yori Ai wo Komete, and Yūwaku.
Nagayama continues to play the shamisen
in many of her songs. Notable songs with shamisen parts are Jonkara Onnabushi (じょんから女節) and Usoda to Itte (噓だといって).
She regularly presents enka programmes on Japanese TV. Nagayama has had at least one song appear on the NHK
program Minna no Uta
. In 1993, she made her first appearance on the NHK New Year's Eve spectacular Kōhaku Uta Gassen
. Since 1995, she has performed at "Kōhaku" every year.
April 6, 2009 she announced on her blog that she has married American entrepreneur Mark Smith, 40, who is president and CEO of temp staffing firm Skillhouse Staffing Solutions K.K.. She also assured fans that she would continue her singing career after her marriage.
's song "I Don't Want to be a Hero
, "反逆のヒーロー".
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese enka
Enka
is a popular Japanese music genre considered to resemble traditional Japanese music stylistically. Modern enka, however, is a relatively recent musical form which arose in the context of such postwar expressions of modern Japanese nonmaterial nationalism as nihonjinron, while adopting a more...
singer, former J-pop
J-pop
, an abbreviation for Japanese pop, is a musical genre that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1990s. Modern J-pop has its roots in 1960s music, such as The Beatles, and replaced kayōkyoku in the Japanese music scene...
singer, and actress.
Early life
Nagayama was born in TokyoTokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
. At the age of four, she began attending min'yo
Min'yo
is a genre of traditional Japanese music. The term is a translation of the German word "Volkslied" and has only been in use during the twentieth century...
group singing lessons with her father. Although she originally went because she enjoyed the attention from her father's classmates, she soon began studying and performing min'yo together with her father. When she was ten, she started playing shamisen
Shamisen
The , also called is a three-stringed, Japanese musical instrument played with a plectrum called a bachi. The Japanese pronunciation is usually "shamisen" but sometimes "jamisen" when used as a suffix . -Construction:The shamisen is a plucked stringed instrument...
. Her father gave her a shamisen that she still uses today.
J-pop era
Nagayama continued singing and performing through her junior high school years. Her plan was to become a professional enkaEnka
is a popular Japanese music genre considered to resemble traditional Japanese music stylistically. Modern enka, however, is a relatively recent musical form which arose in the context of such postwar expressions of modern Japanese nonmaterial nationalism as nihonjinron, while adopting a more...
singer after finishing junior high school. However, when she was sixteen, her handlers told her and her parents that she was too young to sing enka. Despite her father's wishes, she then decided to become a J-pop
J-pop
, an abbreviation for Japanese pop, is a musical genre that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1990s. Modern J-pop has its roots in 1960s music, such as The Beatles, and replaced kayōkyoku in the Japanese music scene...
idol singer
Japanese idol
In Japanese culture, are media personalities in their teens and early twenties who are considered particularly attractive or cute and who will, for a period ranging from several months to a few years, regularly appear in the mass media, e.g...
.
Her debut song was Haru wa SA-RA SA-RA (春はSA-RA SA-RA), released in 1984. It was not well received, nor were her releases over the next two years. However, in 1986, Nagayama had her first big hit with a cover version of British girl group Bananarama
Bananarama
Bananarama are an English female pop duo who have had success on the pop and dance charts since 1982. Rather than relying on a two part harmony, the duo generally sings in unison, as do their background vocalists. Although there have been line-up changes, the group enjoyed their most popular...
's dance-pop take on Shocking Blue
Shocking Blue
Shocking Blue was a Dutch rock band from The Hague, the Netherlands, formed in 1967. Their biggest hit, "Venus", went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in February 1970, and the band had sold 13.5 million discs by 1973, but the group disbanded in 1974.-Members:...
's Venus. Her next song, You're My Love, was also popular. Five of her songs (Venus, You're My Love, Kanashiki Koibitotachi, Heart ni Hi wo Tsukete, and Hangyaku no Hero) were all Oricon
Oricon
, established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc...
top 10 hits.
During this time, Nagayama also performed in various dramas, such as the jidaigeki
Jidaigeki
is a genre of film, television, and theatre in Japan. The name means "period drama" and is usually the Edo period of Japanese history, from 1603 to 1868. Some, however, are set much earlier—Portrait of Hell, for example, is set during the late Heian period—and the early Meiji era is also a popular...
Sanbiki gi Kiru, Minipato yori Ai wo Komete, and Yūwaku.
Enka era
In 1993, she started a second career as an enka singer. She received three prizes for her first enka song Higurashi (蜩). Suterarete (捨てられて) also became famous.Nagayama continues to play the shamisen
Shamisen
The , also called is a three-stringed, Japanese musical instrument played with a plectrum called a bachi. The Japanese pronunciation is usually "shamisen" but sometimes "jamisen" when used as a suffix . -Construction:The shamisen is a plucked stringed instrument...
in many of her songs. Notable songs with shamisen parts are Jonkara Onnabushi (じょんから女節) and Usoda to Itte (噓だといって).
She regularly presents enka programmes on Japanese TV. Nagayama has had at least one song appear on the NHK
NHK
NHK is Japan's national public broadcasting organization. NHK, which has always identified itself to its audiences by the English pronunciation of its initials, is a publicly owned corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee....
program Minna no Uta
Minna no Uta
, literally Everyone's Songs, is a five minute NHK TV and radio program broadcasting several times daily since 1961. The program is generally used as filler at the end of regular television programs...
. In 1993, she made her first appearance on the NHK New Year's Eve spectacular Kōhaku Uta Gassen
Kohaku Uta Gassen
, more commonly known as simply Kōhaku, is an annual music show on New Year's Eve produced by Japanese public broadcaster NHK and broadcast on both television and radio, nationally and internationally by NHK's networks and some overseas broadcasters which bought the program...
. Since 1995, she has performed at "Kōhaku" every year.
April 6, 2009 she announced on her blog that she has married American entrepreneur Mark Smith, 40, who is president and CEO of temp staffing firm Skillhouse Staffing Solutions K.K.. She also assured fans that she would continue her singing career after her marriage.
Enka Singles
- 蜩 (Higurashi) c/w 心だけでも．．．(Kokoro Dake Demo...) 1/21/1993
- 海に降る雪 (Umi ni Furu Yuki) c/w 道しるべ (Michishirube) 6/2/1993
- なみだ酒 (Namidazake) c/w 艶花 (Tsuyabana) 9/22/1993
- 蒼月 (Tsuki) c/w あんただけ (Anta Dake) 3/9/1994
- めおと酒 (Meotozake) c/w 綾の女 (Aya no Onna) 10/5/1994
- 私が生まれて育ったところ (Watashi ga Umarete Sodatta Tokoro) c/w 硝子坂 (Garasu Saka) 1/21/1995
- 捨てられて (Suterarete) c/w ふたたびの恋 (Futatabi no Koi) 3/24/1995
- 倖せにしてね (Shiawase ni Shite ne) c/w いけない女 (Ikenai Onna) 2/21/1996
- ヨコハマ・シルエット (Yokohama Silhouette) c/w 嘘だといって (Uso Da to Itte) 6/21/1996
- たてがみ (Tategami) c/w ふられ酒 (Furarezake) 11/7/1996
- たてがみ「劇場版」 (Tategami - Gekijōban) c/w 紅い雪 (Akai Yuki) 1/22/1997
- お江戸の色女 (Oedo no Iroonna) c/w 夏ひとり (Natsu Hitori) 4/23/1997
- あの頃のなみだは (Ano Koro no Namida wa) c/w 地図のない旅 (Chizu no Nai Tabi) 4/23/1997
- ムーンライトジェラシー (Moonlight Jealousy) 11/6/1997
- 浪花夢情話（新編桂春団治） (Naniwa Yume Jōwa) 11/6/1997
- 恋のプラットホーム (Koi no Platform) c/w 洋子のズンドコ節 (Yōko no Zundokobushi) 1/13/1998
- 父さんの詩 (Otōsan no Uta) c/w 港町メルヘン (Minatomachi Märchen) 3/21/1998
- 桶屋の八つぁん (Okeya no Yatsan) c/w 新宿たずね人 (Shinjuku Tazune Hito) 5/2/1998
- 花園しぐれ (Hanazono Shigure) c/w 恋酒場 (Koi Sakaba) 11/13/1998
- 傘 (Kasa) c/w 深川恋キツネ (Fukagawagoi Kitsune) 3/24/1999
- さだめ雪 (Sadame Yuki) c/w 女の花詞 (Onna no Hanakotoba) 8/4/1999
- なみだ酒 (Namidazake) / めおと酒 (Meotozake) 12/16/1999
- 蜩 (Higurashi) / 蒼月 (Tsuki) 12/16/1999
- むすばれたいの (Musubaretai no) c/w 遠い街 (Tōi Machi) 1/1/2000
- 恋酒場 (Koi Sakaba) c/w あずさ川 (Azusagawa) 4/21/2000
- 紅い雪 (Akai Yuki) c/w 縁むすび (Enishi Musubi) 11/1/2000
- 遠野物語 (Tōno Monogatari) c/w 幾春別川 (Kishun Wakaregawa) 5/17/2001
- めぐり逢い (Meguriai) c/w やどり木夫婦 (Yadorigi Fūfu) 3/21/2002
- 艶姿女花吹雪 (Adesugata Onna no Hanafubuki) c/w 妻という名じゃなくっても (Tsuma to Iu Na Ja Naku 'tte mo) 7/24/2002
- 愛ありがとう (Ai Arigatō) c/w 色づく旅路 (Irozuku Tabiji) 10/23/2002
- 嵐峡 (Arashihazama) c/w 冬のタンゴ (Fuyu no Tango) 1/22/2003
- ありんことひまわり (Arinko to Himawari) c/w ありんこのクリスマス (Arinko no Christmas) 6/25/2003
- じょんから女節 (Jonkara Onnabushi) c/w たまゆら (Tamayura) 6/25/2003
- おんな炭坑節 (Onna Tankōbushi) 5/26/2004
- 嘘だといって (Uso Da to Itte) c/w 芭蕉布 (Bashōfu) 1/26/2005
- 洋子の・・・海 (Yōko no...Umi) c/w 洋子の・・・ふるさと (Yōko no Furusato) 6/16/2005
- 洋子の・・・名残月 (Yōko no Meizangetsu) c/w 洋子の・・・冬景色 (Yōko no Fuyukeshiki) 10/19/2005
Cover Song
In 1988, she covered Johnny Hates JazzJohnny Hates Jazz
Johnny Hates Jazz is an Anglo-American Pop/Rock band, formed in 1986 by Clark Datchler , Mike Nocito , and Calvin Hayes...
's song "I Don't Want to be a Hero
I Don't Want to be a Hero
"I Don't Want to be a Hero" is a 1987 song by the British band Johnny Hates Jazz. It reached #11 in the UK top 40 in August 1987 spending 10 weeks on the chart. It is taken from their #1 album Turn Back the Clock.-Writing and inspiration:...
, "反逆のヒーロー".