Emiko Shiratori ( ''Shiratori Emiko''; born March 16, 1950) is a Japanese singer and songwriter. In 1969, the record label Toshiba EMI (now

EMI Music Japan , formerly , was one of Japan's leading music companies. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of British music company EMI Group Ltd. on June 30, 2007, after Toshiba sold off its previous 45% stake. Its CEO and president was Kazuhiko Koike. When ...

) paired her with Sumio Akutagawa, and they formed the folk group Toi et Moi. They achieved great success in Japan, and from 1969 to 1973 released an average of two albums and four singles a year. In 1973, Shiratori released her first solo album and continued as a solo artist throughout the 1970s. She performed at the 1972

Sapporo ( ain, サッ・ポロ・ペッ, Satporopet, lit=Dry, Great River) is a city in Japan. It is the largest city north of Tokyo and the largest city on Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of the country. It ranks as the fifth most populous city ...

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...

and the 1998

Nagano Nagano may refer to: Places * Nagano Prefecture, a prefecture in Japan ** Nagano (city), the capital city of the same prefecture *** Nagano 1998, the 1998 Winter Olympics *** Nagano Olympic Stadium, a baseball stadium in Nagano *** Nagano Universi ...

. As a vocalist for the video game ''

Final Fantasy IX is a 2000 role-playing video game developed and published by Square (video game company), Square for the PlayStation (console), PlayStation video game console. It is the ninth game in the main ''Final Fantasy'' series. The plot focuses on a wa ...

'', she performed the main theme "

Melodies of Life The music of the video game ''Final Fantasy IX'' was composed by regular series composer Nobuo Uematsu. It was his last exclusive ''Final Fantasy'' score. The ''Final Fantasy IX Original Soundtrack'', a compilation of all music in the game, was o ...

" in both Japanese and English. Due to the English version's popularity, a special single was released, '' "Final Fantasy IX" Original Soundtrack''. In 2006, she was asked by

Nobuo Uematsu is a Japanese composer and keyboardist best known for his contributions to the ''Final Fantasy'' video game series by Square Enix. A self-taught musician, he began playing the piano at the age of twelve, with English singer-songwriter Elton Jo ...

to perform a "defining version" of the song at the Final Fantasy Voices Concert; she sang a version that combined the Japanese and English lyrics. Shiratori also performed a vocal arrangement of "Epona's Song" for '' The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Re-Arranged Album'', and narrated, as well as performed, the opening and ending themes to the 1990-1992 ''

Moomin The Moomins ( sv, Mumintroll) are the central characters in a series of novels, short stories, and a comic strip by Finns, Finnish writer and illustrator Tove Jansson, originally published in Swedish language, Swedish by Schildts in Finland. The ...

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

television series. She also performed "Do-Re-Mi-Fa Lullaby", the ending theme to the second

Unico is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Osamu Tezuka. It was serialized in Sanrio's manga magazine ' from November 1976 to March 1979 and collected in two volumes. A pilot film for a potential television series was produce ...

movie, ''

Unico in the Island of Magic is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Osamu Tezuka. It was serialized in Sanrio's manga magazine ' from November 1976 to March 1979 and collected in two volumes. A pilot film for a potential television series was produ ...

'', although the song was changed to an instrumental in the film's English version. Shiratori has had at least one song on the

NHK , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestr ...

program ''

Minna no Uta , literally ''Everyone's Songs'' (English title: ''Songs for Everyone''), is a five-minute NHK TV and radio program which is broadcast several times daily. The program started on April 3, 1961. It is one of NHK's long-running programs. The pr ...

''. She is the wife of composer and music producer Sumio Shiratori, and mother of singer Maika Shirator

External links

Emiko Shiratori's official websiteEmiko Shiratori
at Square Enix Music Online * 1950 births Japanese women singers Japanese folk singers Living people Video game musicians {{Japan-singer-stub