is a Japanese singer, actress, lyricist, and

tarento Television personalities in Japan, known as in Japanese, are celebrities who regularly appear in mass media in Japan, especially as panelists on variety shows. During the Golden Age of Hollywood, bankable stars in America were described as "tal ...

. She made her professional debut as the fourth member of the all-female singing group

Onyanko Club was a large all-girl Japanese pop idol group in the 1980s. Some members of the group participated in spin-off groups, such as Nyangilas, Ushiroyubi Sasaregumi and Ushirogami Hikaretai. Many of the latter two groups' songs were used as theme so ...

in 1985. She made her solo debut with the hit song on January 1, 1986. Nitta performed the opening and ending theme songs for the first 14 episodes of the ''

Little Women ''Little Women'' is a coming-of-age novel written by American novelist Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888). Alcott wrote the book, originally published in two volumes in 1868 and 1869, at the request of her publisher. The story follows the lives ...

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 from

Nippon Animation is a Japanese animation studio. The company is headquartered in Tokyo, with chief offices in the Ginza district of Chūō and production facilities in Tama City. Nippon Animation is known for producing numerous anime series based on works of ...

. Nitta attended and graduated from Fujimino Municipal Fukuoka Junior High School and Saitama Prefectural Fukuoka High School.

History

Nitta made her first appearance as the fourth member of Onyanko Club in April 1985 with an appearance on the group's

Fuji TV JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Owned and operated by the it is the key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network Sys ...

variety show '' Yūyake Nyan Nyan''. While she initially wanted to quit show business soon after starting, she suddenly became the most senior member of the group on April 25, 1985, following the Shūkan bunshun smoking scandal in which five members (including the first three members) of Onyanko Club were fired. In July of that same year, she made her debut as one of Onyanko Club's lead singers with the song . From that point, she was considered the "face" of Onyanko Club due to her popularity. After graduating from high school, she continued working in the entertainment field and signed with the talent management firm . She made her solo debut on January 1, 1986, with the hit single ''Winter Opera Glasses'', which reached number one on the

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 and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in Nov ...

charts and sold over 300,000 copies. This was the record for a debut single for a female solo artist until Oricon changed their rules regarding what was considered a "debut" for people who had previously been a member of a group;

Yuki Uchida (born November 16, 1975) is a Japanese actress, and a popular 1990s idol, model and singer. Biography Uchida was born in Tokyo. She practiced fencing in high school, and ranked 3rd in a tournament in Tokyo in 1991. She began her career as a mod ...

now holds the record for a debut single for a female solo artist. Nitta was given the title "The Million Dollar Smile" on her single covers, and her smile was referred to as the "Nitta Trump", due to the extraordinary price she commanded due to her popularity. She began to regularly release singles and albums from that point. Just before her solo debut, her father suddenly died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

on December 24, 1985, after collapsing with a high fever on the set of a movie in Hawaii. During the year following the breakup of Onyanko Club in 1987, as her popularity began to wane, Nitta adopted the pen name of (using kanji different from those used in her real name) and began writing lyrics for her own songs. In March 1990, she retired from the entertainment world after telling people she wanted to become a lyricist. She wrote the lyrics for the songs on her last single. In 1994, Nitta released a photo book and essay in which she returned to show business. On August 8, 1996 (just before

moved to their present location in

Odaiba today is a large artificial island in Tokyo Bay, Japan, across the Rainbow Bridge from central Tokyo. Odaiba was initially built in this area for defensive purposes in the 1850s. Reclaimed land offshore Shinagawa was dramatically expanded durin ...

), a reunion event was held for the ''Yūyake Nyan Nyan'' TV series. Nitta later married the Fuji TV employee who was in charge of the event. Together with many of the original members of Onyanko Club, Nitta released the single, in 2002. On December 5 that same year, the newly reunited members performed the title song as well as ''Don't Make Me Take Off My Sailor Suit'' during the '' 2002 FNS Kayōsai'' event on Fuji TV. Takashi Okamura, one half of the comedy duo Ninety-nine, is a huge fan of Nitta, and she performed in the section of his '' Tobukusuri'' variety show. Several years later, during the "Fuji TV 24-hour Police" parody segment of the ''

Mecha-Mecha Iketeru! was a popular Japanese variety show, shown on Fuji TV. The first episode aired on 16 October 1996 and the last episode aired on 31 March 2018. The hosts of the show were the owarai duo Ninety-Nine ( Takashi Okamura and Hiroyuki Yabe). The show ...

'' variety show, Nitta's husband was "shamefully arrested" as the "Onyanko Thief" (due to his having married Nitta). In a segment for the same show in 1999, Nitta fan and

Thane Camus Thane Alexander Camus (; born November 27, 1970) is an American TV personality and actor in Japan. Biography Camus was born in New York on November 27, 1970. Camus arrived in Japan in 1980 and graduated from a board school in Fujisawa, Kanagawa ...

and

owarai is a broad word used to describe Japanese comedy as seen on television. The word ''owarai'' is the honorific form of the word ''warai'' (by adding o- prefix), meaning "a laugh" or "a smile". ''Owarai'' is most common on Japanese variety shows ...

duo Asarido visited Nitta's home. Nitta has since worked as an actress, author, and essayist, as well as participating in the Tokyo community radio program ''Ginza Radiocity''. She has also participated, along with fellow idols such as

Toshikazu Fukawa Toshikazu is a masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Toshikazu can be written using different combinations of kanji characters. Some examples: *敏一, "agile, one" *敏和, "agile, harmony" *敏多, "agile, many" *敏数, "agile, num ...

and

Chiemi Hori , better known as , is a Japanese singer, actress, and entertainer represented by Horipro, and later Shochiku Geino is a Japanese talent agency headquartered in Chuo-ku, Osaka. It was founded in 1958 under the conglomerate Shochiku Co., Ltd a ...

, in programming discussing the 1980s idol star movement. In 2007, she participated in the

ōendan An , literally "cheering squad" or "cheering section", is a Japanese sports rallying team similar in purpose to a cheerleading squad in the United States, but relies more on making a lot of noise with taiko drums, blowing horns and other items ...

for the inauguration of the

Kama Burning Heroes ''Kama'' (Sanskrit ) means "desire, wish, longing" in Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, and Sikh literature.Monier Williamsकाम, kāmaMonier-Williams Sanskrit English Dictionary, pp 271, see 3rd column Kama often connotes sensual pleasure, sexual ...

, a baseball club started by Rakyō Ide, an owarai performer and member of the talent group

Takeshi Gundan Takeshi ( in hiragana or in katakana) is a masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings *武, "warrior" *毅, "strong" *猛, "fierce" *健, "healthy" *剛, "sturdy" *彪, "spotted" *威, "intimidate" *壮, "robust" *丈, "length" *雄, "mascu ...

Discography

Singles

Albums

Studio albums

* ''

ERI Eri may refer to: People * Eri (biblical figure) * Eri (given name), a Japanese feminine given name, including lists of people and fictional characters * Eri (king), the progenitor of the Umu-Eri and Umu-Nri-Igbo ancient Nigerian city-states * ...

'' (1986) (1990, re-release) * '' E-AREA'' (1987) * ''

ritardando In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...

'' (1987) * ''

Image An image is a visual representation of something. It can be two-dimensional, three-dimensional, or somehow otherwise feed into the visual system to convey information. An image can be an artifact, such as a photograph or other two-dimensiona ...

'' (1987)

Compilation albums

* (1987) * (1989) * ''Last Message'' (1990) * series ** (2002) ** (2003) ** (2008) ** (2010) * (2007)

Other songs

* (duet with Junichi Mogi) (2005)

References

External links

E-Area
(official blog) {{DEFAULTSORT:Nitta, Eri Onyanko Club 1968 births Japanese idols Japanese actresses Japanese lyricists Japanese women pop singers People from Saitama Prefecture Living people Musicians from Saitama Prefecture